George Gutenberg
The Guide: Palm Springs
May 1, 2007
Palm Springs experienced a confluence of architecture and celebrity for four decades beginning in the 1930s that made the hot desert east of Los Angeles the coolest place to be. One by one, modernists such as Albert Frey, William F. Cody, E. Stewart Williams and Donald Wexler came to the Coachella Valley to play with a form of architecture that would be charac-terized by sleek lines, lots of glass and a seemingly contradictory ability to keep the sunlight in and the heat out. Celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope hired these revolutionary architects to design weekend getaways that made the pages of Life magazine. The idea of a warm, relaxing Palm Springs weekend seemed the perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of smoggy, insincere Hollywood, or cold climates farther afield.
That resort tradition continues today, although Palm Springs is
now one of many destinations in the Coachella Valley, which comprises nine
cities, including Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs,
Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, Indio and La Quinta. It is the
fastest-growing area in one of the fastest-growing counties (Riverside) in the
country. It is also as dominated by golf as ever. With more than 121 courses
established and being built, the valley has the world’s highest number of
courses per capita.
Top: A Rancho Mirage listing from Bruce Blomgren for $4.45
million. Photograph by Lance Gerber. Bottom: A revamped 1955 Rancho Mirage home listed for $7.5 million. Photograph by George
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Realtors
The midcentury building boom that began in Palm Springs has
moved east (or "down valley") toward cities like Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and
La Quinta. Modern houses have been popular of late, but so have the properties
located in exclusive full-service golf clubs like Vintage, Bighorn and the
Reserve, where sought-after parcels along the golf course are limited in size—an
acre or so—relative to the expanses of land found in places like Aspen or
Montecito. "Our market tops out at $5 million," says Realtor Bruce Blomgren, who
notes that many buyers are often purchasing second, third or fourth homes. "Once
you get above $5 or $6 million, our inventory gets fairly thin."
Debbie Toohey (760.778.2600, www.debbietoohey.com). "I represent buyers and sellers from all over the world," says Toohey, who has a listing for a 5,100-square-foot home with a putting green in the Southridge area of Palm Springs priced at $10 million.
Nelda Linsk (760.325.4500, www.californiamoves.com). Nelda Linsk has moved a number of high-profile homes, including the Sinatra house and Richard Neutra’s Kaufman house, which she has sold four different times (she also lived in it for 10 years). "I’ve been here since 1965, so I know a lot of people," she says. Her hottest listing is a 17,000-square-foot Indian Wells home with six bedrooms and seven baths, priced at $12.5 million.
Bruce Blomgren (760.779.1653, www.bruceblomgren.com). "I’m a luxury-home specialist," says Blomgren, who focuses on high-end developments. He has sold homes all over the valley, from Rancho Mirage to La Quinta. The one area Blomgren does not cover is Palm Springs. He has a 7,000-square-foot house in Bighorn Golf Club listed at $5.9 million.
Janine Stevens (760.776.2289, www.janinestevens.comcom). Stevens grew up in the Coachella Valley and has been a Realtor for 17 years, specializing in the country clubs of La Quinta. "Most of my business is golfers playing golf," she says. She holds a listing for a $4.7 million home in Tradition Golf Club that has a walk-in wine cellar and a detached guesthouse.
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