miralon palm springs

On the Home Front: Spring 2020

As a master-planned community with a farming component, Miralon has piqued interest with its promise of olive groves on the site of an abandoned golf course.

Lisa Marie Hart Current Digital, Home & Design, Real Estate

miralon palm springs
PHOTOGRAPHH COURTESY FLAIR AT MIRALON
Home Is Where the Olives Are

The wait is over to step foot inside the first model homes of the area’s first “agrihood.” As a master-planned community with a farming component, Miralon has piqued interest with its promise of olive groves on the site of an abandoned golf course since 2016, when Freehold Communities purchased the land. More than three years later, the 309-acre site off the northern stretch of Indian Canyon Drive has opened five phase one models while development continues on the clubhouse (with two pools, a fitness center, and café), lakes, dog parks, seven miles of walking trails, and four community gardens.

The Flair at Miralon homes by Woodbridge Pacific Group take influence from midcentury design traditions. Flair’s five, three-bedroom models — one spanning two stories — will be joined later this month by the Aura at Miralon models, three single-story “desert modernist” pool residences by Christopher Homes. Over the next several years, three builders — Gallery Homes being the third — will collectively contribute 1,150 units. All have committed to energy-efficient homes with rooftop solar panels, shade-bearing overhangs, and trees placed to shield the sun. As for the olive trees, 7,000 have been planted, though that number could double. Temecula Olive Oil Company will harvest the fruit and turn it into olive oil, a unique amenity for Miralon residents included in their homeowner association fees. For more information, visit discovermiralon.com.

• READ NEXT: Miralon is Envisioned as a Resort-like Community.

Designer Transplant

Last summer, designers Patrick Dragonette and Charles Tucker relocated full-time to their weekend retreat at Marrakesh Country Club in Palm Desert, bringing a new incarnation of their showroom with them.

“We were willing to put L.A. in the rear-view mirror for a gentler way of life,” Dragonette explains. The re-launch of Dragonette Ltd. — a mainstay on La Cienega Boulevard for almost 23 years — is hard to miss along El Paseo. Its 5,000 square feet have been described as “a glowing white cube where everything shines.”

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DRAGONETTE LTD

Exclusive lamps and furnishings made in collaboration with an artist friend fit in among an expertly collected mix of product from new lines and vintage pieces, including rare classics by Billy Haines, Dragonette’s biggest style influence. “To me, the kiss of death is being slavish to an era,” he says. “I’ve always felt that in order to make a room fresh and current, you first have to visit the past.” The pair will continue their design work wherever it takes them as they cultivate new clients here and regionally.

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY LUXSY PALM SPRINGS

This Thing Called Luxsy

Visitors seeking “iconic vacation estates and true hospitality” have a new Palm Springs resource that marries 24/7 guest relations with an elite class of vacation rental properties. Luxsy Palm Springs launched in early 2020 after owner Kevin Kaiser relocated from Texas and devoted six months to development. For years prior, Kaiser and his family (huge Frank Sinatra fans, which led them to discover the desert) had found the local vacation home rental experience lacking in service and amenities. The weaknesses, he felt, indicated a need — one he has turned into Luxsy’s strength.

“Guests know they’re getting that Ritz-Carlton-style, ultra-luxury resort experience in the privacy of a vacation home; our processes and technology ensure no item is missed,” he says. “They check into a fully stocked home in perfect condition with luxury amenities. They’re not going into the great unknown.” For owners, Luxsy provides 350-point routine inspections, white-glove treatment of the property, and a financial analysis to leverage their vacation estate into a profitable business — one that sets its minimum threshold at $100,000 year. “Luxsy will bring in more revenue and a better return on investment because each home from our boutique selection of estates is marketed as a luxury property, not a generic vacation rental that gets lost in the mix.”

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY PIRCH

All in the Experience

See, touch, try. Those were motivating keywords behind the grand re-opening of the PIRCH showroom in Rancho Mirage. Opened almost a decade ago, the kitchen and bath resource unveiled a major redesign that offers a more experiential environment and a substantially expanded product range. New plumbing fixtures by Waterstone, Dornbracht, and Samuel Heath join outdoor kitchen displays featuring grills by Lynx and Kalamazoo. A series of “dream kitchens” showcase luxury appliances by Sub Zero, Wolf, Fisher Paykel, Miele, Gaggenau, Hestan, Blue Star, and La Cornue. While the “live kitchen” promises hands-on thrills, an “interactive shower wall” sounds even more intriguing.

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY LES CACTUS

Comeback Colors on a New Hotel

Have you noticed? Palm Springs seems to be increasingly associated with a Caribbean pink-and-Kelly green scheme, typically played out in a tropical print. From swimsuits to leafy wallpaper from the Palm Springs Collection by MindTheGap, the colors have somehow taken hold in the region. Fans are sure to stumble upon new boutique hotel Les Cactus, a low-slung, sunset-pink compound with green loungers and striped umbrellas lazing around a saltwater pool. Rising L.A.-based hotelier Matthew Kurtz refreshed the retro 27-room property in partnership with Richard Crisman and Jeff Brock, the duo behind Sparrow’s Lodge and Holiday House. Swing in the hammock grove, hop on a bicycle, bask in the glow of the firepit, or head 
to the roof deck for a bird’s-eye view of all that pink and green.