Palm Springs is lodged in your mind’s eye. It always looks exactly like you think it does, a sizzle reel cut from ’60s Rat Pack, ’80s Brat Pack, and naughties Tom Ford, or movies such as The Damned Don’t Cry and American Gigolo. The original lures for the Bob Hopes and Bing Crosbys in the ’30s were its climate, proximity from Los Angeles, and promises of restorative health treatments. The town is still making good on those promises, and waves of popularity have continued to wash over the town for nearly 100 years. The spa and detox scene remains popular. But what kept the tides high has been the well-preserved midcentury architecture standing starkly against the jagged desert and snowcapped San Jacinto Mountains. Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and George Alexander left behind museum-worthy time capsules throughout the valley, from Palm Springs to Palm Desert, in enclaves designed to let movie stars and moguls relax in peace. Many are now available through Airbnb’s Luxury Retreats and a handful of other rental agencies. SEEING STARS The neighborhood known as the Movie Colony is where matinee pioneers like Cary Grant first settled and built romantic Spanish Revival bungalows and long and lean modernist homes. Frank Sinatra commissioned a house from E. Stewart Williams in 1947 and, in 1950, loaned it to Joan Crawford for her movie The Damned Don’t Cry. While Sinatra reportedly first wanted a very Beverly Hills Georgian manse, he was talked into a more desertfriendly, one-story home—along with a piano-shaped swimming pool. Incidentally, there are two identical palm trees next to the house. From $2,500 per night; sinatrahouse.com.
MY KIND OF TOWN
Palm Springs is where Sinatra and his ilk retreated poolside at modernist architectural marvels. Now a handful of private house rentals let you assemble your own Rat Pack. BY JASON SHEELER
BACKGROUND SPREAD: JAKE HOLT. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY NATURAL RETREATS (2); JAKE HOLT; JOHN DOMINIS/GETTY IMAGES
Twin Palms, Frank Sinatra’s residence in Palm Springs. Left: The crooner poolside in 1965. Above, from left: Skyfall; On the Rocks.
LE CHIFFRE SLEPT HERE R. Denzil Lee built what would later be called Skyfall (for its obvious Bond villain overtones) outside Palm Desert in 1963. It was a spec house and somewhat revolutionary, considering it was round with a round pool in the center. The property is stark white, with 180-degree views of the San Jacinto Mountains, and two of the three bedrooms are master-sized. The best amenity, of course, is the pool with its roof cutout, which provides a frame for the most prized art in town: sunset and sunrise. From $875 per night; luxuryretreats.com. COMPOUND INTEREST As much an amusement park as it is a vacation home, Merv Griffin’s 39-acre, 5,400-square-foot estate in La Quinta offers a very Hollywood take on Palm Springs Refuge. Given that Griffin owned the Beverly Hilton and created Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, that makes sense. It’s said he based the property on Yves Saint Laurent’s villa in Marrakech. There are 13 bedrooms in a
main house and Moorish guest casitas, along with an infinity pool, horse stables, and multiple terraces with views of the Santa Rosa Mountains. Palm Springs is 20 miles away, so the around-the-clock staff can help with meals. The bocce court and 2½-acre pond with paddleboats assist with the possible isolation-induced boredom. From $5,900 per night; luxuryretreats.com. WOULDN’T IT BE LOVERLY Around the neighborhood of Little Tuscany, not far from downtown Palm Springs, are the Bing Crosby House, the Elvis House, and, perhaps most architecturally significant, the estate of Frederick Loewe. In a 1960 cover story in Time magazine, the home was described as a “glass pleasure dome.” Loewe was the Tony- and Oscar-winning composer of My Fair Lady and Camelot, which is why the 2½-acre property was nicknamed Little Camelot. It has four bedrooms, a tennis court, a grotto spa, 100 olive trees, and 33 palms. Loewe slept on a turntable bed, which allowed him to trace the sunlight across 360-degree views. From $1,750 per night; airbnb.com. MOUNTAINS MAJESTY At the very end of West Camino Alturas in the Mesa neighborhood is the Hugh Kaptur property known today as On the Rocks. Kaptur, an apprentice of Donald Wexler, designed homes for Steve McQueen and William Holden and a fire station downtown. The house was built in 1959 and offers a view of three mountain ranges, three master bedrooms, a saline pool, and an outdoor movie theater. That part makes it a popular listing during the Palm Springs International Film Festival. From $2,300 per night; naturalretreats.com. 151