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Home My WebLink About2024-06-26 CRPC Regular Meeting Agenda Packet CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE CITY OF PALM DESERT MEETING AGENDA Wednesday, June 26, 2024 9:00 a.m. Administrative Conference Room, City Hall 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260 Pursuant to Assembly Bill 2449, this meeting will be conducted as a hybrid meeting and there will be in-person access to this location. To participate via Zoom, use the following link: https://palmdesert.zoom.us/j/82890728644 or call (213) 338-8477, Zoom Meeting ID: 828 9072 8644 • Written public comment may also be submitted to cityclerk@palmdesert.gov. E-mails received by 5:00 p.m. the day prior to the meeting will be distributed to the Committee. Any correspondence received during or after the meeting will be distributed to the Committee as soon as practicable and retained for the official record. Emails will not be read aloud except as an ADA accommodation. • Pages 1.CALL TO ORDER 2.ROLL CALL 3.NONAGENDA PUBLIC COMMENTS This time has been set aside for the public to address the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee on issues that are not on the agenda for up to three minutes. Speakers may utilize one of the three options listed on the first page of the agenda. Because the Brown Act does not allow the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee to act on items not listed on the agenda, members may briefly respond or refer the matter to staff for a report and recommendation at a future meeting. 4.CONSENT CALENDAR All matters listed on the Consent Calendar are considered routine and may be approved by one motion. The public may comment on any items on the Consent Agenda within the three-minute time limit. Individual items may be removed by the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee for a separate discussion. RECOMMENDATION: To approve the consent calendar as presented. 4.a APPROVAL OF MINUTES 5 RECOMMENDATION: Approve the Minutes of March 27, 2024. 5.CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER 6.ACTION CALENDAR The public may comment on individual Action Items within the three-minute time limit. Speakers may utilize one of the three options listed on the first page of the agenda. 6.a REQUEST TO PROVIDE DIRECTION ON MILLS ACT ELIGIBLE SCOPES OF WORK 9 RECOMMENDATION: Recommend the City Council approve the proposed revisions to appendix A of the mills act program manual. 7.PUBLIC HEARINGS 7.a CONSIDERATION OF A RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION FOR AVONDALE GOLF CLUB TO DESIGNATE THE EXISTING CLUB HOUSE LOCATED AT 75800 AVONDALE DRIVE AND GOLF COURSE AS HISTORIC LANDMARKS (CRPC24-0001) 15 RECOMMENDATION: Make findings and recommend the Palm Desert City Council adopt a resolution to designate the existing clubhouse located at 75800 Avondale Drive on Assessor’s Parcel Number 626-030-043 a local historic landmark pursuant to Criterion D and F of Palm Desert Municipal Code Section 29.40.010. 1. Make findings and recommend the Palm Desert City Council deny the request to designate the existing golf course located at 75800 Avondale Drive on Assessor’s Parcel Number 626-030-043, -044, - 028, and -033 a local historic landmark as it is not a cultural resource and does not satisfy the criterion of Palm Desert Municipal Code Section 29.40.010. 2. 8.INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & COMMENTS 8.a CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS 8.b CITY COUNCIL LIAISON 8.c CITY STAFF Cultural Resources Preservation Committee Meeting 2 8.d ATTENDANCE REPORT 123 9.ADJOURNMENT The next Regular Meeting will be held on July 24, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. 10.PUBLIC NOTICES Agenda Related Materials: Pursuant to Government Code §54957.5(b)(2) the designated office for inspection of records in connection with this meeting is the Office of the City Clerk, Palm Desert Civic Center, 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. Staff reports for all agenda items considered in open session, and documents provided to a majority of the legislative bodies are available for public inspection at City Hall and on the City’s website at www.palmdesert.gov. Americans with Disabilities Act: It is the intention of the City of Palm Desert to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in all respects. If, as an attendee or a participant at this meeting, or in meetings on a regular basis, you will need special assistance beyond what is normally provided, the City will attempt to accommodate you in every reasonable manner. Please contact the Office of the City Clerk, (760) 346-0611, at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to inform us of your needs and to determine if accommodation is feasible. AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING I hereby certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing agenda for the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee was posted on the City Hall bulletin board and City website not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting. /S/ Michelle Nance Deputy Clerk II Cultural Resources Preservation Committee Meeting 3 4 1 CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE CITY OF PALM DESERT REGULAR MEETING MINUTES March 27, 2024, 9:00 a.m. Present: Liaison: Staff: Committee Member Paul Clark, Committee Member Don Graybill, Vice-Chair Kim Housken, Committee Member Thomas Mortensen, Committee Member David Toltzmann, Committee Member Linda Vassalli, Chair Rochelle McCune City Council Liaison, Jan Harnik Director of Development Services, Richard Cannone; Principal Planner, Nick Melloni; Principal Planner, Carlos Flores; Recording Secretary. Monique Lomeli Click HERE to review the meeting audio. Click HERE to access the meeting agenda packet. 1.CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee was called to order by Chair McCune on March 27, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. in the Administrative Conference Room, City Hall, located at 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, California. 2.ROLL CALL 3.NONAGENDA PUBLIC COMMENTS Juleen McElgunn of Palm Desert, spoke on landmark designations and potential new criteria for Mills Act. 4.CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by: Chair McCune Seconded by: Committee Member Graybill To approve the consent calendar as amended. Motion Carried (6 to 0) 4.a APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approve the Minutes of January 24, 2024. 5 2 5.CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. 6.ACTION CALENDAR 6.a CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE WORK PLAN PRIORITY RANKING FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024/2025 Principal Planner Flores provided the staff report and answered member inquiries. Juleen McElgunn of Palm Desert, spoke on the annual requirements of owners with properties under the Mills Act. Motion by: Committee Member Vassalli Seconded by: Committee Member Clark Recommend the City Council approve the draft Cultural Resources Preservation Committee (CRPC) Work Plan for the 2024/2025 Fiscal Year, as presented in Table 3 of the staff report. Motion Carried (6 to 0) 7.PUBLIC HEARINGS 8.INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & COMMENTS 8.a CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS Committee Member Toltzmann, commented on the success of the Palm Desert Historical Society's walking tour and plan to hold another in 2025. 8.b CITY COUNCIL LIAISON Mayor Pro Tem Harnik thanked the Committee for a great meeting. 8.c CITY STAFF None. 8.d ATTENDANCE REPORT Report provided; no action taken on this item. 9.ADJOURNMENT The Cultural Resources Preservation Committee adjourned at 10:17 a.m. 10.PUBLIC NOTICES None. 6 3 _________________________ Monique Lomeli, Senior Deputy Clerk Recording Secretary _________________________ Carlos Flores, Principal Planner Secretary _________________________ DATE APPROVED BY CRPC 7 8 Page 1 of 2 CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE CITY OF PALM DESERT STAFF REPORT MEETING DATE: June 26, 2024 PREPARED BY: Carlos Flores, AICP, Principal Planner REQUEST: REQUEST TO PROVIDE DIRECTION ON MILLS ACT ELIGIBLE SCOPES OF WORK RECOMMENDATION: RECOMMEND THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVE THE PROPOSED REVISIONS TO APPENDIX A OF THE MILLS ACT PROGRAM MANUAL. BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS: Per the City’s Mills Act Program Manual (Manual), Mills Act Applicants complete a 10-year Property Improvement Plan (Improvement Plan) which lists out proposed projects by year and cost. The Manual references Appendix A for applicants to use as a guide for qualifying projects. Currently, eligible work for participation in the Act includes any necessary repair, maintenance, restoration, or rehabilitation of a Historic Property. The Improvement Plans require review and approval from City Staff and the City Council and must meet all requirements of the Secret ary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation. Previously approved Improvement Plans have included roof repairs, appliance changes, landscape fees, and interior remodels. Approved Improvements Plans are attached as exhibits to approved Act Agreements. Per the Manual, Staff is to conduct inspections of the property and the approved scopes of work to ensure compliance with Act Agreements. On January 24, 2024, City Staff presented the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee (CRPC) with a proposed updated Appendix A that revised the formatting for Appendix A to categorize proposed improvements as either contributing to “Structure Integrity”, “Architectural/Historical Integrity”, or Ineligible. The goal was to help streamline and provide clarity to City staff, Mills Act Applicants, the CRPC, and Council on what scopes of work are eligible for the Mills Act and to be consistent with the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation. The CRPC recommended City Council (Council) approval of the updated Appendix A, with one modification to allow for new/repairs of walls or fences to be eligible. At the March 27, 2024 CRPC meeting, additional input was received from an existing property owner/Mills Contract owner that there should be no changes to eligible scopes of work. On April 11, 2024, City staff presented the updated Appendix A to the Council at a study session. The Council directed staff to conduct additional outreach to existing Mills Act contract owners and provided direction on modifications to the eligible scopes of work. City staff has updated Appendix A after conducting this outreach and incorporating the CRPC and Council’s recommended revisions. Changes from the document presented in January 24, 9 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert Mills Act Eligible Scopes of Work Update Page 2 of 2 2024 are identified in red. City staff is seeking the CRPC’s approval on the recommended changes to then present to Council for final approva l. An updated Manual, with an updated Appendix A, would be used for Mills Act Applicants in 2024. