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"In the scope of American culture, a few had-to-be-there moments serve as proof that things will never be as good as they used to be. For writers, it is Paris in the 1920s. For hippies, Berkeley in the late 1960s is the pinnacle. For flea-market junkies, nothing tops Los Angeles in the late &amp;#039;80s and early &amp;#039;90s. As the fashion designer Trina Turk and her husband, Jonathan Skow, a stylist turned photographer, can attest, the last period was a time when Eames chairs were scavenged on trash day and the Rose Bowl flea market still had $20 bargains. &amp;quot;When Jonathan and I first met, we&amp;#039;d always go junk shopping,&amp;quot; says the designer, a plucky wom\u00ADan who can trace the provenance of nearly every object in the couple&amp;#039;s Los Angeles house to a modern-furniture auction, an antiques shop on Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, or a vintage outpost in Palm Springs. &amp;quot;Nothing&amp;#039;s changed, except that the junk is more expensive now.&amp;quot;   Then newlyweds, Turk and Skow landed here in 1985, when a job at the surfwear company Ocean Pacific lured her south from Seattle. &amp;quot;We cranked out so many of those color-blocked shorts,&amp;quot; laughs the designer. She launched her epon\u00ADymous, ret\u00ADro-patterned clothing line a decade later and now dresses the likes of Eva Mendes and Teri Hatcher. Over the years, Turk and her husband have steadily upgraded their stash of vintage furniture as well as the residences in which it&amp;#039;s all been deployed. Five years ago the couple settled into a pedigreed and extremely handsome house that most design and architecture groupies can only dream about. The low-slung post-and-beam prize was built in the 1940s by J. R. Davidson\u2014one of the great Case Study architects\u2014and once was photographed by Julius Shulman (the 96-year-old lens legend has snapped practically every modern residence worth recording in the past 70-odd years). &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s called the Schapiro house, after the original owners, who lived here until 1996\u2014we&amp;#039;re only the third owners,&amp;quot; says Turk. A fine-building buff, the designer installed her Palm Springs boutique in a structure designed in the 1960s by the father of desert modernism, Albert Frey. &amp;quot;I was born and raised in California, and this place embodies what it feels like to be a Californian.&amp;quot; Before they purchased it, Skow actually had spent several days working at the house, which the previous owner rented out for fashion and location shoots. &amp;quot;Trina had never seen it, but I&amp;#039;d shown her pictures and talked about it all the time,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;Then one day when I was shooting in Atlanta, Trina came to see it with our Realtor. She called me and said, &amp;#039;I think that I&amp;#039;m in the place you wanted to buy.&amp;#039; I didn&amp;#039;t know it was for sale.&amp;quot; Since the bones were intact (including the compact bathrooms and Vitrolite counters), the couple kept renovations to a minimum. Still, a few nips and tucks were required. Turk and Skow had the pool updated and replaced the lush landscaping with more spare and geometric plantings. They also laid gleaming terrazzo floors throughout the interior and restored the wood paneling. But decorating has been the best part.   A headboard that Skow found in Florida has been lacquered deep persimmon\u2014the color sparking the guest bedroom&amp;#039;s vibrant color scheme. Turk convinced the fabric company she uses for her clothing line to reproduce a print from a past collection; executed on heavy canvas, it now adds panache to the outdoor furniture. A $40 Lucite-and-rattan chair shares the master bedroom with a much-pricier vintage Lane dresser. A George Nelson table is matched with brass William Haines side chairs in the dining room. And for alfresco dinners, a tree in the backyard has been wired to accommodate a gold hanging lamp. If Turk and Skow are experiencing any shopping fatigue, it certainly isn&amp;#039;t showing\u2014despite the fact that many collectors (including themselves) determinedly believe that the best buys are long gone.  &amp;quot;Ten years ago, the Los Angeles Modern Auctions were like a big, fun party,&amp;quot; says Turk, referring to one of the city&amp;#039;s stellar collecting arenas. &amp;quot;Everyone was in the room. The Internet sort of ruined that. We usually just send in absentee bids now.&amp;quot; Predawn flea-market raids are a thing of the past too, but there are still a few opportunities that will get these seasoned pros out of bed early. &amp;quot;There are a lot of modern-furniture shops in Palm Springs, where we have another house, so we continue to find great things,&amp;quot; says Turk. Among them is the nine-foot-tall dandelion sculpture poised here between the living and dining spaces. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a 1960s knockoff of a Bertoia sculpture,&amp;quot; the designer says. &amp;quot;The original is made of steel with a marble base. But this one is set in a stump, and looks like a hippie made it in his backyard.&amp;quot; Purists might complain, but honestly, doesn&amp;#039;t it look right at home? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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