4 Hidden Gem Activities Unique To The Palm Springs Area

While Palm Springs attracts thousands of tourists a year for its world-famous golf courses, casinos and restaurants, plenty of other unique Palm Springs activities draw visitors and locals alike.
The sunny climate, combined with the stark beauty of its oasis-like scenery at the foot of the sublime San Jacinto Mountains, creates the perfect area for multiple natural and human-made attractions.
To ensure you don’t miss out on some of the best-hidden gems of Palm Springs, we’ve come up with a guide of four lesser-known activities to do in the area.

Shields Date Gardens

Date crops have been growing in Palm Springs since the late 1800s when the USDA realized that the local climate is similar to this fruit's natural homes in North Africa and the…

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6 Unique Palm Springs Murals to Spruce Up Your Instagram

Murals are an important and often overlooked part of community art that does a lot to create vibrant neighborhoods that encourage us to slow down, take in our surroundings and (as all good art does) facilitate conversations about big ideas.
With all the other draws of Palm Springs life, some may not realize that the city has a wealth of famous murals drawn all over its walls, bringing the city to life in an energetic way.
While there are too many to name here, we’ve created a list of six Palm Springs murals to visit while strolling through this city’s already scenic streets.

Mountain Charmers

Los Angeles-based artist Christina Angelina created this influential Central Palm Springs mural in 2013, and its effects on the local mural scene can’t be…

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Palm Springs' Mid-Century Modern Homes: An Architectural Style Feature

Mid-century modern architecture is so prevalent in Palm Springs that it’s become a defining feature of this lush oasis town, with more homes created in this spacious contemporary style than anywhere else.

To look at how this architectural style became so popular, let’s look at the many movements and influences behind it and why Palm Springs is the perfect place for homes built with these features.

Bauhaus and International Style Influences

Mid-century modern architecture receives its biggest influences from the Bauhaus and International styles. 

The Bauhaus movement is an avant-garde style from Germany that began in the early twentieth century with a heavy focus on abstraction, asymmetry, straight, geometric lines and open floor plans.

…

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What Is Fee Land In Palm Springs?

If you’re in the Palm Springs real estate market, navigating the complexities of fee land can seem overwhelming.
To help you better understand this complex subject, we’ll be breaking it down with a simple explanation of fee land as it compares to lease land and what these two ways of owning property in the Palm Springs area could mean for you.

Palm Springs Fee Land History

To understand the nuances of why these two ways of owning land in Palm Springs exist, a quick look back at the area's history will help.
In the late 19th century, when the American government was dividing up the land, they created a checkerboard pattern of one square mile patches of land in which every other square was owned by the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians, and…

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Palm Springs Architects: The Masters of Mid-Century Modern Design - Part 3

Palm Springs Architects: The Masters of Mid-Century Modern Design - Part 3

This is Part 3 of our three-part series on the most influential architects in the history of Palm Springs Real Estate. Each one of these professionals brought their own style, as well as the styles of others, to bear on the area. Their architectural influence has made an indelible mark on Palm Springs and Coachella Valley real estate.  Please click on the links below to go straight to the architect you'd like to read about. Enjoy!

• E. Stewart Williams: He's Everywhere
• Donald Wexler: Steel & Glass
• Albert Frey: The Desert Modernist

E. Stewart Williams: He’s Everywhere

Born over a century ago, in 1909, architect E. Stewart Williams's work has helped shape modern…

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Palm Springs Architects: The Masters of Mid-Century Modern Design - Part 2

Palm Springs Architects: The Masters of Mid-Century Modern Design - Part 2

This is Part 2 of our three-part series on the most influential architects in the history of Palm Springs Real Estate. Each one of these professionals brought their own style, as well as the styles of others, to bear on the area. Their architectural influence has made an indelible mark on Palm Springs and Coachella Valley real estate.

Click on the links below to go straight to that section.

• George & Bob Alexander: Building Palm Springs
• John Lautner: Space Age Pads
• Richard Neutra: An American Master

George and Bob Alexander: Building Palm Springs

When prospective home buyers shop for property in Palm Springs – especially if they’re interested in something…

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Palm Springs Architects: The Masters of Mid-Century Modern Design - Part 1

Palm Springs Architects: The Masters of Mid-Century Modern Design - Part 1

Searching for a home in Palm Springs can be more than simply an exercise in looking at property; it's a master class in Mid-Century Modern architecture. The architects who designed many of the homes in Palm Springs were masters of their craft and helped to shape the mid-century modern movement. There are few places with such a concentration of well-preserved and restored examples of some of the most renowned architects of residential property from the middle of the last century.

Palm Springs grew at a time when suburban tract homes were going up all over Southern California. In contrast, while redevelopment and sprawl overwhelmed some mid-century neighborhoods in urban areas,…

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Experience the Towns of the Coachella Valley

There are any number for reasons to visit the Coachella valley, from the annual, internationally renowned music festival, the high-class shopping, to the year-round excellence of the golf courses in Palm Springs. There is positively no shortage of things to do. 

No matter your reason, take a quick glance at this brief list of the nine different towns in the valley. You may just discover a new favorite!

Palm Springs

Perhaps best known as an escape for 20th century celebrities, Palm Springs prides itself on its upkeep of the spirit of its original inhabitants, the Cahuilla Indians.

The top-tier spas and resorts have made this town a destination for any traveler, international or not. All year long, you can find activities and events for all…

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Pride in Palm Springs

It used to be called Gay Pride, and it began as a commemoration of the June 28, 1969, Stonewall Rebellion in New York City. And originally, in New York and San Francisco in particular, the event was held in late June and was more of a march and demonstration than a parade and festival. Through the Anita Bryant and AIDS crisis years, there was a lot to demonstrate about.

Now many cities throughout the world host some version of Gay Pride; most are in late June or in the summer months. “Gay Pride” has often been truncated to “Pride” to be more inclusive of the entire LGBTQ community, and the demonstrations are more parade-like, with floats, music, dancers plus a festival featuring stages for performers and weekend-long events. 

Late June would not be…

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Palm Springs' Gay Agenda

Yes, the global gay conspiracy has had one of its early successes in the city of Palm Springs. It may be the one city in the US where restaurants and clubs can be referred to as “straight-friendly.”

Recently, Palm Springs received media attention as being the only city in the U.S. with an all-LGBT city council. All five elected members trouped up to Sacramentoto receive official recognition from the state legislature.  Indeed, Palm Springs has more gay couples per household than any city in the U.S. 

How did the city become such a gay mecca? The truth is that Palm Springs was always a place for privacy; for people, including gay people, to be themselves, away from the constraints of so-called “acceptable behavior.”

A Remedy for Hollywood

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