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Mills Act Eligible Scopes of Work Update (Appendix A) 10 APPENDIX A Eligible Scope of Work The table below serves as guidance to determine if the proposed project(s) outlined in the 10-year Property Improvement Plan are eligible repair, restoration, and/or rehabilitation improvements under the Mills Act Application. The table categorizes each improvement as either contributing to “structure integrity”, “architectural/historical integrity”, or ineligible. “Structure integrity” includes the structural elements of a building (foundation, beams, framing, etc.) and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. “Architectural/Historical Integrity” includes architectural and historical components (windows, doors, roofing, decorative elements, trims, etc) that are integral to the justification for the property having a historical designation. Any work proposed that is not identified within the table below is subject to eligibility determination by City Staff, the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee (CRPC), and/or City Council. SCOPE OF WORK ELIGIBLE INELIGIBLE Structure Integrity Architectural and/or Historical Integrity Interior 1. New/repair appliances X 2. New/repair carpet X 3. New/repair countertops X 4. New/repair flooring X 5. Interior painting X 6. Changes to interior walls X 7. Carpentry restoration work (example: Windows, molding, framing) X Roofing 8. Patch/Repair Roof X 9. New Roof (different material) X 10. New roof (original material) X 11. Altering Building Roof (ridge, dormers, gables, etc.) X 12. Repair roof framing X 13. Repair of eaves/overhangs X 14. Flashing/waterproofing X 15. Install rooftop photovoltaic system (Solar panels) X Windows/Doors/Awning/Shutters 16. Replace exterior doors and/or windows X 17. Alteration/creation of window or door opening X 18. Replacement/repair of shutters or awnings X 19. Install or remove shutters or awnings X Exterior Walls 11 APPENDIX A 20. Whole house exterior painting X 21. Touch up paint X 22. Re-stucco (like for like) X 23. Stucco repair (like for like) X 24. Repair, restore, or repaint masonry X 25. Cleaning of walls X 26. New/replacement wall cladding X Architectural Elements 27. Repair, remove, or alter existing patios, balconies, and/or chimneys X 28. Construct new patio, balcony, and/or chimney X 29. Construct new attached wall X 30. Repair or replace gutters and downspouts X 31. Repair existing architectural element X 32. Add new architectural element X Mechanical 33. New HVAC system(s) X 34. New venting or duct work X 35. New water heater X 36. New fans X 37. HVAC system maintenance/repair X Electrical 38. New electrical outlets, circuits, panels X 39. Whole house rewiring X 40. Electrical panel upgrade X 41. New service lines to detached structure X 42. Electric vehicle charger X 43. Battery storage or generator X 44. Security lighting and/or alarm system X 45. Exterior lighting fixtures X 46. Interior lighting fixtures X Plumbing 47. Whole house re-piping X 48. New plumbing fixtures (sink, tub, shower, faucets) X 49. Plumbing repairs X 50. New service or supply lines X Fire Protection 51. Install fire sprinkler system X 52. Install smoke/CO2 alarms X Structural/Foundation 53. Foundation bolting, wall bracing, and related seismic work X 54. New/repair foundation 55. Seismic retrofitting 12 APPENDIX A 56. Repair or reinforce wall/ceiling framing or bracing Drainage/Water Protection 57. Flashing X 58. New/repair exterior drains 59. Water damage repair (interior/exterior) 60. Re-grading of property for drainage purposes Accessory Structures 61. New/repair of walls or fences X 62. Landscaping and hardscape X 63. ADU or JADU construction X 64. Install/remove/repair swimming pool X 65. Construct/repair/removal of original accessory structure X 66. Construct/repair/removal of non-original accessory structure X General Maintenance 67. HOA Fees for Ineligible Items X 68. HOA Fees for Eligible Items* X 69. Regular common area or landscaping fees X 70. Termite treatment X 71. Mold remediation 72. Asbestos remediation 73. Radon gas prevention/remediation 74. Lead-based paint removal *If HOA Fees submitted are for a scope of work that is eligible in another section of Appendix A, the fees may be eligible. 13 14 Page 1 of 10 CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE CITY OF PALM DESERT STAFF REPORT MEETING DATE: June 26, 2024 PREPARED BY: Nick Melloni, AICP, Principal Planner REQUEST: CONSIDERATION OF A RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION FOR AVONDALE GOLF CLUB TO DESIGNATE THE EXISTING CLUB HOUSE LOCATED AT 75800 AVONDALE DRIVE AND GOLF COURSE AS HISTORIC LANDMARKS (CRPC24-0001) RECOMMENDATION: 1. Make findings and recommend the Palm Desert City Council adopt a resolution to designate the existing clubhouse located at 75800 Avondale Drive on Assessor’s Parcel Number 626 - 030-043 a local historic landmark pursuant to Criterion D and F of Palm Desert M unicipal Code Section 29.40.010. 2. Make findings and recommend the Palm Desert City Council deny the request to designate the existing golf course located at 75800 Avondale Drive on Assessor’s Parcel Number 626- 030-043, -044, -028, and -033 a local historic landmark as it is not a cultural resource and does not satisfy the criterion of Palm Desert Municipal Code Section 29.40.010. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The item for consideration is a request by a property owner, Avondale Golf Club, to designate the Avondale Golf Club clubhouse and golf course located at 75800 Avondale Drive as historic landmarks. The Avondale Golf Club is an existing residential developm ent located north of County Club Drive and bound by Eldorado Drive to the east and Frank Sinatra Drive to the north. The community was originally developed in the early 1970s and was originally known as the Del Safari Country Club. The clubhouse is a modern style, three-story, circular structure, which was originally designed by architect John Franklin Galbraith in 1969 and completed in March 1970. The golf course is an 18-hole course lined with mature trees and decorative lakes located on approximately 1 24- acres within the course which was opened in January 1970. A landmark nomination and survey (survey), dated May 2024, was prepared to assess the eligibility for these site features as local historic landmarks. The survey concludes in the statement of significance section that the clubhouse is eligible for designation under Criterion D as a work by a master architect, and Criterion F as it reflects a distinctive example of historic development patterns in an era of golf course communities. The golf course is eligible under Criterion F as it is a classic 1960’s/1970’s golf course design. The Cultural Resources Preservation Committee (CRPC) is asked to make a recommendation to the City Council to formally designate the clubhouse and golf course as local his toric landmarks. Staff recommends the CRPC make findings that the clubhouse is eligible for historic 15 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 2 of 10 designation under Criterion D and F and make a recommendation of approval to the City Council. Staff recommends denial of the requested historic landmark designation for the golf course as the course does not meet the definition of a cultural resource and does not meet the criterion listed under Palm Desert Municipal Code Section 29.40.010. BACKGROUND: The Avondale Golf Club (Avondale) is a residential community located at the northeast corner of Country Club Drive and Eldorado Drive. The community is approximately 220 to 240 acres and is generally bound by Frank Sinatra Drive to the north, Eldorado Drive to the east, Country Club Drive to the south, and the Desert Falls Country Club residential community to the west. The existing golf course occupies approximately 124 acres of the community with the clubhouse located near the central area of the site. The golf course perimeter is lined with mature trees which adjoin existing single-family residential dwellings and private streets located within the community boundaries. Originally known as “Del Safari Country Club”, development of the community initially began in 1969, approximately four (4) years before City of Palm Desert incorporation in 1973. The original developers were a business partnership of Burton “Burt” Graham, and George Glickley of Chicago, Illinois. They envisioned the development of a country club with eighteen holes and residential units along the fairways, similar to other country club developments in the Coachella Valley at the time (pg. 46-50 of Survey) in Palm Desert. Development of the golf course and clubhouse were completed by early 1970 before any residential units were c onstructed. The developers originally envisioned up to 250 residential units would be constructed along the perimeter of the golf course however only a small segment of these units were completed. Due to financial issues, the development was repossessed by a bank and auctioned to William “Bill” Stephens, who, in 1986 renamed the club “Avondale Golf Club”. In 1990 the club was sold to a consortium of its members. Figure 1 – Views of the Clubhouse in early 1970 shortly after completion – Pg. 53 of survey 16 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 3 of 10 Figure 2 – Views of the Golf course in early 1970 shortly after completion – Pg. 54 of survey ANALYSIS: Pursuant to PDMC Title 29, Chapter 29.20, a “landmark” means any cultural resource representative of the historical, archaeological, cultural, architectural, community, aesthetic or artistic heritage of the City that is designated pursuant to this title or is a designated National Historic Landmark, California Historical Landmark or Riverside County Historical Landmark. A request for designation can be initiated by any person, organization, or entity; however, may only be acted upon with the written consent of the property owner. The property owner, Avondale Golf Club, and its president have submitted a written request for the landmark designation application. A request for a cultural resource to be designated as a landmark by the City Council may be initiated upon completion of a survey and recommendation of the CRPC. The CRPC must determine that the structure retains integrity, meaning the structure contains most of the aspects that closely relate to the resource’s significance, including location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Eligibility for designation is based on any of the following criteria established under PDMC Section 29.40.010: A. Is associated with an event or events that have made a significant contribution to broad 17 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 4 of 10 patterns of history; or B. Is associated with the lives of persons significant in the past; or C. Embodies distinctive characteristics, or is one of the few remaining examples of a style, type, period or method of construction or possesses high artistic value; or D. Represents the work of a master builder, designer, or architect; or E. Is an archaeological, paleontological, botanical, geological, topographical, ecological, or geographical resource that has yielded or has the potential to yield important information in history or prehistory; or F. Reflects distinctive examples of community planning or significant development patterns, including those associated with different eras of settlement and growth, agriculture, or transportation. (Ord. 1168, 2008) The request includes two separate items for landmark designation consideration: the clubhouse structure and the golf course. Clubhouse Analysis The clubhouse is an eclectic modern style, three -story building which sits atop, and is partially set into the grade of an artificial hill near the central portion of the Avondale Community which is used as a dining room for the club with a bar, lounge and event space. The distinguishing characteristics of the building include its circular building footprint, and distinctive tiered roof structure which includes deep roof overhangs with exposed rafters, large windows , and large wraparound second-story balcony overlooking the golf course to the west. American architect, John Franklin Galbraith, designed the structure in 1969, and it was completed in March 1970. The eastern façade serves as its primary entrance to the building with a distinctive Porte cochere leading from Avondale Drive. The entry is at the top of the hill which leads into the second level of the structure. There is also a faux turret design element which once supported a decorative spire (see page 13 of survey). Along the north side of the building entrance its circular shape becomes apparent as the form transitions to a large circular stucco wall with windows that project out from the face of the building. The entire western side of the building is completely circular in shape. The first floor of the structure is partially set into the grade of the hill, features a small patio addition on the north side, and is surrounded by paved areas used for golf cart parking . The second story of the western elevation features a balcony which wraps around the building to provide views over the golf course (see Figure 3 on the following page). The southern elevation includes a portion of the wrap-around balcony and an enclosed service area to screen utilities for the building. To the east of the clubhouse, there is a non-contributing accessory clubhouse building which is rectangular and constructed from fluted concrete masonry unit s with a simple shed roof featuring the red shingle roof used on the clubhouse building. 18 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 5 of 10 (Continued on next page) Figure 3 – Views of the Western Elevation in 1970 (above) and present day (below) – Pg. 11 of Survey Clubhouse Alterations and Character Defining Elements Several alterations to the clubhouse have occurred over the years including:  Entry Way – Modifications of the port cochere by removing a portion of the structure and overhang and lowering of the structure ceiling (See pg. 7 of the survey). 19 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 6 of 10  Patio Structure Addition – On the north side of the building a patio cover structure was added to create an extended patio overhang (see page 11 & 12 of Survey).  Decorative Spires – Originally, the primary roof and secondary turret featured decorative metal spires which were removed in the 1990s (see pages 13 & 14 of the Survey).  Roof Structure – Protruding Beams. The roof design was extended so the overhangs fully extend over the protruding beams.  