The Winner Is: Award Season in Palm Springs!

Check out at this lineup of celebrities: Reese Witherspoon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton, Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt and Robert Downey, Jr.

It looks like every supermarket tabloid editor’s dream for front page hot gossip news stories, doesn’t it?

Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival

Actually, these notables were among the glitterati who recently attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival gala awards festivities at the Palm Spring Convention Center. My husband and I were fortunate to be among the attendees as well, so we got a good dose of star exposure that evening.

Attendance is up
As with many events staged in Palm Springs, La Quinta and the general Coachella Valley area, the film festival awards evening has grown significantly since it started back in 2002. Festival Chairman Harold Matzner told us that night that only 200 people attended the first awards gala. This year, there were 2,400 of us in the audience.

You may have seen some of the winning films throughout the evening. Among the titles honored were “Gone Girl,” “Selma,” “Whiplash,” “The Judge,” “Boyhood,” “Still Alice,” “The Theory of Everything,” “Birdman,” “The Imitation Game” and “Wild.”

If you’re a film buff at all, take a close look at that list. You may want to try to see any you have missed. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is the first movie awards event of the year and many times what happens here gives us a clue as to which actors, directors and producers will be walking away with Oscars in their hands later in the season.

La Quinta Country Club
La Quinta Country Club

January is a busy time
Events on the desert often foreshadow things that occur throughout the year. I don’t know if the film festival organizers selected January in the Coachella Valley because our weather is so nice, but I do know that the professional golfers roll into town this time of year because of the climate.

This year the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation comes to PGA West and La Quinta Country Club from January 19-25. This was formerly the Bob Hope Classic. I know that our local golfers are anxious to see how the pros look at the beginning of the season.

Will Tiger Woods get back to form? As I write this it’s not known exactly who will play, but one favorite – Phil Mickelson – has said that he’ll be in La Quinta for sure. Last year the Humana field of players ended up claiming 20 PGA Tour titles, including the golfer who won the FedExCup title – Billy Horschel!

As I close today’s article, I want to reflect on how wonderful it is to live in a place where you can attend an event with the celebrities I mentioned in my opening and then play a round of golf on a course that will soon host pros like Phil Mickelson battling it out for their share of a $5.7 million purse.

PGA West Stadium Course
Hole #17 @ PGA West Stadium Course

Live where the pros play
Not only that, you can live in the communities that surround the PGA West and La Quinta CC. And, if you’re familiar with La Quinta, Indian Wells and Coachella Valley real estate, you know that the offerings range far wider than those two. For example, the La Quinta Resort has three great courses and several communities.

The best way to give yourself an introduction to the courses and the communities is to download our free guide to Palm Springs Area Golf Clubs. You’ll see all the courses, towns and communities, as well as restaurants and other notable commercial areas. The guide also include some relative pricing information, for both homes and memberships.

Of course, it’s just a start. When you want to learn more, give us a call and we can answer all your questions.

 

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Dreaming of a White Christmas and a Round of Golf

You can’t get through the holiday season without enjoying Bing Crosby’s recording of White Christmas a few times. Various artists have put their stamp on the classic over the years, but none will ever touch Bing’s version.

You may know that there’s a major connection between Bing Crosby and the Palm Springs areaRancho Mirage specifically – but did you know that there’s also a connection between the desert here and a white Christmas?

I’ll cover some of the highlights between the crooner and our area first and then make the white Christmas connection. (I have to hold you in suspense for at least a few moments!)

Bing Crosby Estate Rancho Mirage
Bing Crosby Estate – Rancho Mirage

Bing had a wonderful estate in Rancho Mirage, just across the street from the Thunderbird Country Club. Bing’s love of golf is almost as famous as his silky smooth singing voice and he actually helped establish the Thunderbird Country Club.

