A Palm Springs home newly built from the final design plans of the late desert modernist Donald Wexler is on the market for $6.375 million.

The 3,700-square-foot steel and glass house sits on a half-acre lot in the gated community of Desert Palisades. It features four bedrooms, five bathrooms and an open-plan living space.

A five minute drive from downtown Palm Springs’ restaurants, shops and attractions, the property feels remote due to its rugged, boulder-strewn setting and distant mountain views that surround it.

Glass walls seamlessly connect the indoors to the expansive desert beyond from most rooms.

There’s a pool and spa in the backyard.

Wexler came out of retirement in 2010, teaming up with architect Lance O’Donnell to design the house for a New York executive. Initially, the executive wanted to build it in East Hampton, an affluent beach town on the easternmost part of Long Island, where celebrities like actor Neil Patrick Harris, fashion designer Donna Karan and “Barefoot Contessa” Ina Garten own properties.

But the project never came to fruition.

The executive learned about Marc Sanders, a real estate agent with Compass who has a passion for restoring and building houses, through his friendship with the renowned architect. In the early ’90s, Sanders bought Wexler’s longtime family residence in the historic Movie Colony East neighborhood.

Although Sanders sold the 1955 house four years later, the Wexler Residence—now listed on the National Register of Historic Places—just hit the market for $3.8 million.

The executed sold the plans for an unspecifed amount to Sanders, who has since brought Wexler’s vision to life in Palm Springs on a buildable lot he purchased for $950,000 in May 2022, records show.

“Because I did not want to alter the original plan, the lot I chose had to be over-graded and excavated to accommodate the house in its original form. Aesthetically, it’s the same house,” said Sanders, who is now co-listing it alongside his Compass colleague Sean Peterson.

A low, linear fireplace with a floating hearth anchors the living area. It shares the space with the formal dining area.

The kitchen features a center island with seating.

A family room, office space and laundry room add to the floor plan.

High-tech motorized Lutron shades, concealed in the ceiling, block heat when lowered. These shades operate in tandem with four high-efficiency Lennox air conditioners, including one in the attached garage.

Other technological amenities include a Creston Home system, a fully paid-off solar panel system with battery backup and security cameras.

Although the house has never been inhabited, it served as this year’s Sunset Idea House and was open for ticketed tours.

Wexler earned the nickname “Man of Steel” during his lifetime for a series of seven prefabricated steel homes built in the 1960s, each designated a Class I Historic site by the Palm Springs City Council. One is even on the National Register of Historic Places.

For over 50 years, Wexler contributed to the modernist aesthetic of Palm Springs, designing the Polynesian-themed Royal Hawaiian Estates condo complex to the Palm Springs Airport Terminal. He officially retired in 2002 and died in June 2015 at 89 after a brief illness.

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