Modernism Week: Rancho Mirage's history, mid-century architectural gems to be showcased

Palm Springs is known around the world as a mecca for preserved mid-century architecture, but many people are unfamiliar with what's hiding behind the country club gates and tall hedges of Rancho Mirage.

The city boasts its fair share of mid-century gems, and many will be showcased during Modernism Week, held Feb. 16 to 26.

The Tamarisk neighborhood walking tour, presented by Preservation Mirage, will highlight significant, historic homes behind Tamarisk Country Club designed by famed desert modernist architects including Hugh Kaptur, William F. Cody, Donald Wexler, William Krisel and Val Powelson. Nearby Da Vaal Estates, a mid-century modern architectural condo development, will give patrons a peek inside what is considered the original "Desert X" of Rancho Mirage. Melissa Riche, author of "Mod Mirage" and founder of Preservation Mirage, will also hold a talk to discuss Rancho Mirage homes that have been lost to demolition and aggressive remodels since the 1980s.

If you're among those who don't know much about Rancho Mirage's architectural history, you're not alone. When Riche was looking to move to the desert a decade ago, she and her husband initially considered buying a mid-century modern home in Palm Springs. That is until she saw an article in the Los Angeles Times about Sunnylands opening to the public.

"I literally thought, 'Well, if it's good enough for the Annenbergs, it might be good enough for me,'" she said. "I never thought about living in Rancho Mirage at all. I thought there can't be any mid-century (architecture) there."

The home they eventually bought is located in the historically designated district called Tamarisk Ranchos, behind Tamarisk Country Club.

As she started walking around the neighborhood, she noticed many homes were adorned with historical plaques, so she started digging into the city's history. Riche also realized there was little information available on its country clubs and neighborhoods that sprung up in the 1950s and 1960s. That research project eventually led to her writing "Mod Mirage," a comprehensive study of mid-century architecture in Rancho Mirage, as well as forming Preservation Mirage. The organization aims to educate the community about its rich architectural history, as well as advocate for its preservation.

In the 1930s, two real estate developers bought an area of desert off Highway 111 to create "El Rancho Mirage." Frank Morgan, who played the Wizard in "The Wizard of Oz," built his home in 1937, which is still around today. In 1944, Major A. Ronald Button bought 80 acres, and by 1948 had 100 homes, two apartment hotels and a community swimming pool completed. Actors John Warburton, Hedy Lamarr, Jeannette MacDonald and George Brent also built homes in the area, which led to Rancho Mirage being known as the “Filmland Annex."

But the creation of Thunderbird and Tamarisk country clubs in the 1950s really dictated how Rancho Mirage was developed, Riche said.

"(The country clubs) came up with the idea of selling home sites around the golf courses. That was the first time that had ever been done," she said.

Celebrities like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and others brought in their own architects to design custom homes. Those architects included Welton Becket, Cody, Wexler, Richard Harrison, Buff & Hensman, Wallace Neff, William Pereira, Krisel, Howard Lapham, E. Stewart Williams and Paul R. Williams. Even presidents came to the area, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, earning the city its nickname "Playground of Presidents."

Later, "not everybody wanted a big house on the golf course," Riche explained, "and so what then happened was various developers came along and started buying land around those two golf courses and started developing smaller communities, like Tamarisk Ranchos."

Her 1958 home in Tamarisk Ranchos was designed by Krisel, who also made his mark in Palm Springs with the Twin Palms community. Homes in the neighborhood have different roof styles, like flat gable and butterfly, and each "have their own detail on them," she said.

Rancho Mirage was incorporated in 1973.

After a booming 1950s and 1960s, things changed in the 1980s and 1990s, and Riche said it was the "worst era for people knocking things down or remodeling." Many people looked at the mid-century designs and thought they were too small, old or just not what they needed at the time. So they started ripping out the homes' original interior elements and designing based on what they needed in the moment.

In March 2002, the demolition of the Maslon house, designed by Richard Neutra and considered one of the crowning achievements of his later career, in Rancho Mirage caused an international outcry. That led to the City of Rancho Mirage creating a Historic Resources Survey, which has identified potential properties for historic designation, and the Historic Preservation Commission. The commission's members are appointed by the Rancho Mirage City Council, explained the city's marketing director, Gabe Codding, and their job is to review nominations of certain structures, sites and districts of historic significance and make formal recommendations as to which should be designated a Historical Resource of the City.

The city currently has 72 designated historical properties and two historic districts.

Riche considers herself a "purist" when it comes to maintaining the original style of homes, but she also tries to keep an open mind to change. Even Krisel once said he didn't expect people to live with pink bathrooms or pokey kitchens until the end of time. She believes there needs to be a balance between old and new.

"Preserving our architectural legacy is hugely important because I think having architectural variety is what makes our environment a nice place to live," Riche said. "If everything looks like a medical office or Walmart, there's no beauty to it and there's no variety."

Preservation Mirage has taken it upon itself to hold talks to educate the community about the historical significance of the area and help people research their homes. The group has also worked with real estate agents and the city to host meetings, and has sent out mailers to residents that highlight historic architecture, like the Rancho Super Car Wash and its iconic elephant sign. Riche's Modernism Week talk will also recount history and loss that the city has faced.

Codding added that as Rancho Mirage nears its 50th anniversary this year, discussions are underway on how to celebrate that history even more.

In the end, Riche believes education is the key to hopefully prevent future loss and make Rancho Mirage residents proud of their landscape.

"The more people know about what's in their immediate neighborhood, the more chance we have preserving it. People don't care about preservation until they know more about it."

Rancho Mirage events

Da Vaal Estates: Tickets available for Feb. 18

“Going, Going, Gone” – Architecture and Preservation in Rancho Mirage: Tickets available for Feb. 21

If you go: Times, dates and prices vary. Visit modernismweek.com to purchase tickets

Editor's note: Tours of the famed Sunnylands estate, the former winter home of Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg, will also be featured during Modernism Week, but tickets are sold out. The Tamarisk Neighborhood Walking Tour is now also sold out.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Rancho Mirage mid-century history to be showcased at Modernism Week