Palm Springs: Another A. Quincy Jones address Do-Over? Yup.

Palm Springs: Another A. Quincy Jones address Do-Over? Yup.

Here's my dirty little secret: Not all of the address sets I've supplied for A Quincy Jones refurbs have been historically accurate (also see the Brody House post, alas, also an AQJ). It's high time to 'fess up, and yes, dream about Do-Overs.

My very earliest historical address reproductions were commissioned by Eichler homeowners in LA's Balboa Highlands tract (a Jones & Emmons project for Joseph Eichler). Motivated preservationist Adrienne Biondo contacted me in the early 2000s to see if I'd be interested in fabricating something to match what Jones & Emmons had specified for their wonderful light filled modernist gems back in the day. I'm happy to say it went well, and with the additional help of some OC (Fairhaven) Jones & Emmons Eichler homeowners organized by the tireless Neil Harrison we did tracings of each original digit (no they're not Akzidenz Grotesk, despite what many have claimed) prior to production.

in the early 2000s apollo marconi reproduced historic number sets for eichler homeowners in balboa highlands and OC's fairhaven tracts

However, after that, my contribution to various restorations of, or upgrades to, AQJ's oeuvre leaned heavily on Neutraface. Nor was I to spare the work of Jones's frequent partner Paul R Williams the anachronism: For Brad Dunning's loving 2012 rehab of the home Mr Williams designed for his long time electrical engineer Michael Garris, they ordered 2 sets of '1070' in Neutraface in polished brass, natural and uncoated, which aged nicely mind you, but still.

paul r williams designed a home for his longtime electrical contractor renovated in 2012 by brad dunning for which apollo marconi supplied the address numbers
 

The post that follows is a therapeutic (for me) confessional on why paying closer attention to the design ethos borne of the mid 20th century may involve more arithmetic than one at first assumes. And here I'm referring to the Golden Ratio, and alongside, the intertwined Fibonacci series that together are the fraternal twins of so much that surrounds us...

 

This instalment of my Do-Over daydreams brought to you by the number 9.

Not long after Soderbergh's 2001 Ocean's Eleven wrapped shooting the "Recruiting Reuben" and "Planning the Heist" scenes at 999 N Patencio in Old Las Palmas (Edward G Robinson's 1957 custom A Q Jones design standing in as Reuben's Las Vegas crib) the home's latest owner contacted me to supply him with address numbers. As a dogleg outside corner lot, the property's nearest neighbour to the east was 550 W Via Lola. The goal of installing them where he did was meant to circumvent some of the obvious confusion resulting from having 999's gated driveway parallel to all the driveways on W Via Lola.

early 2000s address for 999 n patencio featured neutraface which in retrospect was a mistake

We had recently (2002) collaborated with House Industries for the wide release of the Neutraface font family and happily fabricated a six inch high stainless set of the '999' the client wanted for his N Patencio Road side of the L-shaped property.

In the 2 decades or so since the job above was delivered & installed there has been time aplenty to ruminate over this and other projects from my earlier work. During the last decade, more information has surfaced to aid my understanding of a) how the sign letters and numbers that inspired Neutraface were faring today, and b) how the California company that made them has merited so little notice for their letterforms, given they had been so often specified by the mid century's finest architectural practitioners.

 

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