This project began with a heartfelt email during the pandemic — a long, thoughtful note from a prospective client that moved me so deeply I shared it with my mother, with whom I was living at the time while renovating my Design Lab in Palm Springs. She smiled and said, “He’s either going to be a fantastic client or a dear friend.” He became both.

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My client was relocating from Scottsdale to Palm Springs to lead a brand-new department at Eisenhower Medical Center — a major professional milestone and a deeply personal new chapter. A physician with an intense, high-demand schedule, he sought a home that would feel grounding, soulful, and restorative.

He purchased one of Palm Springs’ hidden architectural treasures in Mesquite Canyon Estates — an original Palmer & Krisel design — and approached it with both reverence and vision. Rather than gutting or overhauling the home, we chose to lean in and listen. The renovation was mindful and layered: a careful restoration that honored the architecture while tailoring it to reflect the man who lives there — humble, worldly, refined, and quietly bold.

We replaced sterile white floors with a concrete-inspired porcelain tile that runs throughout, creating warmth and continuity. The original kitchen cabinetry was preserved and repainted, paired with new countertops to elevate the space without erasing its history. The primary bathroom was reimagined to include a calming wet room — a place to decompress after long days at the hospital. In the primary bedroom, enveloping grasscloth walls create a cocoon-like embrace at day’s end.

Personal treasures were thoughtfully integrated alongside new furnishings and materials, resulting in a home that feels collected rather than decorated. The aesthetic is mid-century modern with depth — less disco, more soul.

The result is a layered, sensual, and deeply personal retreat: a sanctuary that supports both the gravity of his profession and the richness of his life beyond it.

MESQUITE RETREAT