One of the main reasons the husband and I decided on a little vacation in
Palm Springs a few weeks ago was to see if it was a place we'd
maybe like to buy a home in {
read this post to catch up}. And while we were there, I was very much in love with the idea but the husband, on the other hand, couldn't really take the heat. However, once we returned back home to find LA in the midst of humidity hell, his mind was more set on the dry desert heat and we had some decision making ahead of us.
While we were there, we set out on a little adventure to get a feel for this other "Valley" we thought we could someday call home, Rancho Mirage, but I was also on a mission to find some really great 60's houses and architecture I had only seen in magazines like
Architectural Digest and movies like
Palm Springs Weekend. And actually, I was expecting to find it
everywhere, but I was sadly mistaken and realized once we started venturing around the town that I should have maybe done a little more research on where to find this 60's mecca I imagined. Even when we asked the locals
where can we find really great 60's houses and architecture? they sort of tilted their heads and looked as us as if we were straight off of a space ship.
Was my 60's dream just a desert mirage?
We began our search on Frank Sinatra Drive and quickly found some old neighborhoods at the base of the hills filled with 60's homes. However, many of them seemed rundown and some looked very similar to all the 60's homes we grew up in right here in the LA Valley. I found a few gems that I photographed and included here {like the one above} but not too many more. I could see that there were a few off in the distance, set up on the hills, that looked more like what I was searching for, but they were on private property so we couldn't really get a look.
Since many of the properties we've been finding online and loving were in Rancho Mirage, we stayed within those city limits looking for homes... and since we weren't ready just yet to really go house hunting, we didn't get a realtor involved. Again, a little research would have helped here as well because almost ALL of the homes are within gated communities and on private golf courses... which of course, we couldn't get in to see. The tree-lined surrounding streets were gorgeous though and fully developed, though occasionally we'd take a turn down a street and be smack in the middle of the desert with seemingly no life to speak of.
crickets...
Palm Springs is definitely gorgeous. There are palatial Spanish houses spilling from every corner and gated community in sight. At just about every stop, we asked the locals how they liked living there, from old to young and all ages in between, and everyone said pretty much the same thing. It's. Hot. But it's beautiful from October through May... and that the town is set up for senior citizens. But we knew all that going into it. I did notice a surprising amount of furniture stores and boutiques as well as estate shops, which I would have definitely gone into, but the husband wasn't interested. What I absolutely LOVED when I first began shooting photos at the
Viceroy, was the huge rock of a mountain that was the backdrop of every photo. But the more places we went and the more photos I took made me realize that there is a rock or mountain as a backdrop in almost
every photo, and every location. I still find it awe-inspiring, but what about in 5 years time?
There is something really beautiful about the desert though. I mean, I LOVE palm trees but I wonder, would I get bored of the scenery? Are palm trees and brown mountains enough for 365 days of the year? Would I get sick of staying in the air conditioned indoors for 5 months of every year because it's just too hot to go out? All things to consider.
I do love that it's only an hour and 45 minutes away from LA, where the rest of my family lives, so holidays and trips back wouldn't be an issue. But still, I wonder, is it enough? I think at this point we're considering new options, but Palm Springs has definitely become our new favorite vacation spot.
most of the streets in Rancho Mirage look like this... gorgeous gated communities and golf courses behind walls of trees and palms
There is no question though, how Palm Springs got its name... I do love palm trees.
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