“The birth of desert modernism can be traced back to some fine print. In the early and mid-20th century, Hollywood’s rigid studio system reportedly kept some of its biggest stars contractually bound to remain within a two-hour drive from the set during production, and within that roughly 120-mile radius there was no more appealing escape than Palm Springs. In response to an influx of high-profile, creative, and free-spending clientele—everyone from Cary Grant to Frank Sinatra—a distinct style of architecture that had first emerged in the 1920s suddenly exploded in the 1950s, transforming the once sleepy city of dude ranches and date farms into the original celebrity hideout…”
