Albert Frey: Aluminaire house (Syosset, NY)
The architect A. Lawrence Kocher was asked to design a house for the Architectural League of New York City and the Allied Arts of Industries bi-annual exhibition. Kocher hired Frey to help design a house that used new materials, like steel and glass as a low cost construction alternative. After the exhibition, the house was purchased by architect Wallace Harrison, who moved the house to his property in Syosset, on Long Island in New York. The house remains on the property until 1987, when a new owner decided to demolish the house and build a subdivision. The New York Institute of Technology agreed to dismantle the house and reconstruct it on their campus. Teams of architecture students spend the next six years carefully dismantling the house and re-assembling it at the School of Architecture on the Central Islip campus. In 2012, the campus was closed, the house was transferred to a group called the Aluminaire House Foundation, which dismantled the structure and stored it in a shipping container. In 2015, the container was shipped to Palm Springs and is currently awaiting re-assembly.
Albert Frey, architect A. Lawrence Kocher, architect
Albert Frey papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. University of California Regents.
Albert Frey: Bel Vista tract housing (Palm Springs, Calif.)
The Bel Vista affordable housing tract was built in 1945 as housing for War workers. The subdivision of 15 homes was designed by Albert Frey and John Porter Clark for the developers Sallie Stevens and Culver Nichols. This was the first subdivision in Palm Springs to feature modern-style houses, and the only Frey housing tract.
Albert Frey, architect John Porter Clark, architect
Albert Frey: Clark and Frey office building (Palm Springs, Calif.)
Albert Frey was in partnership with John Porter Clark from 1939 until 1957. This office building was the firm's office on North Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs. The unassuming modern two-story building now houses retail stores on its first floor.
Albert Frey, architect Clark and Frey, architects John Porter Clark, architect Bernard Anderson, photographer
Albert Frey: Cree house (Palm Springs, Calif.)
The Raymond Cree house was built on the border of Palm Springs and Cathedral City. Cree was a real estate developer who had originally wanted to build a luxury resort on the site; instead a two bedroom house with pool and valley views was constructed.
Albert Frey, architect Clark, Frey & Chambers, architects
Albert Frey: Desert Museum (Palm Springs, Calif.)
This is an early rendering of the Palm Springs Desert Museum, later renamed the Palm Springs Art Museum, in its earlier location on Tahquitz Drive. Clark & Frey worked with the Williams, Williams, Williams architecture firm, which also included E. Stuart Williams, who designed the current Art Museum building in the 1970s.
Albert Frey, architect Frey & Clark, architects Williams, Williams, Williams, architects
Albert Frey papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture previous hit Museum next hit ; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture previous hit Museum next hit ; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Albert Frey: Kocher weekend house (Northport, NY)
Architects A. Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey worked together in 1933-1934 to design low-cost structures, like the Aluminaire House. Kocher was the managing editor of Architectural Record, faculty at the University of Virginia and Black Mountain College, and responsible for helping bring Walter Gropius to the United States. With this weekend house on Long Island, Kocher and Frey designed the house with a redwood frame, then stretched Marine canvas over the walls. The canvas was sealed and painted, and lined with aluminum for insulation on the inside. The ground level was parking and a playground, the second level was the main living level (with kitchen and large living room which had curtains to separate the space into bedrooms at night), and the top level was for sun bathing and sleeping areas during warm weather. The house was demolished in the 1950s to make way for a new subdivision.
Albert Frey: Kocher-Samson office and apartment (Palm Springs, Calif.)
In 1934, Frey was sent to Palm Springs to design and build an office building, with an apartment above, for Dr. J.J. Kocher, the brother of A. Lawrence Kocher. The building was designed to take advantage of the climate and featured a courtyard between the two offices on the ground floor, and the apartment had a large terrace on the shady north side of the building. The photographs, taken just after construction, show how the building was the only structure in the area, surrounded by sand and sagebrush. Today, the building still stands along busy Palm Canyon drive, surrounded by other businesses and concrete.
Albert Frey: Loewy house (Palm Springs, Calif.)
The industrial designer Raymond Loewy commissioned Frey to design a bachelor pad and winter getaway in 1947, in Palm Springs. The small (1100 square feet) house features walls of sliding glass doors opening onto a patio and pool. The outdoor living area contains multiple eating areas, a shaded trellis, and spots for pool-side lounging. As shown in the photos by Julius Shulman, the amoeba-shaped pool even extends under the glass doors and into the living room.
Albert Frey, architect Julius Shulman, photographer
© J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10) Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. University of California Regents.
Albert Frey: Lyons house (Palm Springs, Calif.)
The J.A. Lyons house was a large (5 bedroom), sprawling house in the Smoke Tree Ranch development in Palm Springs. With five bedrooms and four bathrooms, the Lyons house was much more grand than some of Frey's other residences.
Albert Frey, architect Clark & Frey, architects
Albert Frey: Newton house (Palm Springs, Calif.)
The Harold R. Newton house on Palisades Drive in Palm Springs was a small house perched on the side of a steeply sloping lot. Multiple terraces created a more stable hillside and provided space for an access stairway.
Albert Frey: North Shore Beach and Yacht Club (Salton Sea, Calif.)
The Salton Sea was a formerly dry lake bed located southeast of Palm Springs. The area was flooded as part of an effort to irrigate the surrounding area in the early 1900s, and is one of the largest lakes in California. It is also one of the saltiest and most polluted, due to agricultural run-off. During the 1950s, the North Shore area was a very popular vacation spot, and the marina was one of the largest in the state. The Club was in operation until 1984, when it closed after being damaged in a flood. In 2010, the county of Riverside operated the Salton Sea Museum and community center from the main building. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Albert Frey, architect Robson Chambers, architect
Albert Frey: Pelletier house (Palm Desert, Calif.)
The Adrian Pelletier house in Palm Desert was built as the town was being developed as a getaway for Hollywood stars. Its location near both the Shadow Mountain Club and Marrakesh Country Club was a very desirable location.
Albert Frey, architect Julius Shulman, photographer Clark, Frey, and Chambers, architects
Albert Frey: Tramway Gas Station (Palm Springs, Calif.)
Frey and Chambers designed the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway station house (the building at the base of the mountain) in 1963. The Tramway Gas Station, at the corner of Tramway Road and Highway 111, was constructed in 1965 with a distinctive hyperbolic paraboloid roof, which gives the building an instantly recognizable appearance. It was used as a gas station until the 1990s, when it was turned into an art gallery. In 2015, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was converted to the Palm Springs Visitor Center.