Roof Structure – Material and Color. The roof material was changed from an original white roofing material to a light red shingle roof. Additionally, the white color of the original structure was painted beige. The character defining elements of the structure include: General:  Curved/circular footprint of the building  Protruding beams and roof overhang  Stucco cladding throughout  CMU blocks on first level  Existing roofline and volume Entryway/Eastern Façade:  Sculptural, fluted entryway structure  Two cutouts within porte cochere  Placement of window on northern (tall) column of porte cochere  Faux turret structure  General volume and facade of northern wall of porte cochere  Placement of five windows on curved wall (proceeding north) of two pairs of windows and one window in center  Stucco lips encasing five windows Western Façade  Three-story configuration with wraparound balconies on the second and third floors  Uninterrupted, sweeping curved facade  Wooden beams and roof overhang  Metal balcony railing on all balconies  Placement of floor-to-ceiling windows  Third-story bar room protruding from top of structure Though alterations to the structure have occurred, the clubhouse retains most of its character defining elements and integrity to convey its cultural significance. Architect - John Franklin Galbraith The clubhouse architect, John Franklin Galbraith, AIA (1923 -2012) was a prolific architect who was active in Southern California between 1949 and 1969. Galbraith’s work is known for its distinctive mid-century modern styling which was applied to single-family homes, places of 20 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 7 of 10 worship, and multi-family apartments. One of his more notable works is the Horizon Home (1964) in Laguna Niguel, CA which features a circular footprint and roof shape (pictured below), a design element seen in the Del Safari Project. Del Safari is the only country-club style project by Galbraith and is his last documented work as an architect. Figure 4 – Horizon Home (1964) designed by Galbraith (see page 38 of Survey). Significance - Clubhouse Pursuant to the requirements of PDMC 29.40.010, the structure is eligible for designation based on the following criterion: Criterion D - Represents the work of a master builder, designer or architect The clubhouse is one of the final and more inventive works of John F. Galbraith A.I.A. (1923- 2012), a modernist Pasadena architect who designed a wide variety of post -war modern buildings. His buildings were recognized, published, and epitomized larger trends in Modernism while rising above typical post-war Modernism. The Avondale clubhouse represents a later phase of his work which began to turn away from the rigidity of previous Modernism and embraced other styles and more sculptural qualities. Criterion F – Reflects distinctive examples of community planning or significant development patterns, including those associated with different eras of settlement and growth, agriculture, or transportation. 21 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 8 of 10 The Avondale clubhouse was built amidst a distinct era of country club development in the late 1960s and 70s along with projects such as Marrakesh, Mission Hills, and Ironwood. These developments featured golf courses surrounded by residences and centered around a clubhouse. In addition, this particular phase of golf course development was noted for its themed environments. The Avondale clubhouse epitomizes this trend of development between 1958 and 1977 with its architectural clubhouse. Golf Course Analysis The Avondale golf course is a typical 18 -hole golf course located on approximately 124 acres within the Avondale Community. It is characterized by open turf, golf fairways, four “lakes”, concrete sidewalks, cart paths, and a variety of mature trees including but not limited to palm trees (washintonia filifera and washintonia robusta), pine, and eucalyptus. The golf course was designed by Jimmy Hines, a professional golfer who is noted for his work on developing golf - courses in the 1950s and 1960s including Thunderbird Country Club (1951) in Rancho Mirage. Golf Course Alterations and Character Defining Elements As stated in the nomination documents, the golf course has been altered over the years including changes to golf holes due to the development of homes through the community, the chan ge of the “lakes” footprints and changes to trees and landscaping which cannot be precisely tracked. A notable change is the removal of one of the two original cart paths in the vicinity of the clubhouse area, adjacent to the north patio and accessory building addition. The existing character defining features noted in the survey include:  Current 18-hole configuration; existing shape, size, and placement of holes  Placement, size, and shape of four lakes/water hazards  Fountains and water features within lakes  Golf cart pathway bridges over lakes  Existing rows of mature trees (pine, eucalyptus, etc.) between holes  Existing mature decorative palm trees (often in pairs and groupings) Non-contributing elements defined in the report include:  Planting beds of annual flowers  Configuration of sand hazards Significance – Golf Course Staff recommends denying the request for designation of the golf course as a historical landmark. The site does not fit the definition of a cultural resource which means a building, site, structure, place, improvement, street, streetlight, curb, sidewalk, City-designated heritage tree, parkway landscaping, street furniture, sign, work of art, natural feature, or object, which may be of historic or archaeological significance. The site is a golf course which, while well maintained, does not have distinctive historic significance which sets it apart from other golf courses of the time. Further, the survey does not identify how the golf course is significant to the history of Palm Desert and is not significant archeologically due to the nature of the improvements, and lack of archeological documentation of the pre-development condition. 22 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 9 of 10 Pursuant to the requirements of PDMC Section 29.40.010, staff does not find that the proposal satisfies any criterion for designation: A. Is associated with an event or events that have made a significant contribution to broad patterns of history. The Golf Course is not associated with a specific event or events that made significant contributions to the pattern of local, state, or national history. The course is not eligible under this criterion. B. Is associated with the lives of persons significant in the past. The Golf Course is not associated with the lives of persons significant in the past of Palm Desert’s History. The course is not eligible under this criterion. C. Embodies distinctive characteristics, or is one of the few remaining examples of a style, type, period or method of construction or possesses high artistic value. The Golf Course is a typical example of a golf course designed in the 1960s and 1970s. There are many examples of these types of courses in the Coachella Valley. The course is not eligible under this criterion. D. Represents the work of a master builder, designer or architect. The Golf Course was designed by Jimmy Hines. As noted by the survey, his worked is notable for the development of golf course, and is not widely considered a master designer. The course is not eligible under this criterion. E. Is an archaeological, paleontological, botanical, geological, topographical, ecological, or geographical resource that has yielded or has the potential to yield important inf ormation in history or prehistory. Documentation of the archaeological, paleontological, botanical, geological, topographical, ecological, or geographical that existed prior to the development of the course is not well documented. The development of the c ourse has removed any apparent significance of these elements. The course is not eligible under this criterion. F. Reflects distinctive examples of community planning or significant development patterns, including those associated with different eras of settlement and growth, agriculture, or transportation. The draft survey identifies that the golf course satisfies Criteria F as it reflects distinctive examples of significant development patterns at the time. Avondale golf course was built amidst a distinct era of country club development in the Coachella Valley during the late 1960s and 70s 23 Cultural Resources Preservation Committee City of Palm Desert CRPC24-0001 – Avondale Clubhouse and Golf Course – Landmark Designation Page 10 of 10 along with projects such as Marrakesh (1968), Miss ion Hills (1969), and Ironwood (1974). Avondale is similar to these developments which featured golf courses surrounded by residences and centered around a clubhouse. While the golf course is very well preserved and embodies these characteristics and is a classic 1960s/70s golf course design it is not distinctive from other courses in the vicinity or others built at the time. Further, designating the golf course may require additional study or a site survey to identify the specific boundaries of the parcel area to identify where, if any, encroachments on or by private residential lots occur. Public Input Pursuant to the requirements of PDMC Section 25.40.060, a ten-day (10) notice of this hearing was posted in The Desert Sun on June 14, 2024, and mailed to all property owners within a 300- foot radius of the subject properties. At the time of preparation of this report, no comments were received. Environmental Review Designation of the clubhouse as a local landmark is not subject to the California Environ mental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15060(c)(2), the general exemption rule, of the CEQA Guidelines as the proposed project will not result in any foreseeable indirect change in the environment. The project is also exempt under CEQA Guidelines Se ction 15060(c)(3) as the activity is not considered a project as defined under Guidelines Section 15378 as has no potential for resulting in any indirect or direct physical changes to the environment. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Avondale Golf Club Survey and Nomination 2. Landmark Designation Application 3. Public Hearing Notice 24 Landmark Nomination for the Avondale Golf Club (Formerly Del Safari Country Club) Prepared for the City of Palm Desert Cultural Resources Committee By Luke Leuschner V2: May 2024  25 Table of Contents Property Description and Location ……………………………………………………………3 Architectural Description with Alterations ……………………………………………………6 Biography: John. F. Galbraith A.I.A. …………………………………………….………………29 History of Del Safari Country Club ……………………………………………….…………… 46 Statement of Signiﬁcance ………………………………………………………….……………57 Appendices …………………………………………………………………………..…………… 60  of 2 77 26 Property Description and Location The Avondale Golf Club is a residential development with a golf course and clubhouse located at 75800 Avondale Drive, Palm Desert, CA. The property consists of parcels #626030043 (91 acres), #626030044 (18.7 acres), #626030028 (7.8 acres), and #626030033 (7 acres), totaling approximately 124.5 acres. To the North, it is bounded by Frank Sinatra Drive, to the East by Eldorado Drive, to the South by Country Club Drive, and to the West it shares a border with Desert Falls County Club. of 3 77 27 The two primary components of the property are the clubhouse and golf course, the subjects of this nomination. The clubhouse is a three-story, circular structure entered from the eastern facade by a driveway and porte cochere. Its western facade is lined with a balcony and windows that lookout onto the expanse of golf course. It was designed in 1969 by modern architect John Franklin Galbraith A.I.A. (see Biography). To this day it used as the club dining room, bar, lounge, and space for club events. The three-story building is placed on an artiﬁcial hill intended to provide a view over the expansive golf course and surrounding desert. of 4 77 28 The golf course is an eighteen-hole course lined with mature trees, winding golf cart pathways, and decorative lakes as designed by Jimmy Hines:   of 5 77 29 Architectural Description: Clubhouse The Avondale [Del Safari] clubhouse sits atop an artiﬁcial hill with desert landscaping, accessible by a driveway that runs to the entrance/porte cochere of the building. From this side the circular shape of the building is not apparent: The porte cochere on the primary facade consists of two sculptural volumes faced in stucco, between which is a roof entryway. Almost the entire building is covered in varying types of stucco. In the right (northern) volume is a window, and inside the entryway to the left (south) are two rectangular cutouts: of 6 77 30 ALTERATION #1: ENTRYWAY The porte cochere originally extended further outward and was lined on one wall with wrought-iron lights. At some point in the 1990s, this section was removed and it was simpliﬁed to the current