Lenders sent default notices to a total of 14,974 homeowners in Riverside County in the second quarter of the year, up from last year's second-quarter total of 6,648, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

Statewide, default notices were sent to 121,341 homeowners in the second quarter of the year, DataQuick reported. That's a 6.6 percent jump from the previous quarter and a 124.9 percent increase from the same quarter last year, when 53,943 default notices were sent.

The second-quarter default notice total was the highest since DataQuick began keeping statistics in 1992.

“The small increase in defaults from the first to the second quarter may indicate that we're nearing a plateau,” said DataQuick president John Walsh. “We won't know until the end of the year, but it may be that some lenders are starting to prioritize workouts with homeowners instead of grinding things through the foreclosure process. Of course, they may just be swamped and can't handle processing any more paperwork.”

The default numbers set records in almost all of the state's 58 counties.

Default notices do not always lead to a home foreclosure, according to DataQuick. In general, an estimated 32 percent of homeowners emerge from the foreclosure process by bringing their payments current, refinancing or selling the home.

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          2008       RESALE         NEW             2007       RESALE        NEW

PALM SPRINGS/CATHEDRAL CITY

                        215               8                               216             28

DESERT HOT SPRINGS/NO PALM SPRINGS/THOUSAND PALMS

                         25              13                                89              31

RANCHO MIRAGE/PALM DESERT/INDIAN WELLS/LA QUINTA

                       372              29                               421              70

INDIO/COACHELLA EAST TO THE COLORADO RIVER

                       158              80                               117              70

The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, designed by Richard Neutra in 1946, was bought by an undisclosed buyer for $16.84 million, including the purchase premium, on Tuesday as part of Christie's Post-War & Contemporary Art auction in New York. Although the winning bid was at the low end of the $15 million to $25 million estimate, the Kaufmann property (above) still commanded the highest price of the American modernist houses recently sold as architectural collectibles. In 2003, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House was sold in a Sotheby's auction for $7.5 million. In 2006, Wright auctioned Pierre Koenig's Case Study House No. 21 for nearly $3.2 million. The five-bedroom Kaufmann House on 2.1 acres was first immortalized in a 1947 Julius Shulman image taken poolside at dusk. The home was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., a Pittsburgh department store owner who hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build the iconic Fallingwater in 1935 in Pennsylvania. Kaufmann died in 1955 and the Palm Springs property changed hands (Barry Manilow once called it home) and underwent tacky renovations. In 1992, architectural historian Beth Edwards Harris and her then-husband, Brent Harris, purchased the home for $1.5 million and retained the L.A. architecture firm Marmol Radziner & Associates, whose meticulous restoration stayed true to Neutra's original design. The sale was handled by Christie's Realty International.

THE BASICS Jonathan Adler, the designer of ceramics and home furnishings, took one of the kitschiest places in Palm Springs - the former Givenchy Resort and Spa owned by Merv Griffin - and somehow made it both kitschier and more glamorous. Out went the faux Versailles colonnade and topiaries; in went the zebra-print rugs, thrift-store Picassos and tangerine macramé. The result is not so much a hippy-chic makeover, as it is a kind of dandy Betty Ford clinic for those who overdosed on the W Hotel's much-copied sleek and minimalist vibe. The resort's particular brand of tongue in cheek is not for everyone. But a year after it opened, the fashionable Hollywood set is still smirking about it.

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Monica Almeida/The New York Times

A touch of old Hollywood glamour in Palm Springs.

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Monica Almeida/The New York Times

A room at the Parker Palm Springs.

THE LOCATION The campuslike resort is at the far end of East Palm Canyon Drive, a world away from the ticky-tacky shops and disco-playing gay bars that Palm Springs is slowly weaning itself from.

THE LOBBY Upon arrival, the first thing a visitor sees is a white wall of concrete latticework, a kind of sculptural porte cochere. It also replaces the front desk. The valet/check-in clerk escorts guests to their rooms, followed by a leisurely tour of the rambling, 13-acre grounds, which includes two saltwater swimming pools, a candy-colored lemonade bar, clay tennis courts and a kumbaya-ready fire pit that is surrounded by butterfly chairs.

THE ROOMS Each of the 131 rooms and 12 villas showcases Mr. Adler's retro-groovy touch, from his signature ceramics to the travertine-and-walnut nightstands to the vintage paparazzi photos of Jackie O. The standard room I stayed in (77 South) was a modest-sized square with a king bed (with 400-thread-count sheets) and floor-to-cornice windows, screened by plantation shutters. A catwalk balcony fronted a garden of pink bougainvilleas. Among the furnishings were a glass-topped table, two leather chairs, and a wooden bureau. There was free WiFi (though there were no available electrical outlets) and a saucy collection of books ("Valley of the Dolls," for example). The sisal carpeting was a bit rough on the feet, but a sheepskin rug provided a soft landing in the morning.

THE BATHROOMS Extremely narrow, although the wall-to-wall mirrors and seamless Corian countertop gave the illusion of space. The only color in the otherwise all-white, fluorescent-lit water closet were the swag-worthy toiletries: Hermès soap in travel case, SPF 30 sunblock, lip balm and Q-tips.

AMENITIES The cheekily named Palm Springs Yacht Club is worth dropping by, and not just because of the $25 resort fee tacked onto every bill. The club has a full-service spa, his-and-her swimming pools, sauna, gym and clothing boutique. The main building harbors a sceney bar, two restaurants (Mister Parker's and Norma's) and a tassel-spangled lounge with a circular fireplace. The 24-hour concierge desk is eager to help, though it never followed through on my tennis appointment or newspaper request.

ROOM SERVICE A pot of coffee, ordered when I awoke, arrived less than seven minutes later. You can also order French comfort foods like lobster bisque ($12) and mushroom omelet with cheese ($16) around the clock.

THE CROWD Gay Hollywood producers, straight Hollywood producers, celebrities and their entourage