What are the Green Fairway Estates, you ask? They are a wonderful Alexander Construction Company housing development in Palm Springs, California.
Designed and constructed in the modern style of the period, the Green Fairway Estates development is perched on the edge of Tahquitz Golf Course in the southern part of the city. The fairway homes begin near the corner of Lakeside Drive and Brentwood and snake their way down the street continuing on to a portion of Pebble Beach. Each home was built according one of nine master floor plans, each theme being repeated only two or three times due to the limited number of homes that were constructed prior to 1965 -- the year that the Alexanders died in a plane crash. Fortunately for the development, however, a number of Green Fairway Estates were completed prior to or soon after this terrible accident.
The Green Fairway Estates are in many ways the "Brigadoon" Alexanders of Palm Springs, as very few people -- even die-hard modernists -- know about the neighborhood. What a wonderful surprise they are to the individual with an appreciation for Palm Springs modern, tiki-style architecture, and the history of the Alexander Construction Company!
Many of the Green Fairway homes are executed in an Asiatic or South Pacific style -- influenced no doubt by the sense of Eastern exoticism being brought home by World War II soldiers. As you stroll down Lakeside Drive, do pay attention to the homes' delightful A-frame roofs, lava rock facades, Aztec motifs, and other "exotic" features. With floorplan names like The Royal Singapore and The Maracaibo, the whimsical ideals and themes of the period are in full force. Your short trip down Lakeside Drive will be nothing short of a trip around the world.
The architect responsible for these fantastic models was none other than Donald Wexler -- architect of the Palm Springs Airport and the now famous North End steel homes. Residents of the Green Fairway Estates were very fortunate to have Mr. Wexler drive by our neighborhood in late 2004 for the purpose of confirming this little known fact. Contrary to popular opinion, the famous North End steel construction homes were not the only group of homes Mr. Wexler designed within the city of Palm Springs! Mr. Wexler even remembered the unique interior floor plans, describing them in detail after nearly 40 years.
The area surrounding our neighborhood was originally surveyed and developed by the Westview Development Company in 1958. (Recently the original survey map was uncovered in the archives of the Palm Springs Historical Society, which you may now view.) Westview Development Corporation was operated by Chicago residential and commercial developer Morton Zuckerman (president) and vice-president Frank Bogert, mayor of Palm Springs. In charge of sales was realtor and developer George Gannon. The designer of the golf course was Lawrence Huges.
We, the residents and owners of Green Fairway Estates, encourage you to come visit our fair hamlet. If you are coming from downtown Palm Springs, take Gene Autry towards Highway 111. Just before reaching 111, turn left on to Waverly, left on Brentwood, and then right Lakeside Drive. See you... here!
For further research, we suggest the following historical items:
Letter from W.P. Rowe (Surveyor) to Palm Springs Golf Course Committee (May 29, 1945) [PDF]
Plan for 'Palm Springs Golf Club' Revealed" (Palm Springs Life, June 1958) [FULL TEXT] / [ORIGINAL SCAN]
"$15 Million Palm Springs Golf Club to Feature Fairway Living" (Palm Springs Life, August 1958)[FULL TEXT] / [ORIGINAL SCAN]
Do you have historical photographs, stories, insights, or additional articles to share? Please EMAIL US!
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