Good Vibrations

DARRIN JENSEN-PETERSON AND MICHAEL PETERSON’S PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, OASIS HAS A NEUTRAL PALETTE TO COMPLEMENT THEIR VIBRANT ART

- John O'Hern

Darrin Jensen-Peterson and Michael Peterson lead active lives in Salt Lake City and escape to Palm Springs, California, to relax. Their midcentury modern home in Utah was “a dream for purists,” Darrin explains, “but we’re not purists.” They restored the exterior of their home to its original state but completely revamped the interior. They have done the same in Palm Springs.

They began to vacation in Palm Springs and on an early visit took a double-decker bus tour of its midcentury treasures. Opinions run high on how to maintain or restore the homes in the area. The collectors recall the tour bus operator pointing out to his passengers loud enough to be heard by the homeowners they passed, “Now that’swhat you don’t want to do.”

Michael explains, “You don’t find many people are from here. People come here, love it and start to rent and later buy a vacation home. Then they move here permanently. Then there are people who are waiting to position themselves to be able to live here permanently. People are here because they want to be here.”

Michael and Darrin followed that scenario, visiting for 10 years and often joking that they would move to Palm Springs toward the end of their lives—“when we would be put out to pasture,” Michael says. Today, their home in Palm Springs is named “The End” despite the fact that they have settled into the community at the peak of the careers. Darrin relates, “When we came here we knew no one. We have found a community of people in a short amount of time, some of whom have become our closest friends.”