Neutra’s Lion

07.20.2020

In this part of the globe, it feels as though the sun exists purely to remind you of the mechanics of the human body. It’s July in Palm Springs, CA, and the skin perceives it acutely.

Walking up to the property, your knees are buckling—perhaps from slight dehydration, or from giddy anticipation. Quickly finding the driveway, you’re met with an iron-barred gate. Sitting behind it, as if it were a lion in a zoo pen, is the Neutra Kaufmann Desert House. Its long torso is stretched horizontally and close to the ground, with its arms extended; its golden head is lifted with pride.

A security sign reminds you that you’re on the brink of potential embarrassment. Will the lion and its keeper greet you with terror or curiosity? That’s the risk one hedges when becoming a sidewalk lurker.