Stay in Bing’s estate
His estate there is 6,700 square feet, five bedrooms and six baths. Visitors to our area can rent it today if they want to get a feel for his lifestyle. I also need to mention that the neighborhood where it’s located is Thunderbird Heights, which has been home to many celebrities over the years. In fact, Rancho Mirage itself is often called the “Playground of the Presidents” because of its rich history with First Families over the years.

But what about White Christmas? you ask. If you’re familiar with the geography of La Quinta and the Coachella Valley, you know that we back up to the San Jacinto Mountains. This year we got our first snowfall on the mountains in the week before Christmas. It’s not uncommon to get up on Christmas morning, look up to the mountains and see snow.

And if you, visiting children or grandchildren feel like waging a snowball fight, you can always buy a ticket, hop on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and take the ride to the top of the mountains. Is there any other place in the world where you can have breakfast outdoors under a palm tree and in less than an hour be hiking under snowy pine trees? I don’t think so.

White peaks, green fairways
And in the same way, where else can you have a snowball fight with your family and friends and an hour later be playing golf on beautiful green fairways? The combination of the climate and geography of Palm Springs, La Quinta, Indian Wells and the Coachella Valley is truly one of nature’s wonders.

Palm Springs Aerial Tram
Palm Springs Aerial Tram

You can really see how the desert meets the mountains when you download our free Golf Resource Guide. It lays out the valley floor with the location of all our great golf courses and the communities that surround them. Also included are guidelines for the price of homes as well as country club memberships.

If you want to walk the same fairways at the Thunderbird Country Club that Bing Crosby walked, you’ll find it on our map along with membership details. You’ll also see the great family of courses and communities at La Quinta Resort, including the Pete Dye designed La Quinta Resort Dunes Course, Mountain Course and Citrus Course.

Our guide to Palm Springs area golf clubs is an excellent way to start your search for real estate in La Quinta, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and the neighboring communities. And when you’re ready to delve a little deeper into property and homes, give us a call. We would love to help you find the ideal place for you and your family in our beautiful area.

 

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An Epic Movie and an Epic Palm Springs Home

Classic movies and local nostalgia recently crossed paths with the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind.

If you went out for a movie in the month before the anniversary, you may have seen a trailer for a special two-night screening put on by TCM and Fathom events. It’s really one of those movies that you need to see on the big screen to appreciate and I hope a whole new generation has been introduced to this classic American movie and story.

Clark Cable
Clark Cable

Okay, by now you may be wondering how this relates to real estate in the Palm Springs area, including La Quinta, Indian Wells and the other local communities, but I assure you it does.

If you would like to have an up-close and personal connection to Gone With the Wind’s male star, you might consider putting in an offer on Clark Gable’s home in Palm Springs – it recently came on the market. And your connection to the Golden Days of Hollywood would stretch even further; Gable built the estate for his wife at the time, Carol Lombard.

Talk about Hollywood royalty!

Gable and golf
As you know, a lot of celebrities have owned and currently own property in the Coachella Valley, so it’s not all that unusual that one comes on the market that has something of a cachet. However, I can’t think of any that top Gable and Lombard.

Gable, by the way, must have enjoyed the golf scene here. Golf was one of many endeavors he truly wanted to master.

“Golf looked so easy to me,” he once related, “so I just bought some clubs and started out. I found out different and so I decided that I would quit fooling and become a real golfer.”

He buckled down, found a pro to teach him and vowed not to hit a course until he was ready. Gable worked at it for eight straight months and when he finally ventured onto the Lakewood course in Los Angeles, he shot an 81!

La Quinta Resort
La Quinta Resort

If you want to take a few strokes off your game, La Quinta is your ideal home base. With our climate you can pursue your passion just about every day of the year. I feel bad for anyone who loves golf and lives in an area where the courses have to close over the winter months.

Live on your favorite course
And the great thing about La Quinta and the neighboring communities is not only do you have dozens of excellent courses within minutes, you can pick one and live next door to it. Some of the great options here include homes at La Quinta Resort, PGA West, The Tradition, Citrus Club and several others.

