This winter we stayed in an apartment in Palm Springs for a month. Until this year, we’ve never settled in one place for that long when traveling.
The number one reason we went to Palm Springs is easy access to hiking trails: we walked to mountain trails right from our front door. The daytime temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s were certainly a good reason to take a break from Minnesota’s harsh winter. As well as trails, we walked to nearby coffee shops and restaurants, or Downtown for a community theater show or to explore museums.
The price of rental apartments and houses in Palm Springs can be eye-watering. How about $3,750 per night to stay in a house owned by Leonardo DiCaprio? He’s converted a home that once belonged to Dinah Shore in the Last Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs:
The six-bedroom, seven-and-a-half bathroom home operates as a hotel where visitors can leisurely soak in the design of the era for $3,750 a night. Rock clad walls, wood-paneled ceilings, and a Nelson Saucer Bubble Pendant light fixture in the dining room are among the many details that quietly maintain the midcentury atmosphere within the one-story home.
Why the Rich and Famous Continue to Flock to Palm Springs, Architectural Digest, March 30, 2022
That’s, um, a little out of our league.
My partner, Dwight, did a bit of sleuthing to find a place we could rent for a month which wouldn’t take us over a fiscal cliff. Remarkably, he found a clean, spacious, well-appointed apartment for under $200 per night (plus taxes and fees) on the same street in the same Las Palmas neighborhood as DiCaprio’s house.
It was the view that sold us.
For the first two weeks we didn’t bother to rent a car. Walking and the occasional city bus ride got us everywhere we wanted to go, including fine mountain trails. A Lyft ride from the airport was less than $20.
Built in 1947, the small apartment building, Villa Hermosa, had been designed by a local star architect, Albert Frey. In 2001, the New York Times described the building as one of Frey’s most notable and intact buildings. About 20 years ago, the building was converted to condominiums.
We looked at old photos and determined that few changes had been made to the exterior. In this photo of the patio, the railings look much like they did in 1947, complete with the canvas panels to maximize privacy. However, the railings had been replaced with railings of the same style, but with an additional top rail to meet current building safety standards.
Inside, the apartment was well appointed, largely mid-century style, with recognizable reproduction furniture pieces.
We found ourselves establishing patterns similar to being back home in Minneapolis. We knew eating out for an entire month would quickly lose its luster, so we prepared most of our meals in the unit. Just as we do at home, we value down time to read a book, or listen to podcasts, or take an afternoon nap. Generally every other day we hiked mountain paths; in the interim days, Dwight would go for a run, while I headed out for “urban hikes.”
There were two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The extra bedroom became what we jokingly called Dwight’s yoga retreat where he could practice his moves without an audience. It was also useful for spreading out our stuff.
On the last day, we were surprised how sad we felt to be leaving the apartment: over the month we’d established comfortable patterns and had bonded with the place as though it was our own home. We’re returning to Palm Springs next winter, but sadly not to the Villa Hermosa apartment. It seems the owner plans to live there next winter and has taken the apartment off the rental market.