One of the most famous and iconic Palm Springs homes is the mid-century modern Kaufmann House.  The home was photographed a number of times by Slim Arons and Julius Shulman.  A number of Dry Heat Resorts vacation homes actually have the Arons/Shulman pictures adorning their walls.  The home is on the market again and can be yours for only $20 million.  The current issue of Palm Springs life features an interesting article about the property I wanted to share.  

"In 1962, Joe and Nelda Linsk, newly arrived in Palm Springs and living temporarily at actress Claudette Colbert's half-acre compound on Monte Vista, decided to put down winter roots in the clubby little resort town.  Colbert's house was convenient to a social lift that revolved around the nonstop revelry of The Racquet Club.

They made an offer on Colbert's house and while they were waiting for her answer, a real estate agent stopped by with a book of listings.  One modern house featured a second-story loggia that intrigued Nelda.  At that time, all houses in town were required to be single story.  "I showed it to my husband", she recalls.  "I said, Let's go see it for fun."  Click here to view the rest of the article:  https://www.palmspringslife.com/kaufmann-house/

This Bird Doesn't Belong In the Desert

Over the last week I've seen this bird, that looks like it belongs in the Everglades and not in the California desert, hanging out in front of this house I walk by on my daily walk.  I have no idea what it is, but it was hanging out in front of the same house on two separate days.  I wonder if the homeowner is feeding it or providing it with water?  The house it is at is a quintessential Palm Springs mid-mod house.  The contrast between this Desert house and this wetlands bird, struck me so I took pictures;  

How does blue crab and lobster beer cheese, dill pickles & pickled cabbage on grilled Texas toast sound to you?  How about chilled mesquite tri tip, aged cheddar, pickled red onions & horseradish aioli on focaccia bread?  Both sound delicious to me and are two of the creative sandwiches available at the new uptown Palm Springs gastropub, coincidentally called, 1501 Uptown Gastropub. By the way, I was using coincidentally sarcastically if you didn't catch that.  I wonder where this great new place could be located?  Hmmmmm.  OMG, its located at 1501 N Palm Canyon Drive in Uptown Palm Springs.  It appears the owners of this great new eatery used all of their creative energy in the menu creation and had nothing left for the naming of the place. I think I've become jaded.  Joking aside, the other menu items all look really tasty, the wine list is extensive and the craft beer options are plentiful.  The interior is beautifully designed and smoothly flows into multiple outdoor dining areas for al fresco dining.  While I haven't eaten there yet, a friend of mine has and highly recommends it.  

I was recently looking for a place to vacation and came across a high quality travel website geared towards gay men.  I thought the website content and design was extraordinary.  I also noticed that they didn't mention vacation rentals anywhere on their Palm Springs page.  I had to contact them to see if they'd consider listing some of Dry Heat Resorts properties on their website (Being the capitalist that i am).  What they offered me, instead, was even better: an article on their website.  I accepted their generous offer, answered their well thought out questions, and am proud to have a feature article about Dry Heat Resorts on their website.  Click here to check it out:   https://mrhudsonexplores.com/mr-hudson-on/dry-heat-resorts-feeling-like-at-home-away-from-home-in-palm-springs/

I've lived in Palm Springs since 2004, the same year I started Dry Heat Resorts.  I'm a fan of road trips, especially ones that take me down parts of Route 66 or into towns and cities that feature diners, gas stations, motels and other googie architectural structures.  In case you didn't know, googie architecture is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Space Age, and the atomic age. Think the Jetsons.  It originated in Southern California with the streamline modern architecture of the 1930s, and was popular nationwide from roughly 1945 to the early 1970s.  I'm a SoCal native so was surrounded by it while growing up in the 70s and 80s.  

Since moving here, I've heard stories about a squatter city that exists a little more than an hour away.  I've never gone, but finally decided to check it out.  It's called slab city.  I went there this past weekend, and it exceeded my expectations.  It was certainly larger than I expected.  It was also more populated.  The constant driving from both residents and onlookers alike, have actually compressed the dirt into discernable roads.  Neighborhoods exist within the "city".  I even saw parts of the city occupied by expensive RVs that seemed to create rich neighborhoods in a community made up of people that mostly moved there to escape the grind that would create wealth.  On the other end of the economic spectrum, the poorest of Slab City's residents lived in tents attached to lifeless desert shrubs.  In the middle class sections were archaic burned out RVs surrounded by abandoned cars which formed their property lines.  A hostel, Internet cafe, library and other small businesses occupy resident's "homes" as well.  It's a community of outcasts, nomads and rebels who chose to leave civilization behind and accidentally created their own, a civilization designed by people who don't give a Fuck.  How ironic.

Following are a few pictures I took on my trip to Slab city.  I encourage my guests to journey there to see something different, interesting and fascinating.  The drive out there will take you past the Salton Sea and its abandoned communities made up of googie architectural treasures.  

 

 

And I thought I'd seen everything!  How about surfing in a luxury resort housing community just minutes away from Palm Springs? 

The wait for the perfect wave is almost over as developers appear on course to bring the largest, rideable open-barrel, human-made wave in the world to the California desert.  As scheduled, construction of Coral Mountain, a first-of-its-kind masterplan sports & wellness resort community in La Quinta, will begin mid 2021. Assuming no delays, the 400-acre project is expected to be completed in early 2023.

Located in the shadow of La Quinta's Coral Mountain, the $200 million sports and wellness resort includes a 150-room luxury hotel, private club, restaurants, sports facilities, up to 600 private residences, and a 20-acre surfable wave basin.

The biggest lure, of course, will be the waves created by Kelly Slater Wave Company technology.  Slater is regarded as the greatest professional surfer in the world.  Homeowners, hotel guests, and members will have exclusive access to the 18-million-gallon wave basin that will pump out waves that roll for more than 700 yards and offer almost one-minute rides.

The resort will also include skateboard runs, bike tracks, mountain bike trails, tennis and pickle ball courts, and yoga. Click here to learn more...

Palm Springs Jewish Film Festival, November 1 - 4

 

For those of you visiting Palm Springs from November 1 - 4, the 7th Annual Palm Springs Jewish Film Festival will be happening.  The festival consists of eight live films shown two per night.  In addition, nine films are available via streaming.  Due to the pandemic, seating is limited and outdoors.  The festival will be located at the Palm Springs Cultural Center (Formerly the Camelot Theatres).