Marrow Mirage House

Bells + Whistles worked to update a historically significant midcentury modern home into a quintessential California getaway house in Rancho Mirage.

  • area / size 3,380 sqft
  • Year 2020
  • Type House,
  • This past summer, Barbara Rourke and Jason St John, founders of LA-based design studio, Bells + Whistles, completed Marrow Midcentury, a residential project in Palm Springs, CA.

    Originally built in 1957 by renowned mid-century modern architect, Donald Wexler, the home has been deemed architecturally significant and is registered as an historic site. The home is part of Thunderbird North, an enclave of 10 homes designed by mid-century masters, Cody, Wexler & Harrison. The B+W team began designing the Palm Springs-based “Marrow Midcentury” home in Fall 2019 and completed the project in July 2020.

    Marrow Midcentury is where Donald Wexler meets acid fantasy. Every area of the 1957 compound has been transformed with injections of vivid color, hypnotic pattern, and desert magic, creating the quintessential California getaway house.

    What you’ve probably already seen is the spectacular IG-perfect pool designed by Alex Proba. B+W discovered Proba’s work on Instagram and called her in to make the pool extra special. They mentioned the idea of having Alex paint the bottom of the pool as a nod to David Hockney and the rest is history.

    It was an interesting challenge to inject a new spirit into an iconic Wexler home. Sometimes designing for an architecturally significant home or building can add a layer of design paralysis to the mix. With the support of Tim and Jill, we pushed past design reservations in order to create a home exploding with color and pattern.

    Design: Bells + Whistles
    Photography: Madeline Tolle