George Gutenberg
The Guide: Palm Springs
May 1, 2007
James Cioffi (Cioffi Architects, Palm Springs, 760.325.1557, www.jamescioffiarchitect.com). Cioffi focuses his modern style on Palm Springs proper and provides a wide range of services, including custom home design, remodels and restorations (most notably, Albert Frey’s Villa Hermosa apartments).
Juan Carlos Ochoa (Ochoa Design, Palm Desert, 760.773.6605, www.ochoadesign.com). Ochoa has designed contemporary homes, but lately he has
been involved in more traditional styles, from Early California to Mediterranean
to Italianate. For these, Ochoa turns to-ward true traditional materials, such
as natural stone, exposed wood ceilings, old-world plaster finishes, and wood
and stone floors.
Top: A fire pit by Roger Hopkins for a
Bighorn residence, Middle & Bottom: Two views of Marcello Villano’s landscaping in Palm
Springs. Middle & Bottom photographs by David Glomb. (Click images to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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Landscape Designers/Craftspeople
Coachella Valley landscapers place a big emphasis on using
indigenous flora, such as paloverde, cactus and desert willow, and limiting the
need for irrigation. Form follows the function of having to respect a harsh
climate. To that end, putting in a pool is also a must. "It’s odd if you don’t,"
says landscape architect Michael Buccino. "In Palm Springs, the oasis is the
heart of where life is."
Marcello Villano (Rancho Mirage, 760.401.0452). "I persuade my clients who want pretty green lawns to go with desert plants," says Villano, who has been employing a "less is more" style to his desert landscapes throughout the Coachella Valley since opening his firm in 1992.
Michael Buccino (Michael Buccino Associates, Palm Desert, 760.772.7166, www.mbuccino.com). "I love making the contrast between the rugged desertscape and the oasis of the pool, which is fragrant, soft, enjoyable, relaxing and refreshing," says Buccino, who has designed a wide variety of projects but specializes in large-scale custom residential work.
Ron Gregory (RGA Landscape Architects, Palm Desert, 760.568.3624, www.rga-pd.com). Celebrating his 30th year in business, landscaper Ron Gregory focuses on larger projects, most notably, a 180-foot pool on a triple lot at Mirada Estates. His other endeavor, Pinnacle Design, handles golf course landscaping.
Wayne Williamson (Insight West, Palm Desert, 760.568.9089, www.insightwest.com) "I like a lot of unusual materials," says Williamson, an interior/exterior designer who has used everything from a shot-up piece of metal ("murdered art") to a petrified, seven-foot-tall tree trunk. To solve an exterior lighting problem in a Tamarisk Country Club residence, Williamson made a walkway of translucent selenite, lit from beneath with rope lights.
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