If you download our free golf course resource guide, you’ll see that there are really too many to list here. The guide gives you a great map of the courses along with the details you need to judge relative prices of memberships as well as real estate.

Once you get a feel for Coachella Valley real estate and golf from our guide, give us a call and we can answer any questions you have. We work hard to keep our clients informed and help them find the ideal home, because unlike Clark Gable’s infamous line in Gone With the Wind, we really care!

 

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You Need to Visit this Real Desert Oasis

The folks who write travel brochures toss around words like “magical” to describe places they would like you to visit. Often these vacation spots are very nice, but “magical” might be stretching it a little.

However, I’m going to confidently step out on a limb here and tell you that the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indian’s Palm Canyon truly lives up to being described as magical. It’s the world’s largest fan palm oasis and walking into it is like stepping into an exotic world all its own.

Palm Canyon
Palm Canyon

It’s part of the Indian Canyons on the land of the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians and is tucked in behind Palm Springs. They maintain the area and charge a small fee for admission to the hiking trails. Also in the area are Murray Canyon and Andreas Canyon, which treats visitors to a perennial creek.

Abundant nature
The plant and animal life in these little self-contained ecosystems is abundant, including some rare and threatened species. When you look up to the canyon walls, you see stark walls of red rock, but on the floor of the canyons, there is rich, green plant life. The shade the palms provide along with a source of water, sustained the first inhabitants in this area.

When you visit, you can develop a real appreciation for what life was like before the first European settlers arrived. You’ll also find reminders of when the ancestors of today’s Caliente Cahuilla Indians lived there, including rock art, house pits and foundations, irrigation ditches, dams, reservoirs, trails, and food processing areas.

Imagine yourself to be an early explorer, parched by the dry desert floor, when you discover that hidden away in the rugged mountains is a series of cool, green and even wet oases. Could there have been a more welcome sight?

The good life
Of course, life is quite a bit easier today for the residents in Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indian Wells and the general Palm Springs or Coachella Valley area. But it’s always a good idea to remember the roots of the area where you live.

When you have these images filed away in your mind, you’ll probably recall them often when you’re out on one of our golf courses. You can see that many of our courses here are inspired by locations such as Palm Canyon. They make almost artistic use of the dramatic meeting of the rock and sand with the green of native plants.

The Citrus
The Citrus Golf Course

And while I gave travel brochure writers a bit of a hard time at the beginning of this article, I have to say that there is something magical about being out on a course like The Citrus Club, the Dunes Course at the La Quinta Resort, Rancho La Quinta and many others with a green fairway under your feet, a clear blue sky over head and mountains to your side that display an almost infinitely varied palette of reds and tans.

There’s only one thing better: living alongside such natural and man-made beauty. It’s no mystery why people continue to settle in La Quinta and the Coachella Valley as a whole; this area has the natural beauty, the recreational opportunities and the climate that makes for an ideal home base.

La Quinta real estate information
Take a moment to download our golf course resource guide. It’s really much more. It gives you an idea of relative home prices, country club fees and a listing of area restaurants.

And after you’ll mulled the golf course guide over for a little while, call us or drop us an email so we can answer your questions and help you find your ideal home.

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Golf Tournaments and Some Very Funny Men

Some funny things can happen on the golf course. If you’re a long-time golfer you’ve probably seen that little white ball take some crazy bounces.

But as well as funny things happening on the course, a lot of funny folks have been associated with the sport.

Here in the Palm Springs area, Bob Hope hosted his “Bob Hope Chrysler Classic” from the 1960s through to his death in 2003 and then another funny man, George Lopez took over the helm.

George Lopez
George Lopez

There are days when it seems like every time you flip on the television you see George Lopez in a new sitcom or talk show. He’s one of many celebrities who’s a huge fan of golf and that probably explains why he purchased a home in La Quinta about two years ago.

