Albert Frey Houses 1 + 2
Jennifer Golub

Our limited edition hardcover on these two houses by Albert Frey was one of our fastest-selling books of all times—and is now out-of-print—but we're pleased to offer it again in an affordable paperback edition.

Albert Frey worked in Le Corbusier's atelier in Paris, but he is most closely associated with the 1940s and 1950s desert architecture of Southern California, and with the work of architects such as Richard Neutra and John Lautner. This exquisitely designed monograph on Albert Frey focuses on two houses he built for himself in Palm Springs, California, one in 1941 (with an addition in 1953) and the other in 1964. Although both houses have a modern aesthetic, including glass walls and concrete construction, they are fully incorporated into their surroundings, in keeping with Frey's principles of paralleling nature in his work. This title, which was developed in collaboration with Frey himself, includes color and duotone photographs commissioned especially for this book. The book is exquisitely made and comes in a plastic slipcase.

"If one person were to take credit for the look of Palm Springs, it would be Albert Frey, the city's master builder. The 94-year-old Swiss émigré, who was a student of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, started using inexpensive materials like corrugated metal long before Frank Gehry saw his first scrap heap." —Kendell Cronstrom, Elle Decor

"Frey is a guru who doesn't preach. His belief in a timeless ideal, modernism's truth of function and materials, is evident in every aspect of the design of his house." —Diana Ketcham, House & Garden

"Palm Springs posh sprang up in a single moment and shared a single architectural dream: desert modernism—low, glassy, horizontal, sleek. It remains perfect." —Kurt Andersen, New Yorker


Jennifer Golub is a producer at the Chiat/Day advertising firm's Los Angeles office.
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