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A Visit To The Miles C. Bates “Wave House” In Palm Desert

With it’s patented curving roof that mimics the peaks of the surrounding San Jacinto Mountains, the iconic Miles C. Bates “Wave House” has been brilliantly and expertly restored by Los Angeles-based Stayner Architects and is now available to book for overnight stays. Every inch of the home in its original incarnation—before a devastating series of remodels—has been reconsidered with exacting precision, save for a few minor modern amenities that enhance the home’s livability and that continue the architect’s vision for domestic desert bliss. Built for an archetypal, midcentury American playboy and sculptor, Miles C. Bates in 1955 by architect and inventor Walter S. White—a former apprentice of Rudolf Schindler—the house exudes the charm of high, but moderate living and square footage devoted to only the essentials; a less-is-more ethos that gives midcentury architecture its understated grandeur. But, while the physical footprint might be minimal, the house feels anything but cramped. The maximization and utilization of space makes the Wave House feel larger than life, a type of floor planning that belongs to only the greatest architects. Large sliding steel-framed glass doors and clerestory windows create a seamless transition from the great indoors to the great outdoors. The roller coaster roof undulates, giving the entire house a kind of oneness that is alluring and near mystical. With original terrazzo floors and ash wood panels, the house is a masterpiece of materiality and sensuous glamour; even the automated curtains have a kind of burlesque eroticism. A small cactus enclosure feels like a private peep show for thirsty and thorny flora. At night, a soaking tub beckons just steps from the bedroom. As architect and engineer Marcus Vitruvius opined in his treatise for Roman architecture, that in order for buildings to have the perfect proportions, they must have three attributes: firmitas, utilitas and venustas (strength, utility and beauty). The Wave House has all three in spades. Click here to book your stay.