Lopez loves it here
He told the local paper here not long ago that he found himself staying at La Quinta Resort and playing the courses there so often that he should probably find a house. It’s pretty good testimony to La Quinta Resort and the courses in our area when a man like George Lopez – who could live and play anywhere – buys a home here.

Not too “dis” any other golfing mecca, but Lopez said that he bought in La Quinta after selling a home in Pebble Beach. I hear they have some nice courses there as well…

By the way, although Lopez is no longer hosting the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic – now the Humana Challenge – he is still very active in the celebrity golf tournament scene. He has his own tournament, which is held each year in the Los Angeles area. He gets a lot of big names and the money raised goes to support recovery programs.

Keep Lopez in mind when you come to La Quinta to play a few rounds and look at property. Who knows, you might run into him as you wait to tee off. And if you want to see exactly how the various courses and communities here are spread out along the floor of the Coachella Valley, be sure to download our free golf resource guide.

The Citrus
The Citrus Golf Course

Guide gives great details
It’s the ideal place to begin your search for the perfect location. We’ve color-coded the various types of courses: private clubs, public clubs, public courses, resort clubs, and private courses. You can use the map to tell which courses have homes and which don’t offer real estate. We also include estimates of home prices as well as deposits and dues for golf club memberships.

The first thing that impresses most people is the sheer number of great courses and real estate options they have. Courses like the Citrus Club, Mountain View Country Club, Rancho La Quinta and several others are always at the top of home buyers’ lists. Another good option is the Painted Cove neighborhood here. It’s close to Old Town La Quinta and just a short golf cart drive to Silver Rock Golf Resort.

There’s never enough space in these articles to outline all the places we’ve come to love so much and that’s one reason we encourage you to give us a call. We can answer your questions and help you locate some homes that would be perfect for your family and lifestyle.

And hey, you might discover that George Lopez is a neighbor. No joke!

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Enjoying the Desert’s Past and Present

I’ve written about desert architecture, hotels and celebrities here before. This time out I want to combine all three in a brief note about a very special place in Palm Springs: the Movie Colony Hotel.

This little 16-room gem was designed by Albert Frey in 1935. Frey studied with the internationally famous and influential Le Corbusier in Paris and the Movie Colony Hotel was one of Frey’s first projects in the states. It it the epitome of desert style Mid-Century Modern architecture.

Movie Colony Hotel
Movie Colony Hotel

Relive a Classic Era
Sadly, many classic examples of Mid-Century Modern have been lost throughout the Southwest over the years. The Movie Colony Hotel is a notable, and welcome, exception to this. Its owners, in fact, have lovingly restored the property.

As its name implies, the hotel’s historic guest register boasts celebrity names such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and even Jim Morrison. The hotel rocks on today and when you come to the Coachella Valley to look at real estate, maybe you’d like to add your name to its guest list.

After a day of checking out properties, relaxing by the pool with your favorite refreshing beverage would be an ideal way to watch the sun go down. Not only will it restore your energy, the period architecture and decor will transport you back to an era when one of Hollywood’s glamor girls might have been the next guest to round the corner.

Today is ‘The Good Old Days’
But as much as I love iconic properties like the Movie Colony Hotel and reminiscing about the early days here, I have to admit that today’s Palm Springs, La Quinta, Indian Wells and neighboring communities offer some real advantages.

The Reserve Country Club
The Reserve Country Club

First, the overall quality of real estate here today is vastly superior to the “old days.” Communities in and around golf course developments, boast homes to suit virtually every aesthetic. Spend an day with us exploring the La Quinta Resort as well as the homes around country clubs such as The Hideaway Country Club, Indian Ridge Country Club, The Reserve Country Club, Eldorado Country Club, Indian Wells Country Club and La Quinta Country Club and you’ll get a deep appreciation for the quality and selection in the real estate market here.

Abundant Golf Course Options
And I’m not going out on a limb by saying that your golf course options are much greater and even superior to the courses the Rat Pack had at their disposal back in the day. No matter what your handicap is, or style of golf you prefer, you’ll find several courses here that meet your needs.