design. The interior ceiling was also lowered for a sunken light element. This is the most signiﬁcant alteration to these structure, although the sculptural qualities of the entryway are still preserved: of 7 77 31 On the southern wall of the entryway (with the cutouts), the roof is at a pitch and the walls are ﬂuted, reinforcing the sculptural qualities and the fortress-like aesthetic. Attached to the front of the building is a faux turret structure which also contributes to the fortress nature: Looking at the northern wall of the porte cochere from below, on the left, the volume is a solid stucco wall whose roof is angled at a slight V-shape. Three small windows are at the top of the volume. Again, the solidness of this volume reinforces the buildings more sculptural qualities. of 8 77 32 At this point the circular quality of the building becomes apparent, and the facade is a smooth circular volume with ﬁve windows varying in sizes, each wrapped with a sculptural stucco lip. This work recalls the homogenized Late Modern design that the architect, John Galbraith, was working in, and which was popular in the late 1960s Coachella Valley. Set back from this circular facade are the upper portions of the structure, which are just simple straight walls. At this point the rear of the building, a massive wraparound balcony covered by a massive circular overhang, is apparent: of 9 77 33 The entire rear (western) facade of the structure is also completely circular in shape. It is differentiated from the ﬁrst portion of the circular structure (which is sculptural in shape) by a dramatic overhang roof which protrudes from the footprint of the building. On the ground ﬂoor on the northern portion of the rear is a patio area (added later) and on the ground ﬂoor on the southern portion is the golf cart shop, with a staircase leading to the second-story balcony. The second-story balcony protrudes and overhangs above the ground ﬂoor, and has a simple metal guardrail. The second-story balcony is continuous around the entire rear, except for a small storage room on the southern end: of 10 77 34 ALTERATION #2: PATIO STRUCTURE On the northern portion of the building, a small mansard roof was attached the side of the side of the building to create a patio. The windows were also pushed out at this point and a pergola was added over an extended patio. This is the other more signiﬁcant alteration, although it follows the existing curve of the building and could be easily removed:  of 11 77 35 Much of the second story is wrapped in ceiling-height windows. The entire second-story wraparound balcony is shaded by the roof which dramatically overhangs, its beams protruding with the roof structure visible: of 12 77 36 ALTERATION #3: DECORATIVE SPIRES At the top of the main, third-story roof and the decorative turret adjacent to the entryway were two decorative spire structures original to the Galbraith-designed buildings. These appear to have been of metal construction and were likely removed during a renovation in the 1990s. Both spire structures are now missing: of 13 77 37 of 14 77 38 ALTERATION #4: PROTRUDING BEAMS At some point, the roof footprint was extended to completely cover the beams that previously protruded: of 15 77 39   of 16 77 40 On the southern portion of the clubhouse, between the entryway and the start of the rear patio, is a large curved masonry wall covered in hedges, obscuring the building infrastructure and utility and storage areas: of 17 77 41 ALTERATION #5: GENERAL / PAINT COLORS Now beige, the original color of the structure was white with dark brown highlights. The original white roof rooﬁng material has also been replaced with a light red shingle roof. of 18 77 42 Although it is not immediately visible from the ground, the third-story section of the building is wrapped with a balcony that overlooks the golf course and Coachella Valley: Adjacent to the clubhouse is an accessory building that is not a part of this landmark application (above). This building is covered in CMU block and has a simple shed roof design, and was built at a later date: of 19 77 43 CLUBHOUSE ALTERATIONS ANALYSIS Although the Del Safari/Avondale clubhouse has undergone aforementioned alterations over its existence, the general idea of the Galbraith design has been preserved. It has retained its circular shape, three-story conﬁguration with balconies covered by a protruding roof (supported by original wooden beams), sculptural qualities typical of 1960s/70s Late Modernism, and use as a clubhouse/center for the club it supports. Galbraith’s design consisted of two primary elevations of the building, the eastern portion, from which people entered the building, and the western half, which was wrapped with balconies and was intended to look onto the golf course view. The eastern half was highly sculptural and representative of Late Modern design trends in the southwest which hybridized with Pueblo and Spanish Revival. This design is still preserved and clear in the eastern half of the Avondale clubhouse. The entryway supports are ﬂuted, with curved cutouts, and the stucco material helps to create a more sculptural effect. Proceeding to the rear of the building, the ﬁve windows that wrap around the building maintain their distinctive stucco lips, and the roof volumes above them are also irregular and sculptural. The primary alteration to this portion of the building was the shortening of the porte cochere, and while this may have reduced its presence as a design element, it did not deprive the building of its sculptural Late Modern qualities. The other distinctive portion of the building, the rear (western) elevation, also remains true to Galbraith’s design intent. The sweeping, three-story curve of the building is still in full effect and lined with two balconies. Dramatic beams support the protruding roof which shades the two balconies and ﬂoor-to-ceiling windows. At the top of the building, the circular bar third-story is preserved with its wrap-around balcony. The primary alteration to this portion of the building was the slight extension of the rooﬂine to fully cover the protruding beams, and the appendage of a small bar patio roof structure to the second-story balcony facade. While the roof extension obscured a design element of the protruding beams, it did not alter the general expression of the dramatic circular roof, and the protruding beams are still existent and expressed clearly in the design. The patio roof structure, while preventing the curved facade from being fully clear, does follow the curve of the structure and does not interrupt the curve. Moreover, it was not a structural alteration and appears to be largely superﬁcial, and could be easily removed in the future. Other features to the building that have changed, like the white paint color and rooﬁng material, could be easily addressed in future updates to the building, and do not affect the general intent of Galbraith’s design.   of 20 77 44 CLUBHOUSE: FEATURES TO BE PRESERVED >GENERAL •Curved footprint of the building •Protruding beams and roof overhang •Stucco cladding throughout •CMU blocks on ﬁrst level •Existing rooﬂine and volume >ENTRYWAY/EASTERN FACADE •Sculptural, ﬂuted entryway structure •Two cutouts within porte cochere •Placement of window on northern (tall) column of porte cochere •Faux turret structure •General volume and facade of northern wall of porte cochere •Placement of ﬁve windows on curved wall (proceeding north) of two pairs of windows and one window in center •Stucco lips encasing ﬁve windows >WESTERN FACADE •Three-story conﬁguration with wraparound balconies on the second and third ﬂoors •Uninterrupted, sweeping curved facade •Wooden beams and roof overhang •Metal balcony railing on all balconies •Placement of ﬂoor-to-ceiling windows •Third-story bar room protruding from top of structure NON-CONTRIBUTING FEATURES •Current (as of 2024) beige paint color •Red tile roof •Patio structure, pergola, and seating area appended to western facade •Accessory building with shed roof of 21 77 45 Architectural Description: Golf Course of 22 77 46 The Avondale golf course is a typical 18-hole Coachella Valley golf course with pastoral, ﬂowing hills planted with decorative trees of varying varieties (palm, pine, eucalyptus, etc) and decorated with seasonal ﬂowers. Basic concrete sidewalks wind around the course which has a number of lakes original to the Jimmy Hines design.   of 23 77 47 of 24 77 48   of 25 77 49 of 26 77 50 ALTERATIONS: GOLF COURSE Since landscapes frequently change, it is difﬁcult to trace every alteration that has happened to the golf course. Certain trees have been replaced, ﬂowers changed, pathways diverted, hazards removed, etc, but the golf course in general remains intact from Jimmy Hines’ original design. The general shape of each of the eighteen holes is the same, the original lakes (and fountains) are existent, and the trees planted in 1969 are now fully grown. Alteration #1: Footprint of golf hole encroached on by later development. Alterations #2, 3, and 4: Original footprint of lakes slightly changed.   of 27 77 1 2 3 4 2 4 1 3 51 GOLF COURSE: FEATURES TO BE PRESERVED >GENERAL •Current 18-hole conﬁguration; existing shape, size, and placement of holes •Placement, size, and shape of four lakes/water hazards •Fountains and water features within lakes •Golf cart pathway bridges over lakes >PLANTINGS •Existing rows of mature trees (pine, eucalyptus, etc) between holes •Existing mature decorative palm trees (often in pairs and groupings) NON-CONTRIBUTING FEATURES •Planting beds of annual ﬂowers •Conﬁguration of sand hazards   of 28 77 52 BIOGRAPHY: John Franklin Galbraith A.I.A. Despite a successful career amid the ﬂowering of mid-century modern design, little has been written about the life and work of John Franklin Galbraith (1923-2012). Galbraith was born on February 11, 1923 in Washington, D.C. to Winston William Galbraith (1898-1978) and Lucille Crouch (1900-1988). He had one brother, Robert, born two years later. His father appears to have worked in the bureaucracy of the federal government, and by 1930 the family had relocated to Albuquerque where the elder Galbraith was an accountant for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). By 1940, the 1 family had moved again, this time to California, where the family lived in Glendale and Winston continued to work for the BIA.2 John Galbraith, who would have graduated high school shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, was clearly bound for war service. In 1941, he entered the University of Maryland and was a student at their School of Engineering before he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. Galbraith became a ﬁghter pilot (and later, 3 ﬂight leader) and was sent to the Paciﬁc battlefront in 1944 where he ﬂew P-51 1930 U.S. Federal census.1 1940 U.S. Federal census. 2 It appears that Galbraith’s family had also relocated to Silver Springs, Maryland this year, although they 3 were in Los Angeles for the 1940 census. At this point the Air Force was still part of the Army, and wouldn’t become a separate entity until 1947. of 29 77 Figure 1. John F. Galbraith in his ﬁghter plane during WW2. Image reproduced from Carl Molesworth, Very Long Range P-51 Mustang Units of the Paciﬁc War (New York: Osprey, 2006), 35. 53 Mustangs (ﬁg. 1). Only standing about 5’6’’ and weighing 120 pounds, Galbraith didn’t exactly appear to be a formidable soldier, but he garnered a reputation for his service and bravery. In 1945, he was ofﬁcially cited for his bravery when a group of Japanese soldiers attacked his squadron’s camp just before dawn. Galbraith, who had woken up to “nearly a dozen” grenades exploding around his tent, quickly took the offense and successfully defended the camp. As was reported by various newspapers, he became a “ground ﬁghter” that morning.4 After the war, Galbraith (who was ofﬁcially discharged in 1947) enrolled in the University of Washington’s architecture program from which he received his Bachelor’s in Architecture in 1949. Architecture programs in the United States, and particularly 5 along the West Coast, thrived in the post-war period. Emboldened by innovations in material science, the rapid course of Modernism, and a massive inﬂux of GIs, architectural Modernism reached in zenith in those years. In particular, with its expanding economy, population, and penchant for design, California was most poised to reap the beneﬁts. In 1946, less than a year after the end of the war, Galbraith married Jeannette “Nettie” McKenzie (1922-1997). By 1950, Galbraith was living in Southern California with a degree in architecture, a wife, a newborn baby, and was employed as a draftsman at the ﬁrm of Harold J. Bissner. His time in the ofﬁce of Bissner, a seasoned architect and 6 Pasadena’s foremost, was clearly a major inﬂuence in the architectural development of Galbraith. (It is unclear how he came into contact with Bissner, but it is possible that Bissner, a WW2 veteran himself, was impressed with Galbraith's service.) Bissner, who was working in a modern vocabulary at this point in his career, designed a wide variety of (mostly residential) projects. In those years after the war, he was most prominent for designing dozens of apartment buildings along Colorado Blvd and Orange Grove Ave, many in a distinct Japanese-Modern style, but he also excelled at single- family residential architecture (ﬁgs. 2-3). His homes of the period were of utmost design, photographed by Julius Shulman, and frequently published in regional architecture journals. Anyone joining Bissner's ﬁrm at this time, Galbraith included, was clearly exposed to the development and veneration of California’s distinctive post-war modern architecture. Galbraith, who proceeded to become a full designer in Bissner’s ﬁrm, left in 1952 and established his own practice. He remained in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County where he would design the most structures in his career. Unsurprisingly, he Carl Molesworth, Very Long Range P-51 Mustang Units of the Paciﬁc War (New York: Osprey, 2006), 4 35. Los Angeles City Directory, 1962. 