Town and Country Center 1948 and A. Quincy Jones and Paul R. Williams, Architects
The Town and Country Center, or “The Center” was designed by renowned architects A. Quincy Jones and Paul R. Williams in 1948. The Center, designed in the Late Moderne architectural style, is comprised of three, two-story, flat-roofed buildings. Each building has street level storefronts on either Indian Canyon Drive or Palm Canyon Drive.
Pedestrian arcades located between the buildings lead to the dramatic focal point of this mixed-use development, a landscaped open-air central courtyard. This atmosphere-packed patio area is surrounded by ground level retail shops that are sheltered by a curvaceous and sweeping pedestrian overhang. On the east side of the courtyard patio, from an irregular, stage-like podium ascends a wide and graceful stairway leading to the courtyard areas’ anchor tenant. Adjacent to the second floor landing and balcony, a large wood-sided planter box supported by a pylon juts out parallel to the stairway terminating above the landscape and patio area below. The opposite side of the balcony space was utilized by the apartment residents. A redwood egg crate style screen, typical of the Late Moderne style provided division between public and private sections of the balcony. Apartment residents have a private stairway access to the units from Indian Canyon Drive.
The courtyard second floor anchor unit was initially occupied by the highly successful and upscale Town and Country Restaurant. The restaurant featured a beautifully designed Modern interior, rich in wood finishes. Interior areas were further complemented by the extensive use of Eames furnishings.
While “the CENTER” is much remembered historically for the Town and Country Restaurant, many tenants enjoyed great long term success as contributing components of the retail atmosphere, adding significantly to the overall downtown Palm Springs experience. Tenants varied widely, retail components showcased the finer shops of the village, while other units served the needs of the permanent community and visitors alike. Adding even more diversity is the second floor residential element of the development.
The Palm Canyon Drive fronted units of the CENTER long featured the Bank of America in the southernmost unit, with Beebe ladies fashions next door. Just to the north was Palm Springs Drug Co., which included Palm Springs Spirits and Tony and Marilyn’s Fountain Grill within. The French Bootery and George Weill’s Fashions framed the arcade leading to the courtyard.
The courtyard perimeter shops lured visitors to a variety of retail experiences. Kelley’s Furnishings, Jewels by Alchian, Village Flower Shop, Warren Imports, The Kings Quarters, Center Beauty Salon and the Mary Helen Teen Shop were elements of a long successful courtyard experience.
The offices located within the CENTER held such historically recognizable names as: the Desert Sun, Palm Springs Villager Magazine, Palm Springs Guide, KDES Radio Broadcasting, Cameron Broadcasting, and the Southern Pacific Company. Even the respected architectural partnership of Wexler and Harrison had an office off the courtyard.
An article appearing in the February, 1950 issue of Architectural Record states that in the Town and Country Restaurant’s first season, customers were so successfully drawn into the courtyard area and its surrounding shops that the property owners were attempting to accelerate the completion of the shopping center construction. Completion of the entire project was originally expected to take up to three years, following a careful construction schedule. Existing structures in various areas of the site were to be utilized and redeveloped into the new Town and Country Center. The areas existing tenants avoided even a brief interruption of business; they were allowed to remain in their untouched units until finished sections were available for them to relocate.
Documentation of the historical and architectural significance of the Town and Country Center dates from the time of its construction, to present day. Palm Springs Weekend, the important book of Palm Springs’ architectural history by Alan Hess and Andrew Danish (2001, Chronicle Books), states that three of the best examples of the Late Moderne were built in Palm Springs: Bullock’s (demolished), the Town and Country Center, and the Tennis Club.
The June 2004, Palm Springs Citywide Historic Resources Survey identifies the Town and Country Center to be among the most historically significant structures in Palm Springs. It concludes that the commercial complex appears to meet the level of significance necessary for individual National Register of Historic Places or California Register of Historical Resources eligibility at the local level. The survey states that the complex is “a rare and excellent example of the late Moderne style” and that “the structure retains a good degree of integrity; the location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association appear to remain unchanged since the building was constructed”. Further, the survey sites that “because of the building’s visual quality, history, intact setting, and fair to high integrity, and as an outstanding example of commercial architecture in the late Moderne style, the building represents the overall commercial development of downtown Palm Springs during the post-war era and contributes to the mid-century modernist character so strongly identified with Palm Springs”. Download the survey here.