If “seeing is believing,” then take a moment to download our golf course resource guide. It maps out all the courses in La Quinta and the surrounding area and gives you information regarding membership rates and more. You can get an overview of the communities that surround the various courses as well.

Thanks for taking a few moments to read this post. I hope it has given you a little taste for what life is like here. Of course, there’s no substitute for experiencing it yourself. Give us a call so we can introduce you to the area.

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Artistic Expression: Water in the Desert

Deserts are often referred to as places of extremes, and that’s one of the qualities that makes them such dramatic and dynamic places to live. Spend one evening watching the colors wash over the mountains that surround the Coachella Valley as the sun sets, and you’ll get a feeling for the magnificence.

Right now there’s an art exhibit at the visitor’s center in Twentynine Palms that gives an artistic expression to one of these “extreme” relationships that we have with nature here. It’s entitled “Water in the Desert: Scarcity and Abundance.”

Sunset at the Citrus
Sunset at the Citrus Club in La Quinta

Artists from throughout the area are displaying works that illustrate our natural relationship to water in the La Quinta, Palm Springs and general Coachella Valley area. We tend to think of deserts as arid, rainless places, but that is a simplification that doesn’t really capture the truth.

Snow-capped mountains
When you see the snow atop the Santa Rosa-San Jacinto mountains in the winter, you know that the area gets its share of moisture. And when a major storm blows through the area, the dry creek beds become powerful torrents of water.

However, most of the water here in the Coachella Valley, while ever-present, goes virtually unseen. Whether you’re walking a golf course, driving a local road or relaxing in your back yard, there’s an ancient and plentiful aquifer beneath you that supplies homes and businesses with all the water they need. Its natural abundance along with smart management practices is one of the blessings we enjoy in La Quinta and the surrounding communities.

Perhaps that most beautiful reminder of the area’s winter rains is the spring wildflower bloom. The timing of the rains and how much rain we get over the winter each year determines when you can expect to start seeing the bloom and how strong it will be. I see the desert flowers as a living reminder of the nourishing rains we receive each year.

Of course, compared to a place like Seattle, Washington, our rainfall amounts are rather paltry and this causes almost everyone to get creative and resourceful in how they use water. Over the years, our golf courses have taken the challenge of operating within our climate to heart.

Great course designs
They have done pathbreaking work to make themselves good stewards of the resource while providing golfers with exceptionally beautiful and challenging courses at the same time. You may know that Audubon International has a program that recognizes excellence in golf course design and management. The program certifies courses that do a great job with the environment, and here in the Coachella Valley, water conservation is a very important factor.

PGA West Stadium Course
Hole #17 @ PGA West Stadium Course

Here are courses in our area that are Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program Golf Courses: Greg Norman Course at PGA West, La Quinta; La Quinta Resort and Club, La Quinta Citrus Course, Mountain & Dunes Courses; Marriott’s Shadow Ridge Resort, Palm Desert; PGA West, La Quinta, Arnold Palmer Course, Nicklaus Private & Weiskopf Courses, and Stadium & Nicklaus Tournament Courses; The Classic Club, Palm Desert; and Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa Golf Course, Palm Desert.

I like to think that the designers of those courses have, in their own ways, made artistic expressions similar to what you’ll see if you check out the current art exhibit at the Twentynine Palms Visitors Center – they are just using a different medium to create their works.

So when you come to visit and look at property in and around these courses, you can see your future home as being surrounded by art that reflects our natural relationship with the most important natural resource: water.

Why not start your search today? Download our free golf course resource guide and get a feel for the area, then call or drop us an email so we can answer any questions you might have.

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And the Winner Is: The Palm Springs Film Festival

I’ve written about the historic connection between Hollywood and the Palm Spring-Coachella Valley area often here. Usually the topic centers around the celebrities who have homes here or who have been known to spend a lot of time relaxing in our area.

Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival

However, there are two somewhat more direct connections between the movie industry and the desert: The Palm Springs International Film Festival and Palm Springs International Shortfest. The first is held in January and the festival of short films is held in June.

I’m not an expert on the subject, but I don’t know of any other area that has separate festivals celebrating feature length and short length films. It’s nice having two cinematic events to look forward to throughout the year. By the way, the International film festival will be in its 27th year next January and the Shortfest just notched its 20th year. Those are nice long runs for any film…festival.

Enjoy seldom-seen gems
One of the best things about the film festival is that it gives die-hard movie buffs a chance to see films that don’t typically come to the standard multiplex. For example, this year the Audience Award for best narrative feature went to “Lakshmi,” a story based on the harrowing and heroic true events in the life of Lakshmi, a 13-year-old girl in India.

However, all the big names and films that dominate the Oscars later in the year are represented as well. In 2014, “12 Years a Slave,” “American Hustle,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Gravity,” “Dallas Buyers Club” and other major productions won awards in Palm Springs.

The Citrus
The Citrus Golf Course

Taking in an evening movie – any time throughout the year – is always a good way to relax after spending an active day in La Quinta, Indian Wells, Palm Springs and the entire Coachella Valley. Topping off the day in the sun with an evening movie, watching one of the many choices you can make at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, makes for a perfect balance, and better yet… a perfect day!

Relax after a day on the links
Of course, a challenging day on the golf course is always a great “first course” for a full day of activities here. And with the abundance of excellent La Quinta real estate, as well as property in Indian Wells, the location couldn’t get any better.

I invite you to use the search feature on our site to introduce yourself to the area. You can enter terms like: La Quinta Resort, Citrus Golf Course, Duna La Quinta, The Enclave, The Tradition, or other areas, golf courses and country clubs where you might want to locate.

Finally, to get a visual overview of the area, including all the golf courses and great restaurants, be sure to download a copy of our golf resource guide. With the resource guide and our convenient search feature, you can really begin to get your Coachella Valley bearings. Then the only thing left to do is give us a call so we can really focus in on properties that will ideally suit your lifestyle. We have information and insights that go beyond what even the most experienced Internet searcher can discover.

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Looking for a Great Golf Course? So Is the Humana Challenge.

“Like a kid in a candy store.”

PGA West Golf Course
PGA West

In a way, that must be how the organizers of the Humana Challenge must be feeling right now. They are looking for two new courses for the tournament after 2015. Of course, changing venues involves a lot of work and officials tasked with the job have many details that must be taken care of. Yet with so many excellent contenders, I think one of the biggest challenges is narrowing down their options.

Bob Marra, CEO and tournament chairman for the Humana Challenge, seemed to echo that thought when he recently said, “As you know, if any area has options for a PGA Tour event, it’s the Coachella Valley.” Of course, all of those great golf course options also translate into a lot of great options for golf course real estate.

La Quinta CC
The tournament plays three courses each year and replacements for two of those need to be found for the 2016 event. The two PGA West courses that have been often used in recent years – the Jack Nicklaus Private Course and Arnold Palmer Private Course – won’t be available. La Quinta Country Club is still on the 2016 schedule.

La Quinta Country Club
La Quinta Country Club

The tournament has been associated with PGA West in La Quinta since 1988 and the Palmer Private Course has seen a lot of play over those ears. Golfers who are also fans of the sport’s heritage will remember David Duvall’s final-round 59 on that course back in 1999 that led him to victory.

The Jack Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West has also been the site of many Humana Challenge rounds over the years. The tournament used to be the Bob Hope Classic and today it works with the Clinton Foundation. Continuing an important legacy of the Bob Hope Classic, the Humana Challenge offers unique Pro-Am playing opportunities.

Environmental friendly
As we get ready to say “goodbye” to the PGA West Palmer and Nicklaus courses after the 2015 event, I want to mention one more thing about them. Both of these courses are certified Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuaries. That program is designed to greatly help the environment by protecting natural areas and wildlife habitat. Environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, water conservation and quality management, along with education and outreach are major parts of the certification.

