BACKGROUND:
The Historic Preservation Ordinance, Chapter 8.62 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code, was approved by the City Council on November 30, 2022, and established a process for recognizing historical events and people, preserving areas and specific buildings of the City which reflect elements of its cultural, social, economic, political, architectural, and archaeological history.
A property owner, or their authorized representative, may submit an application to designate their property, or a portion thereof, as a historic site. The application shall contain the appropriate documentation or research necessary to determine the qualifications of the site, structure, building or object for historic designation.
The completed application shall be reviewed in a public hearing by both the Historic Preservation Committee and City Council, with final approval authority by the City Council. During the review by the Historic Preservation Committee, the Committee shall determine the class for historic designation in their recommendation to the City Council:
“Class 1” shall refer to a historic site that exists as it did during the historical period or is restorable to that condition.
“Class 2” shall refer to a historic site that contains a modern (non-historic) structure, a use that is different than the use of the site during the historical period, or contains buildings, structures or uses from the historical period that are unusable, nonconforming, or unrestorable.
“Class 3” shall refer to a historic site that contains buildings or structures constructed more than 50 years ago (or the construction date cannot be confirmed) but that do not qualify as a Class 1 or Class 2 historic site.
The property owner, Peter Palladino, submitted an application for historic designation of the Agnes Pelton Home and Studio, located at 68680 F Street, on May 2, 2023. The application package was preliminarily reviewed by the Historic Preservation Committee on May 16, 2023. The Historic Preservation Committee conducted a public hearing on the application on June 20, 2023, and continued the item to a future date. On October 17, 2023, the Historic Preservation Committee resumed the public hearing and recommended the historic designation of the Agnes Pelton Home and Studio as a Class 1 historic site. The complete application is attached as part of the October 17, 2023 Historic Preservation Committee staff report.
ANALYSIS
From the exhibition (Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist) by the Phoenix Art Museum in 2019:
Agnes Pelton (1881-1961) was a visionary symbolist who depicted the spiritual reality she experienced in moments of meditative stillness. Art for her was a discipline through which she gave form to her vision of a higher consciousness within the universe. Using an abstract vocabulary of curvilinear, biomorphic forms and delicate, shimmering veils of light, she portrayed her awareness of a world that lay behind physical appearances-a world of benevolent, disembodied energies animating and protecting life. For most of her career, Pelton chose to live away from the distractions of a major art center, first in Water Mill, Long Island, from 1921 to 1932, and subsequently in Cathedral City, a small community near Palm Springs, California. Her isolation from the mainstream art world meant that her paintings were relatively unknown during her lifetime and in the decades thereafter. This exhibition of approximately forty-five works introduces to the public a little-known artist whose luminous, abstract images of transcendence are only now being fully recognized.
Agnes Pelton moved to Cathedral City in 1932. In 1937, she purchased the land at 68680 F Street (originally 677 E Street) and over the next two years, designed and built her modest ranchero-style home and studio. For the next 28 years, this is where she would paint many of the highly imaginative, spiritual-themed abstract masterworks she is known for today, many of which are owned by museums through the United States.
Additional information on her life and art are available in the attachments provided by the applicant.
Although the home has undergone renovations over the years and expanded beyond the footprint of the original structure built by Agnes Pelton, the property owner has preserved many of its original features including the diamond-scored concrete floors and the original fireplace. The home has been included on the annual tour of historic homes sponsored by the City and the Agnes Pelton Society, a local organization established to promote the life, art, and legacy of Agnes Pelton, and also served as the initial home of the Desert Art Center.
Since the public hearing was conducted on June 20, 2023, the applicant has prepared additional material in support of his request, including an additional narrative and photographs of the home. While his narrative recognizes that multiple changes have been made to the property and the home, including remodels in the 1970s that altered the kitchen, enclosed a porch, and installed white porcelain ceramic tile flooring. Four of the multi-paned metal sashed windows have been replaced with modern windows and a bedroom has been added to the home. Additionally, a swimming pool, meditation garden, and a separate two-story guest house have been built. There are elements of the original home, however, demonstrated in the narrative and photographs, including the diamond-scored concrete homes, brick fireplace, and vaulted ceiling and there is a continued demonstration of the significant contributions of the artist.
Under the ordinance, historic sites may be recognized for their association with the lives of persons who made meaningful contributions to national, state or local history, which is supported by the application for the Agnes Pelton Home and Studio. Under Section
8.62.120 of the Municipal Code, the Historic Preservation Committee has the authority to make a recommendation based upon findings, supported by substantial evidence in the record, that the property meets one or more of the criteria for a historic site designation, identified in Section 8.62.020(A) through (G) of the Municipal Code. For reference, those criteria are:
A. That is associated with events that have made a meaningful contribution to the nation, state or community; or
B. That is associated with lives of persons who made meaningful contribution to national, state or local history; or
C. That reflects or exemplifies a particular period of the national, state or local history; or
D. That embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; or
E. That presents the work of a master builder, designer, artist, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age; or that possesses high artistic value; or
F. That represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
G. That has yielded or may be likely to yield information important to national, state or local history or prehistory.
Through its deliberations, the Historic Preservation Committee recognized the significance of Agnes Pelton to the artist community and the importance of the property to the history of Cathedral City. The additions and alterations to the home were discussed. The mosaic tile work in the kitchen was reported to have significance of its own. The structure of the original home remains in place and is restorable. The Committee further discussed the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and the distinction between the guidelines, focusing on the role of preservation to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of a historic property.
Following its deliberations, the Historic Preservation Committee recommended designation of the historic designation of the Agnes Pelton Home and Studio as a Class 1 historic site.
The designation of the Agnes Pelton Home and Studio as a Class 1 historic site would work to monument the home and property as the City’s first historic site. This protection would serve not only to recognize its significance to local history but also to guide decisions related to alteration work that would affect the exterior appearance of the structure or the construction of new structures through the Certificate of Appropriateness process. This process requires an application with supporting material and specific findings by the Historic Preservation Committee before a Certificate of Appropriateness may be approved, thus ensuring that any proposed work does not significantly impact or materially impair a character defining feature of a historic site, or where character-defining feature may be impacted, the proposed work minimizes that impact as much as possible. It also supports future efforts to restore a historic site to its original appearance or to preserve or enhance it as a historic resource.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no anticipated fiscal impact from this action.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
While the designation of the Agnes Pelton Home and Studio as a historic site does not directly implement the City’s 5-Year Strategic Plan, the preservation of the City’s history works to further Goal F: Embracing, Inclusive City and Action F-5, helping define who Cathedral City is for our families and others.