Newsletter Signup

   Core Shot
 

Project Update

Sunnylands is scheduled to open in November 2011. During the next two years, the new Annenberg Center at Sunnylands will be completed to offer visitors an introduction to the Sunnylands story. Surrounded by a nine-acre desert garden, the new Center will offer exhibitions and audio-visual materials explaining the architectural history of the site, its art collections, its important visitors, the philanthropic legacy of the Annenbergs, and the ways in which all new work embraces an ethic of environmental sensitivity. In addition to new construction is the restoration and renovation of the historic estate. Completed in 1966, the house, originally designed by A. Quincy Jones, requires upgrades to make it accessible to the public and seismically stable. The infrastructure of the grounds is being carefully evaluated to include 21st-century technology while maintaining the property's cultural landscape.

  Photo Credits
Left: Rendering by Jackson Kahn Golf Course Design
Center: Photograph by Graydon Wood, December 2006
Right: Rendering by Craig Shimahara Illustration for Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects
 
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010
Solar panels at the new Visitors Center.


Projects Selected for Sustainable Sites Initiative™

Today, May 25, 2010, the Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) announced the selection of both the construction and operation of the new Annenberg Center and the retrofitting of the Sunnylands estate as two of the first landscapes to participate in a new program testing the nation's first rating system for green landscape design, construction, and maintenance. Our projects join more than 150 other projects from 34 states as well as from Canada, Iceland, and Spain as part of an international pilot project program to evaluate the new SITES rating system for sustainable landscapes, with and without buildings. SITES, a partnership of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden, selected the Annenberg Center and Sunnylands based on their extensive environmentally friendly elements.

MONDAY, MAY 10, 2010
The Hunt family (Lavina, Stanley and Jason) restoring the Sunnylands Totem Pole.


Restoration of the Sunnylands Kwakiutl Totem Pole

In 1972, Walter Annenberg wrote to art collector, Amon Carter: "The idea of getting a great old historic totem pole for my estate, 'Sunnylands' in the southern California desert, is rather appealing. At some convenient time, would you have your curator query William Reid who authored the work (Out of the Silence, which appeared in the magazine, Natural History), as to whether there might be a specific source from which I might obtain a totem pole of distinction?"

This interest in totem poles coupled with a reported recommendation made to Mrs. Annenberg to add a striking landmark on the fifth fairway of the estate golf course resulted in the carving by renowned artist Henry Hunt. Information on Henry Hunt and the Hunt family currently restoring the totem pole under the direction of his son Stanley, can be found at www.stanleychunt.com
 
Anne M. Rowe
Sunnylands Collections Manager


MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Living History

The focus on the majority of the updates on this web site has been on the construction of the Annenberg Center building. Construction has not precluded plans for exhibitions and educational displays. Interactive kiosks have been developed which will feature oral and video histories of the Annenberg as well as the estate. These conversations have been facilitated by Hillmann & Carr based in Washington, D.C. The fascinating information has been culled from conversations with Mrs. Annenberg's daughter, Diane Deshong; Linda Brooks, estate manager; Michael Comerford, house manager; and those who worked on the original construction, planned restoration, and modifications. Remembrances include stories of historic significance, friendships, and family. A number of these first-hand looks at Sunnylands and the Annenbergs will be previewed in future web site updates.