SilverRock Resort
SilverRock Resort

It’s a great program.

Here’s an idea for your next visit to our area: Think of yourself as having been tasked with finding two courses for the Humana Challenge in 2016 and make your own personal rating as you enjoy a few rounds of golf in the La Quinta area.

Get a TPC tee time
SilverRock is one course that locals have said may be in the running. And while PGA West has taken its private courses off the board for the Humana Challenge, some are speculating that the TPC Stadium Course will be called into action. That course will test your skill when you take an afternoon off from scouting real estate.

Finally, while there are a lot of details still to be set for the 2016 event, in La Quinta one fact remains certain: We’re still looking forward to a great tournament in our backyard. And if you want an “up close and personal” look at the courses and real estate that make up our “backyard,” download our golf resource guide and give us a call. We can introduce you to all the best places to live in La Quinta and Indian Wells as well as show you all the finest Palm Springs area real estate.

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The Night Life Tradition Continues

When you live in a place that has been the semi-official hideaway for the biggest names in entertainment and politics, you hear a lot of stories about “back then” and collect a lot of local lore.

Riviera Hotel Palm Springs
Riviera Hotel Palm Springs

The Coachella Valley and Palm Springs area is that kind of place and a good part of the lore that you pick up here centers around the night life. From the 1940s through 1965, one of the hottest spots was a nightclub/supper club called the Chi Chi in Palm Springs. World class entertainers such as Jerry Lewis, Sophie Tucker, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Edgar Bergen, Nat King Cole and Dorothy Dandridge graced the club’s circular stage.

All the big movie stars enjoyed evenings at the Chi Chi as well as the studio heads, like Jack Warner and Cecil B. DeMille. “Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup…”

Relax after a round of golf
I imagine a lot of the guests who hit the Chi Chi for dinner and an evening of entertainment, needed a little relaxation after a day on the links. By the way, while the Chi Chi is gone, you can get a great feel for that era at the Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs. It was built by the Irwin brothers – who founded the Chi Chi – and Mark Shuman in 1952 and has undergone some recent renovations that bring back its original splendor and glamour.

Riviera Hotel Palm Springs
Riviera Hotel Palm Springs

I also want to quickly mention The Purple Room Supper Club at the Club Trinidad Resort in Palm Springs, because it has a heritage that extends to the days of the Chi Chi. The Purple Room got its start in the 1960s – when you could find Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack there – but changed through the years. Fortunately, it’s been revived and today hosts some great entertainment and dining six nights a week.

Acts change every night so you can enjoy all styles of music, hilarious celebrity impersonators, comedy and more. Its restaurant, Trio, offers an extensive menu. You’ll find that Trio supports local, organic and sustainable agriculture; you’ll be impressed by the quality.

Daytime and nighttime activities
Clubs like The Purple Room really create a balanced lifestyle in this area. There are activities that get you outside during the daytime and then entertainment to keep you, well, entertained at night. Of course, an evening at a top quality restaurant with family and friends is always a wonderful way to spend some time as the sun sets.

Old Town La Quinta
Old Town La Quinta

By the way, not only does our free Golf Course Resource Guide give you all the important details on courses in the La Quinta, Indio, Indian Wells, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage area, you’ll find an extensive listing of restaurants. Download it today and look it over.

As you scan the map in the guide, you’ll be able to quickly visualize how convenient developments such as the La Quinta Resort are to everywhere you’ll want to go, whether it’s a great restaurant, the shops in Old Town La Quinta or one of the neighboring courses, such as the PGA West in La Quinta, The Hideaway Country Club, Indian Ridge Country Club, and many more.

This is one of the greatest single assets regarding La Quinta real estate, Indian Wells real estate and property throughout the Palm Springs area: everything is convenient. When you want to be doing things and not just spending time behind the wheel of your car, this is the place to be – just like it was for the Rat Pack.

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