Numerous celebrities have established homes in the Coachella Valley—and a handful helped make the name “Palm Springs” known around the world.
Three names in particular—Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore—stand out.
Bob Hope
When Bob Hope passed away in 2003 at the age of 100, numerous local mourners placed floral wreaths atop his star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
Bob Hope was more than an entertainer; he was an institution, bringing joy and laughter to millions—and his favorite place of all was Palm Springs.
Palm Springs’ first honorary mayor, Hope first visited Palm Springs in 1937 and bought his original home at 1014 Buena Vista Drive, in the Movie Colony neighborhood, in 1941. He also owned another home nearby, at 1188 El Alameda. He still owned both at his death in July 2003. He often used the El Alameda home rather than his formal residence, the futuristic Southridge home that has become a valley landmark.
The huge building shaped like Darth Vader’s helmet, resting on a hill at the south end of town, is the landmark most residents and visitors recognize as the “Bob Hope house.” About 24,000 square feet, it was primarily used for entertaining. The home features a par-3 fairway and golf green. The house there today is not the original, which burned to a skeleton frame while under construction in July 1973. For a great bird’s-eye view, you can hike up the Araby Trail, which goes up behind the Southridge home.
The annual tournament long known as the Bob Hope Desert Golf Classic started in 1960 and quickly became one of the major draws to the Coachella Valley. The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express) has also been known as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the Humana Challenge. It is still one of the desert’s largest fundraisers, dispensing millions of dollars over the years to more than 130 nonprofit organizations. The Bob Hope Classic Ball became one of the premiere social events of the year.
Hope donated 80 acres of land in 1966 (worth more than a half-million dollars at the time) to develop the Eisenhower Medical Center on what is now Bob Hope Drive—one of the valley’s major roadways—in Rancho Mirage.
The comedian loved the desert. In 1990, he spoke to a Palm Springs High School graduating class, which presented him with an honorary diploma. Hope—who received 54 honorary doctorate degrees, a Peabody Award, special Academy Awards, an Emmy Award and the Congressional Gold Medal, among other honors—told the delighted young audience that he really cherished their honor.
He even showed up unannounced at the Plaza Theatre to throw a few one-liners to a surprised Fabulous Palm Springs Follies audience. He loved to walk and was sometimes spotted walking down Palm Canyon Drive well into his 80s.
While his primary residence was in Toluca Lake, where he passed away, his love of Palm Springs helped make the desert oasis a household word.
Frank Sinatra
In the waning days of their marriage, Frank and Nancy Sinatra designed a $150,000 air-conditioned home at 1148 E. Alejo Drive in Palm Springs. They signed the papers in 1947—and an impatient Sinatra paid triple to have it completed in time for a New Year’s party.
The modern 4,500-square-foot home, designed by noted architect Stewart Williams, features lots of glass walls and high ceilings. It is still called Twin Palms in reference to the two tall palm trees behind a piano-shaped pool.
Frank kept the Palm Springs house after the divorce settlement, along with a 1949 Cadillac convertible and his musical compositions. Years later, a new owner of the house was doing some renovating and, so the story goes, found some of Sinatra’s original work. That Palm Springs home has been sold several times since and is currently available for events.
Sinatra in 1951 married Ava Gardner, whom he allegedly met at the Chi Chi Club in Palm Springs; they divorced in 1957. Throughout the 1950s, Sinatra entertained often and long at his Palm Springs house.
He later built a large compound on what was originally called Wonder Palms Road in nearby Rancho Mirage; the road name was later changed to recognize the star. The Sinatra compound’s address is now 70588 Frank Sinatra Drive in Rancho Mirage.
He campaigned hard for his friend John F. Kennedy in 1960 and, immediately after the election, beefed up the security in the compound. He added a large guest house and a heliport, anticipating that Kennedy would turn the Sinatra compound into the western White House. But because of Sinatra’s ties with organized crime, Kennedy prudently chose to stay at Bing Crosby’s desert estate instead, forever irritating Sinatra.
In 1976, Frank married Barbara Marx, who formerly was wed to Zeppo Marx, one of the famed Marx Brothers.
After his father’s death in 1969, Frank Sinatra raised $805,000 to endow the Martin Anthony Sinatra Medical Education Center, adjoining what is now Desert Regional Medical Center, at the old El Mirador location in Palm Springs.
In 1980, Sinatra campaigned for his friend Ronald Reagan, who named him chairman of his inauguration gala. That year, he raised another $1.3 million for the medical center, after which the grateful U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis addressed Congress, naming Frank “America’s No. 1 entertainer and philanthropist.”
Frank and Barbara Sinatra continued to spread their wealth around to Palm Springs benefactors; Barbara Sinatra has the children’s center at Eisenhower Medical Center named after her. Among numerous honors, the one Frank cherished most was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President Reagan at the White House in 1985.
Frank died in 1998; Barbara continued to be a major benefactor in the Palm Springs area until her death in 2017.
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore, by hosting what evolved into the premiere women’s golfing event, immediately gave status, credibility and prominence to the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
Born in Tennessee, the popular singer, entertainer and TV variety-show host kicked off the Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Tournament back in 1972. It was held at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. Later called the Kraft Nabisco Championship and later the ANA Inspiration, it continued to attract the top LPGA competitors for 50 years, through 2022. With a new sponsor in Chevron, the LPGA tournament moved to the Houston area in 2023.
The golf tournament become a major annual draw for women—and led to the start of The Dinah, now one of the oldest and largest lesbian events and music festivals in the world, in 1991. Even though the golf tournament has moved, The Dinah lives on; this year’s Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend will take place from Sep. 25-29, 2024.
Dinah Shore and husband George Montgomery built their first Palm Springs home in 1952 in the Movie Colony neighborhood, at 877 Avenida Palos Verdes. Then in 1964, she had a new home designed by architect Donald Wexler built for them at 432 Hermosa Place, in Old Las Palmas. The home changed hands several times and was eventually purchased by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who still owns it; today, it’s available as a short-term rental.
Once the Dinah Shore Classic was up and running, Dinah moved to Mission Hills Country Club, the site of the tourney.
Shore passed away in 1994. Dinah Shore Drive, named in her honor, is a major east-west thoroughfare between Palm Springs and Palm Desert.
Sources for this article include Palm Springs Confidential by Howard Johns (Barricade Books, 2004); Palm Springs Babylon by Ray Mungo (St. Martin’s Press, 1993); and View From the Saddle by Frank M. Bogert (ETC Publications, 2006).