Howard Lapham

Howard Lapham (May 11, 1914 – April 16, 2008) was a modernist architect whose notable residences exist primarily in Southern California.

He relocated to the Coachella Valley in the California desert east of Los Angeles in 1954 from Stamford, CT at age 40.

Soon after settling into this desert community, he began designing homes for California's wealthy and movie elite.

In 1970, Lapham built the Mayan-themed Cook House, known as Ichpa Mayapan, atop Thunderbird Heights.

The Cook house is one of several homes chronicled in the independent film Desert Utopia, Mid-Century Architecture in Palm Springs.