5 1950 U.S. Federal census.6 of 30 77 54 took up a modern style much in the mold of Bissner. His ﬁrst documented project as an independent architect was the El Monte ofﬁce and manufacturing plant for Swimquip Incorporated (1955), a simple industrial structure with a modernist ofﬁce appended to its facade, which he then expanded in 1958. The ofﬁce portion of the project was low-7 slung with a deep overhang, with a decorative cutout for palm trees. This project was completed as the same time as his Temple City Professional Pharmacy (1955), another modern ofﬁce structure that was low-slung, had mitered windows, decorative stone walls, and a courtyard with a roof cutout.8 While his ﬁrst documented projects may have been commercial, Galbraith’s specialty and where he was able to showcase his talent, much like Bissner’s, was in custom single-family homes. The ﬁrst of these was his own family home in Pasadena (1954), followed by the William Gosline house (1955), Melvin P. Knoll house (1956), Rand Lewis house (1956), and Phil Sechler house (1958) (ﬁg. 7). All of these homes epitomized post-war modernism, with roof structures that were either low-slung or post and beam, deep overhangs, decorative cutouts, walls of glass, inventive ﬁreplaces (a Galbraith speciality), and the use of new and simple materials. One of Galbraith’s earliest homes, his residence for P. Melvin Knoll from 1956, is one of his most notable. Knoll was the pharmacist who commissioned Galbraith for the Temple [Untitled article], Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1955; “El Monte Firm Buys Land for Expansion,” Los 7 Angeles Times, November 16, 1958. [Untitled article], Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1955.8 of 31 77 Figures 2 and 3. Harold Bissner’s residence for himself, completed in 1951 during Galbraith’s tenure. Custom, high-modern residences like this one were what Galbraith was exposed to at his time in the office. Photographs by Julius Shulman, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10). 55 City Professional Pharmacy of the prior year, and clearly maintained a working relationship and friendship with Galbraith. (He would also commission Galbraith for a second, larger house in 1963.) The Knoll house was a ﬂat-roofed structure in the exclusive hills above Pasadena. Entering the house from a walkway with a series of planters and cutouts, the interior was a showcase of post-war design: walls with wood paneling, terrazzo and slate ﬂooring, and built-in cabinetry. The living room contained a ﬁreplace at the center of the room with a distinct sculptural hood, from which one could survey the backyard and view from a wall of glass. More than its design particularities, the house also represented the larger pretensions of California modernism. Viewed from the pool, the boundaries between the inside and outside were blurred in a procession of stark materials and clean edges. With communities in Los Angeles County rapidly expanding, Galbraith was among a legion of architects delivering good design to a number of clients. While his earliest years were ﬁlled with custom residential projects by the late 1950s he began to pick up more commercial and institutional projects. Galbraith was accepted into the American Institute of Architects in 1959 and had established the next phase of his ﬁrm, John F. Galbraith and Associates, sometime in the early 1960s.9 As early as 1956, not even a decade out of architecture school, Galbraith had been commissioned for the (unbuilt) Foothill Hospital in Monrovia. In 1958, he designed the 10 Temple City Christian Church, a chapel with an A-frame roof structure that he would “John F. Galbraith,” Paciﬁc Coast Architecture Database, https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/9 4386/. “New Foothill Hospital Plans Unique Features,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1956. 10 of 32 77 Figures 4 and 5. Galbraith’s ﬁrst residence for P. Melvin Knoll, completed in 1956 in the hills overlooking Pasadena. Photos by Cameron Carothers for Deasy Penner Podley. 56 continually iterate in future church designs such as the South Pasadena Christian Church (1961), Lutheran Church of the Cross (1964), First Christian Church in Wilmington (1965), and the First Christian Church in Pasadena (1966) (ﬁg. 14). The general idea of his documented religious buildings remained the same for his career, of an A-frame chapel with a decorative panel (sometimes of stained glass) at the end of the structure which diffused the interior light. Galbraith also continued designing corporate structures, typically combinations of manufacturing and ofﬁce uses. The Unitek Corporation building in Monrovia, completed 1959, was a prime example of this area of his work. Unitek was a company that specialized in the manufacture and design of Orthodontic equipment before shifting to of 33 77 Figure 6. An advertisement touting Galbraith’s design for the Unitek Corporation in Monrovia, a quintessentially modern structure of the post-war period. Reproduced from the Daily News Post, December 28, 1959. 57 “precision electronic welding equipment” in the growing military-industrial complex of post-war California. Galbraith’s high-tech ofﬁces for the ﬁrm were designed in a “clean, uncluttered look that will remain in good taste for years to come” (ﬁg. 6). Galbraith 11 was responsible for similar structures for the Fortiﬁber Corporation in Memphis, TN (1959), National Rain Bird in Azusa (1964), and two locations for the California Water and Telephone Company (1966). Despite larger projects coming into his ofﬁce at this time, Galbraith continued designing custom homes for which his prowess was frequently cited. From the 1950s until the mid-1960s, his homes were almost incessantly chosen as the “Home of the Week” in the Pasadena Independent Star-News (see next page). Indeed, one of Galbraith’s residential clients at the time noted how in selecting an architect she and her husband “didn’t know who we might want, so I went to the Pasadena A.I.A. ofﬁce and they showed me their newspapers ﬁles on the homes… [a] lot of the things John Galbraith had done were something of what we had in mind.” These homes included the David 12 A. Thomas house (1960), C. A. Stanley house (1960), Robert Culp house (1960), Charles Snider house (1961), Leonard Weeks house (1961) (ﬁg. 9), Bartley Cannell “Unitek Corp. Occupies New Monrovia Factory in February,” Daily News Post, December 28, 1959. 11 Margaret Stovall, “Home of the Week,” Independent Star-News, March 18, 1962. 12 of 34 77 Figure 6. Galbraith’s modern design for a home overlooking the Antelope Valley. Reproduced from Architectural Record, July 1960. 58 house (1962), W. W. Galbraith house (1962), and a second house for P. Melvin Knoll (1963), all in the San Gabriel Valley region. As before, these homes exhibited utmost modern design, with the exception of the Cannell house (1962) (ﬁg. 8), which was designed in a modernized Hollywood Regency style. His ca. 1960 vacation home for an unknown client in Hidden Springs, CA, published in Architectural Record that year, was a hillside structure with two volumes that formed a butterﬂy roof which accentuated the site and looked upon the desert of the Antelope Valley (ﬁg. 6).13   “Year-Round Vacation House in California,” Architectural Record, July 1960.13 of 35 77 59   of 36 77 Figure 7. Original rendering for the Phil Sechler house’s kitchen. Reproduced from the Daily News, July 18, 1963. Figure 8. The Bartley Cannell residence in La Canada Flintridge, completed in 1962. Photograph by Maynard Parker, courtesy of Huntington Library digital collections. . Figure 9. The Leonard Weeks residence in Carmel, completed in 1961. Photograph by Maynard Parker, courtesy of Huntington Library digital collections. 60 Galbraith had worked with at least one tract developer as early as 1960, when he created three designs for Harmony Homes, a company which would build its homes on any lot provided by a client. Galbraith’s designs for the Harmony Homes were rather 14 basic and inexpensive houses in a Ranch style ubiquitous of low-cost tract housing, and it is unclear how many of them were built. It is surprising, then, that the arguably most inventive and distinctive design of Galbraith’s career arose from another alliance with a tract house developer. Between the late-1940s and mid-1960s, numerous developers allied with talented architects to deliver showcase homes that touted new materials and design, often sponsored by building corporations. The prime example of this was the Case Study Houses, the series of thirty-six houses designed by leading modernists for Arts & Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1966. Despite the high design and incredible visitation of the Case Study Houses, their modernist vocabulary never quite caught on to the developers of California’s endless subdivisions, and low-cost homes like the Harmony Homes proliferated. A less frequently cited example of this was the Horizon Homes Program as sponsored by the concrete industry. In the ﬁrst two years of its existence in the early 1960s, a reported 200,000 people visited its eleven model homes in Southern California, and many more were reported to have visited other Horizon Homes across the natoin. In 15 1963, Galbraith was selected to design one of the Horizon Homes for the Laguna Niguel Corporation, which was was using the program to showcase a subdivision of homes designed by George Bissell. The house, which sat on a prominent site 16 overlooking the beach, was a completely circular home with a wavy, cantilevered pre- cast concrete roof structure, supported only by a central core (ﬁgs. 10-11). Except for a few partitions, the edge of the circular was completely wrapped in glass and covered by the ﬂoating roof, sixty feet in diameter. The central core doubled as a chimney with a sculptural ﬁreplace hood reminiscent of earlier Galbraith works, around which the living space was peppered with furniture by the likes of Harry Bertoia, Eero Saarinen, and the Eames. The home was the showpiece of the 1964 Horizon Homes Program, sponsored jointly by a number of concrete companies, and included all the latest innovations in building materials and science. In the ﬁrst three weeks of the annual program, more than 5,000 people visited Galbraith’s design.17 “Seven Different Models Spring from Three Basic Plans, American Builder, September 1960, 156-157. 14 “Site Chosen for Concrete Home,” Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1963. 15 Ibid; Larry Washburn, “New Home on Horizon,” Independent Star-News, June 30, 1963. While George 16 Bissell was involved in the engineering and construction of the home, he is frequently and erroneously cited as the architect of the home, and Bissell himself has reiterated that Galbraith was responsible for the design. See Dave Weinstein, “Little Gem with History,” Eichler Network, n.d., https:// www.eichlernetwork.com/article/little-gem-history?page=0,5. “Horizon Homes Proves Big Attraction,” Anaheim Bulletin, May 16, 1964. 17 of 37 77 61 Likely through connections and his reputation made through his church designs, Galbraith also became increasingly involved in the design of buildings for religious colleges throughout Southern California, particularly Biola University, Chapman University, and Loyola Marymount University. His ﬁrst documented project of this type was Morlan Hall, a dormitory at Chapman University completed in 1963. Morlan Hall, 18 expanded in a second phase in 1965, was a two- and three-story structure of simple pink-hued brick with long horizontal corridors that centered around a communal courtyard. Galbraith followed this design with the Alpha Hall (1965) and the Men’s Residence Hall (1966) at Biola University, which although designed in his ubiquitous modern style, did not have design language as robust as Morlan Hall. Galbraith designed at least two non-residential structures for universities during this period, including the Student Union at Biola University (1966) and the Leavey Faculty Center (1968) on the Loyola Marymount University campus. The former, a low-slung brick structure, was contemporary with Galbraith’s other simple modern work for the campus. His Leavey Faculty Center, however, exhibited a new direction in his work that was consistent with larger shifts in Southern Californian architecture. By the late 1960s, the formal modernism of the post-war period was developing into the Late “New Quarters Soon Ready at Chapman,” Anaheim Gazette, July 25, 1963. 