Welcome to Palm Springs Life's Desert Living Edition, our annual celebration of the bright, colorful California desert lifestyle.
• View the September edition, click HERE.
A veritable user’s guide to the destination, this edition begins with one of the first signs that you’ve arrived: the windmills. Admired for their form and function, the turbines have stood as a Palm Springs icon for more than 30 years. In “The Way the Wind Blows” (p. 60), our online editor, Jim Powers, explains the way they work and how you can tour them up close.
Another only-in-the desert adventure unfolds at the BMW Performance Center in Thermal. We sent auto writer Steve Siler to put the pedal to his mettle in the 600-horsepower 2018 BMW M5. He reports from the field in “Learning Curves” (p. 66).
A bigger view of the West comes into sharp focus at Palm Springs Art Museum in an exhibition called Unsettled. Featuring more than 200 works of modern and contemporary art, the exhibition suggests that we belong to a super region unified by tectonics and history. Art writer Matthew Harrison Tedford explains in his preview, “Enter the Greater West” (p. 62).
Nothing says Palm Springs like its architecture, design, and lifestyle, which blend brilliantly at a restored 1962 Little Tuscany mansion once owned by George and Rosalie Hearst. We sent one of our editors, Winston Gieseke, to show us how designer Anthony Cochran breathed new life into the 7,000-plus-square-foot house in “The Journey of San Simeonita” (p. 74).
Photographer Greg Swales captured actress and activist Chloë Grace Moretz unwinding at one of the desert’s most iconic hotels in “A Weekend at the Parker” (p. 84).
In “Beauty to a Fault” (p. 100) photographer Tom Brewster captures one of our region’s greatest fascinations: the notorious San Andreas Fault.
Your time in the desert will eventually lead you to Shields Date Farm in Indio. How did our region become known for this exotic fruit? Writer Kent Black explains in “The Sex Lives of Dates” (p. 108).
Black loves the lore of the land and serves up the eighth story in his series Desert Dreamers, focusing on the personalities who shaped this place and its enduring image. In this installment (p. 116) he celebrates “the crooners” — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore, Elvis Presley, Trini Lopez, Liberace, and Peggy Lee — who helped make Palm Springs the playground for the stars.
And don’t miss The Guide, which features profiles of many of the desert’s best restaurants, and insight to the finest art galleries, spas, attractions, and more. For the most up-to-date listings of events, bookmark our website: palmspringslife.com.
Enjoy!
