Trina Turk’s first solo restoration project is a rejuvenated Mid-Century Modern bungalow in Palm Springs, California.
Trina Turk’s first solo restoration project is a rejuvenated Mid-Century Modern bungalow in Palm Springs, California.
The fashion designer gutted the three-bedroom 1960s house by Harold Bissner Jr., built into the desert mountainside, and opened it up with an expanded kitchen, a light-filled open-plan layout and an airier wraparound deck.
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Then, she added her signature California flair in the fabrics and finishes, including a conversation pit with yellow linen sofas and custom a room described as a “palm extravaganza,” because it is wallpapered in a riotous palm pattern with matching upholstery, according to a YouTube seriesdocumenting the process.
The restoration was completed just in time for Palm Spring’s annual Modernism Week in February—which celebrates the city’s architectural heritage—and hit the market last week for $3.495 million. Turk purchased it in 2024 for $1.24 million, according to property records.
Named the Soleil House, it spans 2,286 square feet, with a 700-square-foot patio over a street-level carport, a pool and mountain-hugging pool deck. The house is built directly against a wall of rugged rock viewable from multiple rooms behind floor-to-ceiling windows. On the opposite side, a ring of palm trees frames open southern views.
Simon Berlyn
It was the view that drew Turk when she first came across the house in 2020 during Covid, she told Mansion Global in a 2025 interview. “The thing that was intriguing about it was that it has an incredible site and an incredible view, especially south, down toward the Indian Canyons,” she said.
The home was in grim condition when she bought it, but the potential was clear. “It just had really good bones,” Turk said at the time. “It’s a very classic one-story Palm Springs mid-century house with walls of glass and big patios and clerestory windows—all the elements you think about when you think about Palm Springs homes.”
Turk has previously restored other historic homes along with her late husband, designer Jonathan Skow. A John Lautner home they had revived in Los Angeles was listed in December and sold above asking in under a month.
The gut-renovation included a reorganization of the layout to expand the baby-blue kitchen, which was originally hidden behind louvered doors without any windows—a remnant of ’60s culture. One bedroom was sacrificed to extend the common areas into one continuous space that opens to the patio, redone in steel to better weather the desert climate. The new layout left space for a “snug,” and a staircase was added to a poolside flex room so it can be accessed from the indoors.
The changes were made in keeping with the original Mid-Century Modern ethos, with a focus on flow and indoor/outdoor living. To that end, the roof was returned to its original horizontal plane, the pool deck was expanded, and the patio got a new overhang that doesn’t protrude as far to allow more light onto the patio and reveal the view.
Simon Berlyn
One special feature is the sun-themed breeze-block screens that wall off the car port, custom-made for Turk, who designed them with Tesselle. Other materials and finishes include the yellow linen sofas, matte terrazzo flooring, peach California-made tiles in the bathroom, and grass cloth wallpaper for texture—many of which were designed by brand collaborators.
The house was listed with Chris Menrad and Keith Markovitz of Compass.
“Palm Springs buyers are incredibly design-literate, and they respond to homes that respect the city’s architectural heritage while pushing it forward,” Menrad said in a prepared statement. “This property does exactly that, it feels rooted in place while still feeling fresh and forward-looking.”