18 of 38 77 Figures 10 and 11. The Horizon Home as designed by Galbraith and engineered by George Bissell, completed in 1964 to much fanfare. 62 Modern style which was not as rational and was more willing to embrace irregular forms. In California, this Late Modern style also took on a more organic ethos, with the use of more regional materials for exterior cladding. Such was the case with Galbraith’s Leavey Faculty Center, which lacked the sharp edges of his Unitek Corporation building (1959) and was instead designed to evoke a more Southwestern palette, with stucco- clad volumes, sculptural window openings, and decorative copper elements. Despite its ubiquity in Southern California, it is difﬁcult to label the style of projects like the Leavey Faculty Center, which was a hybridization of Late Modern with Southwestern styles such as Spanish and Pueblo Revival. Galbraith had shown his progression towards this style with his First Christian Church in Pasadena, completed in 1966, which was another iteration of his typical A-frame church. In this design, however, the exterior 19 walls of the structure were sculptural and stucco-clad, and the roof was covered in brown shingles — again, a vague and increasingly Late Modern hybridization with California’s more historicist styles. One of Galbraith’s last documented commissions, and the subject of this report, was his 1969 design for the Del Safari Country Club. Although the Palm Springs architect William Cody was the initial architect for the development and designed a rough scheme, Galbraith replaced him and was responsible for the design of all of Del Safari’s buildings, including the clubhouse, gate house, and an initial phase of condominiums. It was the ﬁrst documented country club-type project that Galbraith had worked on. The development, capitalizing on its desert locale and following the precedent of other “Church Plans Ceremony for Building,” Independent Star-News, November 6, 1966. 19 of 39 77 Figures 12 and 13. The Morlan Hall at Chapman University (left) and the Leavey Faculty Center at Loyola Marymount University, two examples of Galbraith’s educational work, with the latter exhibiting his changing design. Images provided courtesy of their respective institutions. 63 themed developments, was designed to embody an African motif. While Galbraith’s gatehouse was a simple stucco structure with a red-tile roof and his condominium plans appear to have been abandoned, his clubhouse for the development was singular: a massive circular clubhouse set atop an artiﬁcial hill overlooking the expanse of desert and golf course. More than any of his other designs, it was a hybridization of many styles, but the three-story clubhouse was primarily intended to evoke a fortress-type structure. As a whole, the circular building was divided into two parts: a sculptural entryway (eastern facade) and the dramatic three-story facade looking out onto the golf course (western facade). On the entrance side of the building (eastern facade) the building was highly sculptural, with irregular curved volumes surrounding the covered entryway. Moving north along the curve of the building, windows were framed with sculptural elements protruding from the smooth stucco wall. Opposite the entrance side of the building (western facade) was the main portion of the building, a circular three-story facade with a wraparound balcony on the second and third stories. The roofs on the second and third stories had an overhang (complete with protruding beams) to shade the patios below. Design motifs meant to evoke a fortress were added throughout, including a turret above the entryway and decorative metal detailing. The entire structure was topped with a spire meant to evoke a wooden structure, and a small version was also placed on top of the turret. of 40 77 Figure 14. The First Christian Church in Pasadena, designed in 1966 by Galbraith, showing his shift towards the Late Modern hybrid. Photo from Irenic Projects. 64 The clubhouse, which was completed in the early winter of 1970, is Galbraith’s last documented project as an architect. Although it departed from his earlier, formally modern designs, various components of the Del Safari clubhouse can be found in his previous works. The idea of a circular structure supported by a central column can ﬁrst be found in his Horizon Home (1963), and the sculptural qualities of the building were ﬁrst explored in micro for the ﬁreplaces of the Knoll house (1956) and Horizon House (1963), and then dramatically expanded in his work on the First Christian Church in Pasadena (1966) (ﬁg. 14) and Leavey Faculty Center (1968). Even the central spiral staircase which leads to the third story of the Del Safari clubhouse also bears a striking resemblance to that of the First Christian Church. Beyond his Del Safari project, which was clearly one of the largest of his career, little is known and documented about Galbraith. Mentions of his projects all but disappeared from the papers that used to celebrate his work, and after Del Safari he either entered a state of retirement or at least took on less publicized projects. His A.I.A. membership had lapsed in 1965 and he did not renew it. Galbraith died in 2012. He had no known archive nor have there been any studies of his work. This partial catalog of his work has been constructed through research, though it is certainly an incomplete picture of this California modernist: >1954 John and Nettie Galbraith House Demolished 1262 Hartwood Point Drive, Pasadena, CA >1955 Temple City Professional Pharmacy Standing 9676 E Las Tunas Rd, Temple City, CA Swimquip Inc Building Standing (partially demolished) 3301 Gilman Rd, El Monte, CA Expanded in 1958 William J. Gosline House Demolished 1600 Highland Oaks Dr, Arcadia, CA >1956 Foothill Hospital Unbuilt of 41 77 65 Monrovia, CA Rand Lewis House Standing 3170 Mesaloa Ln, Pasadena, CA P. Melvin Knoll House #1 Standing 2105 Villa Heights Rd, Pasadena, CA >1957 Unknown Home 3605 Canon Blvd, Altadena, CA >1958 Temple City Christian Church Standing 9723 Garibaldi Ave, Temple City, CA Phil Sechler House Standing 2804 E California Blvd >1959 Unitek Corporation Demolished 950 Royal Oaks Dr, Monrovia, CA Fortiﬁber Company Undetermined Memphis, TN Paul A. Cox House Standing 534 Arroyo Dr, South Pasadena, CA >1960 Harmony Homes Undetermined San Bernardino, CA David A. Thomas House Standing of 42 77 66 2045 Elkins Pl, Arcadia, CA Unknown House Standing 2375 Vosburg St, Pasadena, CA C. A. Stanley House Undetermined Pasadena, CA Robert and Mary Culp House Undetermined La Canada, CA Unknown House Undetermined Antelope Valley, CA >1961 Charles Snider House Standing 2116 Canyon Rd, Arcadia, CA South Pasadena Christian Church Standing 1316 Lyndon St, South Pasadena, CA Leonard Weeks House Undetermined Carmel, CA >1962 W. W. Galbraith House Standing 463 N Canyon Blvd, Monrovia, CA Samuel Bartley Cannell House Standing (altered) 567 Meadow Grove St, La Canada Flintridge, CA >1963 Morlan Residence Hall at Chapman University Standing of 43 77 67 575 N Center St, Orange, CA P. Melvin Knoll House (2) Standing 2147 Villa Heights Rd, Pasadena, CA >1964 Lutheran Church of the Cross Standing 66 W Duarte Rd, Arcadia, CA National Rain Bird Co Undetermined N Grand Ave, Glendora, CA >1965 Alpha Hall at Biola University Standing Biola University Campus First Christian Church Standing 444 E Lomita Blvd, Wilmington, CA >1966 Men’s Residence Hall at Biola University Undetermined California Water and Telephone Company, Pacoima Undetermined 13461 Van Nuys Blvd, Pacoima, CA California Water and Telephone Company, Sepulveda Undetermined Near Sepulveda and Nordhoff Student Union at Biola University Standing Biola University Campus First Christian Church Standing 789 N Altadena Dr, Pasadena, CA of 44 77 68 >1967 Unknown House [needs further conﬁrmation] 1275 Old Mill Rd, San Marino, CA >1968 Leavey Faculty Center, Loyola Marymount College Standing [Now Collins Faculty and Alumni Center] Rosedale Plaza Shopping Center Demolished Huntington Dr at Alta Vista Ave, Monrovia, CA 1975 Unknown House Standing 1901 Gibraltar Rd, Santa Barbara, CA [Noted in real estate listing, needs further conﬁrmation] UNKNOWN Richard Woodard House La Canada Flintridge, CA of 45 77 69 HISTORY: Del Safari Country Club In the beginning of 1969, George Glickley (1919-2012) and Burton “Burt” Graham (1911-1998) set about materializing a lush dream of leisure and exclusivity from 240 acres of sandy desert. The land was located in the northern stretches of Palm Desert (still a few years away from incorporation) and had never been previously developed. They purchased the land from Sophia Maloof, a long-time resident and businesswoman of Palm Springs who had owned the land for some time. Maloof (or a predecessor) 20 had picked up the land from Southern Paciﬁc Railroad, the railroad ever eager to liquidate their desert land in the Coachella Valley in the years before country clubs were even thinkable.21 Glickley and Graham, both of whom had made a fortune in the steel business in Chicago, had been had been lifelong friends, business partners, and seasonal residents “Luxurious Golf Club Due Soon,” Desert Sun, March 4, 1969. 20 Historic land patents show that this section of land had been given by the government to the Southern 21 Paciﬁc Railroad as part of the company’s deal with the government. of 46 77 Figure 15. Bud McLachlan, Burt Graham, and George Glickley place the ﬂag for the ninth hole on the sand dune that would become Del Safari, in June of 1970. Photo: Historical Society of Palm Desert. 70 of the Coachella Valley. Since the late 1940s, they were both co-owners of the Modern Steel Heat Treating Company and, in shortly after the club’s opening in 1959, had purchased neighboring homes in the Bermuda Dunes Country Club. The Coachella 22 Valley’s newfound fame in the post-war decades had propelled so many like them — successful businessmen seeking a winter retreat — to buy into new country clubs with their swank golf courses, condominiums, and clubhouses. Glickley and Graham quickly settled into this crowd, and newspaper clippings from the 1960s are rife with mentions of their golf scores, communal dinners at the clubhouse, and other pursuits of the good life. Only a few years after buying their homes in the Bermuda Dunes Country Club, and likely witnessing the fortunes being made from desert expanses, Glickley and Graham began to turn their attention towards real estate. Between 1962 and 1963, Glickley and Graham partnered with the owners of BDCC, Ryan Ryan and Ernie Dunlevie, to develop the Bermuda Dunes Airport, a private airport adjacent to the club and intended [Untitled article], Desert Sun, November 16, 1962. 22 of 47 77 Figure 16. George Glickley and Burt Graham at their joint operation, the Bermuda Dunes Airport. Reproduced from the Desert Sun, May 31, 1963. 71 for the use of homeowners like themselves (ﬁg. 16). Shortly thereafter, in 1965, 23 they were instrumental in negotiating the purchase of the Bermuda Dunes Country Club from Ryan and Dunlevie by a consortium of club members. Glickley became the club’s 24 new president for the following two years, and the development ambitions of him and his closest friend, Graham, were clearly growing. As legend has it, Glickley once “had to wait an hour or so for a tee time” at BDCC, and while using the time to get a haircut, had learned of a bare patch of land for sale from the manicurist at the barber shop. And so, the idea of his own country club was born. 25 The reality, however, is that Glickley and Graham had been scheming such a plan for many years. They were both clearly interested in development in the Coachella Valley, were familiar by then with development patterns, and had experience in managing and ﬁnancing a golf course operation through their tenure at BDCC. In the announcement for the future club, it was noted that it was “ﬁve years in the mind” of Glickley and Graham, and the land was nearby to the BDCC.26 Glickley and Graham’s interest in developing a country club also ﬁt a larger trend of development that was happening in the Coachella Valley in the late 1960s and early 1970s. While golf had a presence in the Coachella Valley since the 1920s with the opening of a course at Palm Springs’ El Mirador Hotel followed by the O’Donnell Golf Club, it had taken on a new potency and desirability in the years after World War II. Prior to the war, courses were typically smaller, standalone operations with no residential component. This was revolutionized, however, in 1951 with the opening of 27 Thunderbird Country Club as developed by Johnny Dawson. With eighteen holes, not only was it the ﬁrst full sized course in the Coachella Valley, but it combined the popular amenity of golf with a residential component. Modern and expensive homes faced the golf course, and residents, which grew more prominent by the year, had the privilege of frequenting a clubhouse. For the ﬁrst time, all of the popular and sellable amenities in the Coachella Valley — clubs, sports, seasonal homes, and architecture — were combined into a single development. Thunderbird was a highly successful 28 venture and catalyzed the development of dozens of golf courses in the following years. Capitalizing on this new model and supplied with thousands of acres of desert land, developers set about remaking the Coachella Valley. The ﬁrst distinct wave of [Untitled article], Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1963. 