Sand Castle

Designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s Palm Springs house balances a serene mountain view with a hedonistic vibe redolent of the swinging ’60s.

- Mayer Rus

When one discusses the midcentury-modern architecture of Palm Springs, it’s best to be specific. On the one hand, there are those archetypes of classic California modernism—perhaps best exemplified by Richard Neutra’s famed Kaufmann House—that echo the language of the International Style, all glass and steel and elegant rationalism. But then there’s another, more playful school of modernism, one that embraced historicist elements, purely theatrical effects, and no small portion of camp to conjure a suitably sybaritic mise-en-scène for the leisure class at play. To the surprise of absolutely no one familiar with interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard or his sumptuous settings, the effervescent British expat selected a prime example of the latter for his own Palm Springs hideaway.