| DISCOVER BEAUTIFUL PALM SPRINGS Breathtaking mountain views and captivating desert scenery surround this oasis in the desert. As warm breezes rustle through palm trees, every day postcard blue skies will captivate you. All of your senses will be enticed by the unique natural setting that is Palm Springs. | |
| History Founding Studies of campsites in the Morongo basin indicate an ancient people inhabited the area now known as Palm Springs, California-stretching back across time over 10,000 years. That was in the Stone Age, during which time the inhabitants used bows and arrows, made baskets, fashioned pottery and wove fabrics from native yucca fiber. This establishes Palm Springs as one of the oldest villages on the western continent! Until the middle of the 19th century, Palm Springs was solely a paradise for Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente tribe. One of many Cahuilla bands, the Agua Caliente existed as peaceful hunters and gatherers, living off the land, and adapting to the extremes of desert summers and mountain winters. Much of tribal life centered on the lush vegetation and abundant water in the area known as Indian Canyons, site of North America's largest natural fan palm oasis. This tribe obtained this name from the Spanish word for “hot waters”. |  |
In 1853, a government survey party, headed by Lt. R.S. William P. Blake, a geologist, made the first modern discovery of Palm Springs. They discovered its naturally occurring mineral pool bubbling out of the hot desert sand- a true oasis. This original spring later becomes the site of the famous Spa Resort. Traveling on horses and wagons through the desert, these men are credited with establishing the first wagon route through the San Gorgonio Pass. In 1872, Palm Springs became a stop on the Bradshaw Stage Coach Line between Prescott, Arizona and Los Angeles. The proximate to Los Angeles, and especially Hollywood, make Palm Springs grow from a sleepy desert town into a glamorous resort. Hollywood Playground During the golden age of Hollywood, stars under studio contract were discouraged to travel more than a day’s drive away from their movie production stages. By the time it was incorporated in 1938, the Village of Palm Springs had become an insider secret as a winter playground for Hollywood stars like Kirk Douglas, Marlene Dietrich, Bob Hope, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and William Holden. Members of the Rat Pack – Frank Sinatra included- also made Palm Springs their private hangout- poolside or barside. The peace and prosperity following World War II, found Palm Springs returning to its previous celebrity status, and the growth of this desert area has exploded since 1945. One nine-hole golf course was the boast of the village in 1945. Now more than 85 golf courses, 600 tennis courts, and 10,000 swimming pools dot the desert landscape in the greater Palm Springs resort area. ARCHITECTURE Due to natural open spaces and dramatic landscape, Palm Springs became a center for architects from around the world as place for experimental design during the mid-twentieth century. Some of the most famous used Palm Springs as their pallet for a new language of space and materials.Palm Springs is noted for its architecture from a tradition that grew out of the aesthetics of the German Bauhaus and is reflected in the work of Albert Frey (who designed the Palm Springs city hall, aerial-tram (cable car) station and the Movie Colony Hotel), Donald Wexler, Richard Neutra, E. Stewart Williams, and others. A development company,The Alexander Construction Company, popularized this post-and-beam architectural style in the Coachella Valley. Alexander houses and similar homes feature low-pitched roofs, wide eaves, open-beamed ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. These houses, collectively known as "Alexanders," have come to be appreciated for their rational designs, modernist style, and innovative construction and are now highly sought after, selling for a premium over their more conventional contemporaries. The majority of Alexander homes were designed by architects Dan Palmer and William Krisel, of Palmer & Krisel. Restoration projects are now being undertaken to return these homes and businesses to their original condition. The neighborhood, known today as Las Palmas, became the neighborhood of choice for the "New Hollywood" crowd seeking weekend desert escapes. Dinah Shore, Dean Martin, Joan Collins, Marilyn Monroe, and Harold Robbins each owned an "Alexander". Frank Sinatra's home by E. Stewart Williams is nearby. Nancy Sinatra still lives in the neighborhood. The most well-known Alexander house in Las Palmas is the Lawford/Kennedy house, originally built for Peter Lawford, connected by marriage to the Kennedy family and a charter member of the Rat Pack. During a visit to Palm Springs, President Kennedy was to have stayed at Sinatra's house, but ended up at Lawford's instead. The proximity of Lawford's house to Marilyn Monroe's, supposedly gave rise to a rendezvous between JFK and Monroe. Another well-known Alexander is the "Honeymoon Hideaway" at 1350 Ladera Circle, built by Robert Alexander for his wife in the early 1960s. The house and the Alexanders achieved some level of national celebrity when an eight-page article featuring the house and the family appeared in Look Magazine in September 1962. The article portrayed the Alexanders and their estate as the center of social activities in Palm Springs in the early 1960s. Restoration projects are now being undertaken to return these homes and businesses to their original condition. Architecture tours are available in Palm Springs and celebrity homes are often featured. | |