Architect Albert Frey designed some of California’s most famous modernist residences, especially in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. One of his early postwar homes has come to market for $1.18m.

Bel Vista House dates from 1946 and is a single-family home in one of the very first subdivisions in Palm Springs. According to the listing, it’s also the sole housing tract designed entirely by Frey, with only 15 houses ever constructed – and even fewer still existing today.

Built in the Movie Colony East neighbourhood, close to downtown, it’s for sale via Nate Cole of Modern California House, restored in an ‘austere and minimalist design vocabulary’ that honours the simplicity of Frey’s original.

In the kitchen, new aluminium countertops add a cool finish to the house’s midcentury modern interiors and concrete floors have been poured throughout. Its midcentury pool has been updated with a new salt-water version and spa, with views of the mountains.

Interestingly, Frey’s original plan for the Palm Springs property envisaged further additions on up to three sides of the home, expanding its floor plan without changing the interior. A fourth bedroom (and second bathroom) and a covered patio have been realised, shaded by the house’s original eaves.

Other updates include solar panels, which power electricity in the home.

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