23 “Members Own Bermuda Dunes,” Desert Sun, January 31, 1966. 24 Avondale Golf Club, “Our 50th Anniversary,” https://www.avondalegolfclub.com/legacy.25 “Luxurious Golf Club Due Soon,” Desert Sun, March 4, 1969. 26 Tracy Conrad, “Golden Days of Desert Golf,” Desert Magazine, April 2012. 27 Melissa Riche, “Thoroughly Modern Cody,” Palm Springs Life, February 10, 2020, https://28 www.palmspringslife.com/thunderbird-country-club-rancho-mirage/. of 48 77 72 development occurred from the mid-1950s to the early-1960s, and included such developments as the Tamarisk Country Club (1952), Eldorado Country Club (1956), Indian Wells Country Club (1957), Shadow Mountain Golf Club (1958) Bermuda Dunes Country Club (1959), La Quinta Country Club (1959), Palm City [Palm Desert Country Club] (1961), and Seven Lakes Country Club (1964). These developments all repeated the Thunderbird model of a full-sized golf course lined with residences, centered around a clubhouse, and populated/maintained by an exclusive club organization. Moreover, 29 while they capitalized on the celebrity and popularity of Palm Springs, they were all concentrated in the less developed, eastern portions of the Coachella Valley. In this ﬁrst wave of country club, architecture became a key component. Clubhouses were designed by modernist architects such as William Cody, Donald Wexler, and Richard Harrison, and the estate-sized homes were similarly well-designed. These clubs embraced a more reﬁned, simpler vision of architectural modernity: clean edges and glass walls that faced artiﬁcially green expanses and looming mountains. Increasingly, however, country clubs began to develop condominiums as a more affordable alternative to custom-built estate lots. Shadow Mountain Golf Club and Bermuda Dunes Country Club, for instance, were each built with condominiums facing their course, with both developments hiring the modernist architect Richard Harrison. Central to the growing world of golf in the Coachella Valley was James “Jimmy” Hines (1903-1986), a professional golfer turned course designer and developer. Hines 30 began his golf career in the 1920s and 1930s as a golf course assistant and professional in the East Coast. He played in the leading national tournaments through the 1930s, was the two-time winner of the Los Angeles open, and was even selected for the 1939 Ryder Cup team. When Thunderbird Country Club opened in 1951, Hines 31 was brought on by developer Dawson to be the course’s golf pro. Dawson, continuing 32 his success with Thunderbird, developed a series of courses in the decades following and frequently partnered with Hines. Beyond Thunderbird, the two worked together on the Pauma Valley Country Club (1958) in Escondido and Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells (1958). Hines also began developing courses on his own, and was a leader in the consortiums that produced the Royal Lahaina Golf Club (1961) in Maui an the Desert Air Club (1968) in Rancho Mirage. Dawson and Hines’ developments were at the forefront of larger trends in golf courses happening in Southern California and beyond. Renee Brown, “How the Coachella Valley Became a Golfer’s Paradise,” Desert Sun, June 8, 2017, 29 https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2017/06/08/how-coachella-valley-became-golfers-paradise/ 380877001/. Obituary for James Hines, Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1986. 30 Ibid.31 “New Thunderbird Golf Course Open Thursday For Play by Members,” Palm Springs News, January 32 23, 1951. of 49 77 73 Golf course development, along with development in general in the Coachella Valley, dampened in the mid-1960s. One exception was Dawson’s Seven Lakes Country Club in Palm Springs, which opened in 1964, but otherwise the initial boom cooled off. As the 1970s approached, the architecture and development patterns of the Coachella Valley were also shifting from the reﬁned modernism of the post-war years to a swankier, more fantastical aesthetic typical of the work of Arthur Elrod. The sleekness of the 1950s was being replaced by architecture that was more historicist and “exotic,” layered with shag rug excesses while still pandering to long-established patterns of leisure and exclusivity. Another distinct period of golf course development began in the late 1960s and continued into the early 1970s. As before, these followed the country club model with facilities for golf (as well as tennis and other elite sports), a clubhouse, and residences. The condominium — the novelty of which had worn down in the 1960s — became the staple of many of these new country clubs. Dawson began developing the Marrakesh Country Club (1969) in Palm Desert while Hines was working on his Desert Air Club in Rancho Mirage (1968). Other developers were working on Eldorado West (1969), Mission Hills, (1969), Lago La Quinta (1969), La Cortina Country Club (1969, ultimately unbuilt), and Ironwood Country Club (1974). 33 It was in the midst of this resurgence in golf course development that Glickley and Graham acquired their land and set about developing a country club of their own. In March of 1969, the project was ofﬁcially announced as The Safari Country Club and was intended to be a country club with an eighteen-hole golf course, clubhouse, and condominiums. To design the clubhouse they had initially brought on the famed Palm Springs modernist William Cody, who was known for country club work. He had designed the Eldorado clubhouse and updated the Thunderbird clubhouse for its grand 1951 reopening, in addition to dozens of custom-built estate homes in country clubs across the Coachella Valley. To design the complementary golf course, Glickley and Graham enlisted none other than Hines, who was noted as the “top golf course layout expert” in the announcement. While Hines was responsible for the design of the 34 course, he was assisted by engineer J. D. Kilpatrick and builder Cal Hardin in its execution.35 In the spring of 1969, Graham and Glickley worked out details and plans for their project. They formed the M.G.G. Corporation to ﬁnance the project, bringing other investors into the endeavor: Daniel “Bud” McLachlan, George Harmon, and, later, Earl John Beath, “$200 Million Tempo in Upper Valley Growth,” Desert Sun, December 29, 1969. 33 “Luxurious Golf Club Due Soon,” Desert Sun, March 4, 1969. 34 “Del Safari Golf Course Attracts North, South,” special Del Safari edition of the Desert Sun, February 35 9, 1974; “New Major Golf Project Planned,” Palm Desert Post, May 29, 1969. of 50 77 74 Temple. (“M.G.G.” was an acronym of the names of McLachlan, Graham, Glickley.) In 36 addition, the concept of the club was worked out, which was renamed to be the Del Safari Country Club. William Cody, who had developed an initial scheme, was replaced for unknown reasons with another talented modern architect, John F. Galbraith, and the initial construction permits were ﬁled.37 What differentiated the Del Safari concept and this new phase of golf course development from its predecessors was its emphasis on themed environments. While the country clubs of the 1950s and early 1960s were simpler, reﬁned manifestations of modernism, the developments of the late 1960s and early 1970s were frequently intended to be exciting and “exotic.” Such was the case for the Del Safari, which was to be built in a homogenized “African motif.” The clubhouse and condominiums were 38 intended to evoke a modernistic African fortress, streets were named after places in Africa (e.g. “Tandika Trail,” “Kilimanjaro Drive,” “Sweetwater Drive,” and “Monzambique “Rapid Pace of Construction in PD Hastens Del Safari Development Project,” Palm Desert Post, 36 October 2, 1969. Riverside County Building Permit #BZ169556, May 8, 1969. 37 Ibid. 38 of 51 77 Figure 17. Marrakesh Country Club which began construction in 1968 as designed by John Elgin Woolf. Marrakesh, with its hybrid Hollywood Regency and African motifs, also embodied the second wave of more “exotic” country club developments. Photo: Desert Beautiful Slide Collection, Historical Society of Palm Desert. 75 Drive”), and the main decorative lake abutting the golf course was named “Lake Victoria” for the African namesake. Even the main guardhouse, complementing the seven-foot barbed wire fence that wrapped the development, had a gate adorned with spear motifs (ﬁg. 18). Marrakesh Country Club (ﬁg. 17), which was kicked off in Palm Desert shortly before Del Safari, was conceptualized to mimic a Moroccan aesthetic, which the architect John Elgin Woolf creatively hybridized with the Hollywood Regency style. Similarly, La Cortina, announced shortly after the Del Safari, was intended to have an "early Californian” Spanish atmosphere. The M.G.G. Corporation received their ﬁrst permit in May of 1969 to construct a well and pump to supply water to their development while plans were worked out for the clubhouse. Shortly thereafter, in July of that year, they received the permits to begin construction on the clubhouse and golf course. The clubhouse, valued at $300,000 (though the ﬁnal ﬁgure was likely higher), was built by Aljac Construction Company. 39 Construction began on the clubhouse in September of 1969 after site preparations, and by December of 1969 its decorative spire was being lowered into place. The golf course, a sweeping and expansive eighteen-hole course lined with trees and two lakes as designed by Hines, was completed just as construction was picking up on the clubhouse in the fall of 1969. The pace of construction moved at a surprisingly fast Riverside County Building Permit #BZ171323, July 15, 1969.39 of 52 77 Figure 18. The original guardhouse with its decorative spear-capped gates. Photo: Historical Society of Palm Desert. 76 rate. The golf course was opened for play in January of 1970, and the clubhouse was completed in March, not even a year after Glickley and Graham closed escrow on the land, and less than six months since construction commenced. 40 “New Golf Club Open,” Desert Sun, March 4, 1969; Riverside County Building Permit #BZ171323, July 40 15, 1969. of 53 77 Figure 19-22. The clubhouse and surrounding golf course shortly after their completion in early 1970. The clubhouse, designed to mimic an African fortress, was elevated and stood out starkly against the barren desert. Photos: Historical Society of Palm Desert. 77 Once completed, the clubhouse epitomized the swanky excesses of the 1960s. It was a themed environment with a hybridized modern/African building, from which one could look out onto the golf course and desert expanse from either the club’s grand dining room or rooftop bar. As the sales director said at the time, “what we have done is to 41 bring forth a total environment of living.” The new golf course, which one columnist 42 hailed as “beautiful… particularly the back nine which has some demanding holes,” was supported by the new golf pro, Fred Scherzer.43 The rooftop cocktail bar went by a variety of names. At varying points it was referred to as the “Crow’s 41 Nest,” “Top of the Mark,” and “Zanzibar Room.” “Del Safari Fits Tone of Desert,” Desert Sun, December 17, 1971. 42 “Ed Vines at Del Safari as Director of Sales,” Desert Sun, September 21, 1970; “Braven Dyer,” Desert 43 Sun, January 30, 1970. of 54 77 Figure 23-26. The golf shortly after its completion in early 1970 as designed by Jimmy Hines, showing Lake Zanzibar and its expansive, pastoral nature. Photos: Historical Society of Palm Desert. 