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Architect Craig Ellwood (1922-1992) enjoyed the patronage of Max Palevsky (1924–2010), a Russian-born billionaire who made his wealth producing computers and their components. He and Ellwood belonged to the same tennis club, and through this connection, the two became friends. (See Adrian Glick Kudler, "Philanthropist Max Palevsky Thought He Should Have Been An Architect," written 05/10/2010,Accessed 06/17/2011.) Palevsky co-founded the computer company Scientific Data Systems in 1961, following a short stint at the electronics manufacturer Packard-Bell. Xerox Corporation purchased Scientific Data Systems for $1 billion, 10% of which went to Palevsky. He invested some of this windfall in Robert Noyce (1927-1990) and Gordon Moore's (b. 1929) start-up technology company, Intel, c. 1969. Intel became the dominant producer of microchips for personal computers from the 1980s-on. Ellwood's designers shaped the steel-frame Palevsky House around the owner's large art collection. Later, Palevsky would go on to collected Japanese prints, Arts and Crafts Movement furniture and decorative arts work by such designers as Ettore Sottsass, Jr., (1917-2007). Palevsky also owned a number of houses built over the years by several well-known architects. At the end of this life, he owned residences in Malibu, CA, and Beverly Hills, CA, and this one in Palm Springs.

Max Palevsky had an interest in Moroccan architecture, as he thought that it would afford him the privacy he felt lacking in his previous Palm Springs, CA, address at the Town and Country Center. With their wives, Palevsky took Ellwood to Morocco to scout out suitable models. According to an article published in Curbed Los Angeles,com, the final design of this house was "...based ... on houses near the airport in Casablanca--with a guest house and main house surrounded by a rectangular wall." (See Adrian Glick Kudler, "Philanthropist Max Palevsky Thought He Should Have Been An Architect," written 05/10/2010,Accessed 06/17/2011.) Ellwood translated this traditional North African plan into his preferred Miesian steel and glass idiom.

PCAD id: 283