The Legacy of the Stahl House

By Rachel Lehmann-Haupt

Over the weekend of May 22 and 23rd, MOCA+ worked with Palm Springs Art Museum to host a first look at a major exhibition, slated to open in November 2022, celebrating the legacy of Swiss-born architect Albert Frey, who has been called the “father of Desert Modernism.” The two-day event included a VIP tour of Frey House II, a screening of a film by Jake Gorst about Frey’s all-metal Aluminaire House, and a viewing of drawings and artifacts from Frey’s archives in the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center.

The Weekend of Architecture also featured a first look at a new book about Case Study House #22, the most famous of the Case Study Houses and the only one still in the care of its original owners. The Stahl House: Case Study House #22: The Making of a Modernist Icon, to be released by Chronicle Books this fall, is the official biography of the Stahl House and the family who made it their home. On our panel, author Kim Cross interviewed siblings Shari Stahl Gronwald and Bruce Stahl, who grew up in Case Study House #22 and serve as stewards and hosts for the 7,000 people who tour the house each year.