78 While the construction of the golf course and clubhouse sped along, the residential component proceeded at a languid pace. The golf course and clubhouse were completed before a single house was built. It was the initial plan to develop some 250 condominium units, also designed by Galbraith, but these plans fell through. In the fall 44 of 1970, work started on twenty-one townhouses. By the end of 1971, only six 45 “executive homes” were completed and half of the townhouses were ready for occupancy (ﬁg. 27). Then, in 1972, Graham and Glickley announced another $2,000,000 round of residential development for some forty units that were completed at the end of the year. 46 The new construction campaign, however, was not enough to make the project pencil out, and by the mid-1970s the project was plagued with ﬁnancial issues. In the mid-1970s, a bank took possession of the development and it was then auctioned to Williams “Bill” Stephens in 1979. In 1986, Stephens renamed the club “Avondale Golf Club” to “reﬂect his British heritage,” before it was sold to a consortium of its members in 1990.47 “New Major Golf Project Planned,” Palm Desert Post, May 29, 1969. 44 “Ed Vines,” Desert Sun, 1971. 45 “Club Plans $2 Million Expansion,” Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1972; “Del Safari Club Into 3rd 46 Successful Season,” Desert Sun, December 15, 1972. Avondale Golf Club, “Our 50th Anniversary,” https://www.avondalegolfclub.com/legacy.47 of 55 77 Figure 27. The townhouse units built in 1971, which were only a few of the original quantity intended. It is unclear if these were also designed by Galbraith. Photo: Historical Society of Palm Desert. 79 Apart from its ﬁnancial distress in the mid-1970s, members made ample use of its clubhouse, course, and facilities. The Club golf tournaments, was eventually built out with residences, and its clubhouse held all the social events expected of such a clubhouse. The Avondale Golf Club is a surviving example of a distinct era in the late-1960s Coachella Valley, in which architecture, themed environments, and money combined to form clubs like itself. of 56 77 Figure 28. The Galbraith-designed clubhouse in the mid-1970s, a few years into its existence. Photo: Historical Society of Palm Desert. 80 Statement of Signiﬁcance Criterion A: Is associated with an event or events that have made a signiﬁcant contribution to broad patterns of history. Clubhouse: The clubhouse is not associated with a speciﬁc event or events related to Palm Desert’s history. It entertained the expected parties and events of a clubhouse but nothing that rose to a level of notability. Therefore the clubhouse does not appear eligible under this category. Golf Course: The golf course is not associated with a speciﬁc event or events related to Palm Desert’s history. Various tournaments were part of the course’s history, but no single event or tournament holds particular historical signiﬁcance relating to golf’s history. Therefore the golf course does not appear eligible under this category. Criterion B: Is associated with the lives of persons signiﬁcant in the past. Clubhouse: The clubhouse is not associated with any particularly signiﬁcant person. While its developers, Glickley and Graham, were prominent businessmen, they were among many of their kind in the Coachella Valley. Therefore the clubhouse does not appear eligible under this category. Golf Course: The clubhouse is not associated with any particularly signiﬁcant person in the history of golf. Various professional and semi-professional players have used the course over its existence, but nothing that rises above typical golf course usage. Therefore the golf course does not appear eligible under this category. Criterion C: Embodies distinctive characteristics, or is one of the few remaining examples of a style, type, period or method of construction or possesses high artistic value. Clubhouse: While the clubhouse is the work of a master architect, its style is a hybrid of many (Late Modern, Neo-African, Southwestern, etc.) and cannot be attached to a single given style. Therefore it is not exemplar of a particular style because it does not have one. Therefore the clubhouse does not appear eligible under this category. of 57 77 81 Golf Course: The golf course is a good and surviving example of mid-century golf course planning, but there are many other examples like it in the Coachella Valley. Therefore the golf course does not appear eligible under this category. Criterion D: Represents the work of a master builder, designer or architect Clubhouse: The clubhouse is one of the ﬁnal and more inventive works of John F. Galbraith A.I.A. (1923-2012), a modernist Pasadena architect who designed a wide variety of post-war modern buildings. His buildings were recognized, published, and epitomized larger trends in Modernism while rising above typical post-war Modernism. The Avondale clubhouse represents a later phase of his work which began to turn away from the rigidity of previous Modernism and embraced other styles and more sculptural qualities. Therefore the Avondale clubhouse appears eligible under this category. Golf Course: While Jimmy Hines was noted for his work in developing and designing golf courses, much of his role was on the development side of golf courses, and he less frequently was responsible for their design. Other golf course designers, like Lawrence Hughes, were active in this period and responsible for more signiﬁcant works. Therefore the golf course does not appear eligible under this category. Criterion E: Is an archaeological, paleontological, botanical, geological, topographical, ecological, or geographical resource that has yielded or has the potential to yield important information in history or prehistory. Clubhouse: A review of pre-history was not undertaken as part of this report. Therefore the clubhouse does not appear eligible under this category. Golf Course: A review of pre-history was not undertaken as part of this report. Therefore the golf course does not appear eligible under this category. Criterion F: Reﬂects distinctive examples of community planning or signiﬁcant development patterns, including those associated with different eras of settlement and growth, agriculture, or transportation. Clubhouse: The Avondale clubhouse was built amidst a distinct era of country club development in the late 1960s and 70s along with projects such as Marrakesh, Mission Hills, and Ironwood. These developments featured golf courses surrounded by residences and centered around a clubhouse. In addition, this particular phase of golf course development was noted for its themed environments. The Avondale clubhouse epitomizes this trend of development of 58 77 82 with its architectural clubhouse. Therefore the clubhouse appears eligible under this category. Golf Course: The Avondale golf course was built amidst a distinct era of country club development in the late 1960s and 70s along with projects such as Marrakesh, Mission Hills, and Ironwood. These developments featured golf courses surrounded by residences and centered around a clubhouse. The golf course, which is very well preserved, embodies these characteristics and is a classic 1960s/70s golf course design. Therefore the golf course appears eligible under this category. In conclusion, the Avondale clubhouse appears eligible for landmark status under criterion D and F, while the golf course appears eligible under criterion F. of 59 77 83 Appendix A Historic Construction Photographs (All photos courtesy the Historical Society of Palm Desert)   of 60 77 84   of 61 77 85   of 62 77 86   of 63 77 87   of 64 77 88   of 65 77 89 Appendix B 1974 Special Issue of the Desert Sun on Del Safari of 66 77 90 of 67 77 91 of 68 77 92 of 69 77 93 of 70 77 94 of 71 77 95 of 72 77 96 of 73 77 97 Appendix C Chronology of Building Permits 1969 5/8 BZ169556 Pump for well 1969 7/7 BZ171273 Electric service and motors to sump pump 1969 7/8 BZ171279 Plan check for country club 1969 7/8 BZ171280 Plan check for gate house 1969 7/10 BZ171300 Gate house for country club [ﬁnaled 1969 11/26] 1969 7/15 BZ171323 Country Club clubhouse [ﬁnaled 1970 3/25] 1969 7/16 BZ171327 Temporary power pole 1969 8/1 BZ171408 Plan check for steel storage building 1969 8/6 BZ171428 Ofﬁce and maintenance building [ﬁnaled 10/16/1969)] of 74 77 98 1969 9/4 BZ172938 Temporary power pole 1970 8/6 BZ183909 Restroom on golf course [ﬁnaled 1970 9/16] 1970 10/13 BZ184289 Elevator shaft for clubhouse [ﬁnaled 2/23/1971] 1972 3/2 BZ201931 Gas lights on clubhouse 1978 3/27 BZ326250 Plan check over walkway 1978 4/18 BZ326829 Clubhouse roof structure over walkway 1994 4/4 93-00001697 Remodel club house ($112k valuation) Robert H. Ricciardi AIA 1995 9/20 93-00005563 Unknown permit for guard house 1998 6/5 93-00012234 Interior demolition James E. Simon Company 1998 8/4 93-00012844 Remodel clubhouse of 75 77 99 James E. Simon Company Valued at $300k 1998 8/14 93-00012923 Fire sprinkler system 1998 9/30 93-00013396 Upgrade electrical panel 1998 10/6 93-00013445 Pump house 1999 1/27 93-00014443 Add seepage pit 2000 6/21 93-00018941 Remodel guard house 2001 1/17 93-00020498 Retaining walls 2001 8/1 93-00022363 Add walk-in cooler 2003 9/22 03-00029260 Reroof clubhouse  of 76 77 100 Appendix D Letter of Authorization of 77 77 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 CITY OF PALM DESERT 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260-2578 TEL: 760-346-0611 INFO@CITYOFPALMDESERT.GOV CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE CASE NO. CRPC24-0001 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE HELD BEFORE THE CULTURAL RESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, TO CONSIDER A RECOMMENDATION TO THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL FOR THE DESIGNATION OF AN EXISTING CLUBHOUSE STRUCTURE AND GOLF COURSE, KNOWN AS THE AVONDALE GOLF CLUB, LOCATED AT 75800 AVONDALE DRIVE AS A LOCAL LANDMARK The City of Palm Desert (City), in its capacity as the Lead Agency, has found that the proposed historic landmark designation is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Guidelines Section 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) as the project will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and is not a Project as defined by Section 15378. PROJECT LOCATION/DESCRIPTION: PROJECT LOCATION: 75800 Avondale Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92211 (Assessor’s Parcel Numbers 626-030-028, -033 -043, -044). PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project is a request to designate the existing golf clubhouse building, and golf course located at 75800 Avondale Drive within the City of Palm Desert a local landmark. The Cultural Resources Preservation Committee will make a recommendation to the Palm Desert City Council. PUBLIC HEARING: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Cultural Resources Committee of the City of Palm Desert, California, will hold a Public Hearing at its meeting on June 26, 2024. The Cultural Resources Committee meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. in the Public Works Conference Room at 73510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, California. Pursuant to Assembly Bill 2449, this meeting may be conducted by teleconference. Options for remote participation will be listed on the Posted Agenda for the meeting at https://www.palmdesert.gov/departments/city-manager-s- office/city-clerk/committee-calendar. There will be in-person access to the meeting location. PUBLIC REVIEW: The plans and related documents are available for public review Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by contacting the project planner, Nick Melloni. Please submit written comments to the Planning Division. If any group challenges the action in court, issues raised may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence at or prior to the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee hearing. All comments and any questions should be directed to: Nick Melloni, AICP, Principal Planner City of Palm Desert 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260 (760) 346-0611, Extension 479 nmelloni@palmdesert.gov PUBLISH: THE DESERT SUN RICHARD D. CANNONE, AICP, SECRETARY JUNE 14, 2024 CULTURAL RESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE 121 122 Cultural Resource Preservation Committee Year 2024 2024 2024 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 Month Mar Feb Jan Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Day 27 28 24 26 28 31 26 - - 27 5 25 Clark, Paul P - A - - P P - - P P P 1 0 Graybill, Don P - P - - P P - - P P P 0 0 Housken, Kim P - P - - P P - - P P P 0 0 McCune, Rochelle P - P - - P P - - P P P 0 0 Mortensen, Thomas P - P - - P P - - P P P 0 0 Toltzmann, David P - P - - P P - - P P P 0 0 Vassalli, Linda P - E - - P P 0 1 0 0 P Present P Remote A Absent E Excused -No Meeting Resigne Palm Desert Municipal Code 2.34.010 Monthly: Three unexcused absences from regular meeting in any twelve-month period shall constitute an automatic resignation of members holding office on boards that meet bimonthly. Please contact the Recording Secretary to discuss any attendance concerns. Total Absences Unexcused Excused 123