Southampton Arts Center Architecture Tour Will Take Guests To Palm Springs, Virtually

Southampton Arts Center’s annual Architecture + Design Tour typically takes guests inside some of the most architecturally significant homes on the South Fork, but this year, in light of COVID-19, the event is going virtual — and much farther afield.

On Friday, July 17, from 5 to 6 p.m. Southampton Arts Center is offering a tour via Zoom of Palm Springs, California, known for its mid-century architecture and design.

Palm Springs architect Lance O’Donnell, the principal of o2 Architecture, will begin with a live talk and visual presentation sharing the social, design and architectural history of the desert city, according to the arts center. Tours of three unique properties will follow.

First on the tour is Sunnylands, known as the “Camp David of the West” and one of the most important mid-century homes in the country. It had been the winter retreat of the late U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter Annenberg and his wife, fellow diplomat Leonore Annenberg, the chief of protocol of the United States under President Ronald Reagan.

Janice Lyle, the director of Sunnylands Center & Grounds, will join Mr. O’Donnell for a tour of the new campus on the 200-plus-acre estate.

The tour will continue with two private homes that Mr. O’Donnell designed: the art-filled home Southridge, where Mr. O’Donnell will be joined by Louis Grachos, the executive director of the Palm Springs Art Museum, and Ridge Vista.

“We thought that since we couldn’t conduct an in-person tour this year, we would use the opportunity to visit a community across the country,” Architecture + Design Tour Co-Chair Mark Fichandler said in a statement. “While geographically it couldn’t be more different from the Hamptons, it shares some underlying similarities: Both are completely unique American places which attract people from all over the world for both their natural and built environments — for leisure, for culture and for that special quality of light and air that certain special places exude.”

Tickets begin at $75 and proceeds benefit the Southampton Arts Center. Those who register but cannot watch the event live will receive a recording to watch at their leisure. Register at southamptonartscenter.org.