The Desert Dreamers series focuses on a group of dedicated environmentalists who watched over the delicate, ecological balance of the Coachella Valley.
Desert Dreamers 8: The Crooners
We celebrate some of the legendary singers who put down roots and gave Palm Springs its enduring celebrity cachet.
Desert Dreamers 7: The Architects
Their works continue to awe and inspire, and the group is adding members.
This edition of Desert Dreamers focuses on the Palm Springs architects whose works continue to awe and inspire, and continues to add new members thanks to a resurgent interest in modernism over the last two decades.
Desert Dreamers 6
They came from Hollywood.
Because Hollywood stars were obliged by contract to be within driving distance in the event of reshoots, many chose Palm Springs as a short-term getaway. And many stayed.
Desert Dreamers 5: The Eccentric Visionaries
There is no doubt that the limitless possibilities offered by the desert often attract the most eccentric personalities. But it would be a mistake to call them crazy. It sometimes takes a generation or two to discover the genius of a nutball.
In Desert Dreamers 5, there is no doubt that the limitless possibilities offered by the desert often attract the most eccentric personalities.
Desert Dreamers 4: The Sports Stars
They came; they saw blue skies, perfect weather, and endless possibilities for indulging their sporting passions.
From the beginning, Palm Springs has always been a sporty place. People first came because the dry desert air was good for the lungs (actually, its clean air, devoid of pollution, helps people with conditions like asthma), but it wasn’t long before the sports-minded crowd followed with their tennis rackets, golf clubs, polo mallets, and hiking staffs. Nellie Coffman laid
Desert Dreamers 3
Whether through dancing, singing, painting, or playing, their lives and art reflect our valley.
One of the stories often told about Palm Springs’ early history (a story like many others with one foot in the truth and the other hovering somewhere near it) is that the valley was a magnet to Hollywood celebrities because many of them had a clause in their contracts forbidding them to travel farther than 120 miles from their studios.
Desert Dreamers 2
For these pioneers, it went beyond civic pride. It became their mission in life.
Back in 1917, the Palm Springs locals didn’t even blink when they saw a woman clad in bib overalls and covered in grease. That was just Zaddie Bunker, proprietor of Bunker’s Garage, a woman who knew how to fix cars. She had a certificate to prove it because she learned her trade in a correspondence course. After her husband left
Desert Dreamers
They didn’t see emptiness. They only saw possibility.
“There are two deserts,” Randall Henderson wrote in 1937 for his first Desert Magazine letter from the editor. “One is a grim, desolate wasteland. It is the home of venomous reptiles and stinging insects, of vicious thorn-covered plants and trees, and of unbearable heat. This is the desert seen by the stranger speeding along the highway, impatient to be out
A Cody Classic
The Ted Riback Residence in Rancho Mirage was one of William F. Cody's last residential commissions.
The Ted Riback Residence at Tamarisk Country Club in Rancho Mirage was one of architect William F. Cody’s last residential commissions.