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“If you live in Phoenix and you don’t have any friends
in real estate, then you don’t have any friends.” Ryan
Durkin, co-owner of Modern Manor (MM), a vintage
furniture showroom located in Phoenix’s Melrose
District, was walking me through his master plan
vis-à-vis the Paris Laundry and Dry Cleaning building,
which he recently acquired and is currently in the
process of transforming into the new home of an
expanded and reimagined MM.
Located just north of Indian School on 7th Avenue,
a stone’s throw from the Melrose Arch and only a
few blocks from MM’s current home, the building
was constructed in 1957. “It’s an iconic mid-century
modern building in Phoenix, and I’ve always loved it,
always thought that one day somebody was going to
do something really cool with that building,” Durkin
said. The sentiment ended up being the best kind of
prophecy: the self-fulfilling kind.
Not only will the move expand MM’s floor space
significantly, allowing for an even larger menagerie
of mid-century collectables and unique art, but the
building will also include a café, bar and even a
speakeasy (to be housed in the former fur vault, a
climate-controlled room where people once paid
to store their coats). While a specific date has yet
to be set, they hope to open their doors sometime
this summer.
Last January, Durkin saw a short video showing
a going-out-of-business sign in front of the Paris
Laundry on Instagram, posted by Alison King,
founder of Modern Phoenix. Durkin reached out
to her and learned that not only was the business
indeed closing, but that the building was also
likely to be sold.
“She was like, ‘You’ve got to save that building
because it’s not on the historic register and
someone could buy it and just knock it down,’”
Durkin said.
The building’s most prominent feature is a bold,
upward-sweeping canopy, formerly painted baby
blue, one example of the building’s Googie style
(a sort of subgenre of Mid-century Modern, often
featuring Space Age motifs, named for a now-defunct
café in Hollywood).
“I love the fact that the 1957 Paris Laundry building is
being repurposed and is going to continue gracing 7th
Avenue with all its Googie madness,” said Marshall
Shore, Phoenix’s “HIPstorian.” Shore pointed out
that the attention this project is generating is
helping efforts to preserve other nearby Googie style
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