This neighborhood was once the tramping ground of the “Rat Pack”, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., and was known as the Beverly Hills of Palm Springs. In the 1950’s Los Angeles celebrities used Vista Las Palmas as their desert retreat. Vista Las Palmas is a quiet neighborhood west and within walking distance of downtown Palm Springs. Situated by the San Jacinto Mountains it is cooler in the summer and warmer in winter.
Architect William Krisel is responsible for the design of most of the Alexander homes. Alexander Construction, owned by George and Bob Alexander built more than 2000 homes in the Palm Springs area, responding to the growing demand for Modern Architecture. Vista Las Palmas was largely developed by them during the 1950’s & 1960’s.
The original Alexander homes were $19,000, had no insulation and were built on a concrete slab. Alexander construction characteristics are clerestory windows, post & beam construction, center halls and large lots. This architecture became known as Southern California Modern, with roof styles that include butterfly roofs low-gabled roofs and folded plate roofs. You can also find double A-frame homes called “Swiss Misses”, in Vista Las Palmas, designed by Charles Dubois.
Vista Las Palmas embodies the Mid-Century Modern taste for the discriminating homeowner seeking the desert lifestyle of the desert close to downtown. Most of the homes were built by Alexander, and many have been restored or modernized with rapidly increasing prices.
Robert (Bob) Alexander & his wife, Helene, lived in Vista Las Palmas at 1350 Ladera. It was “The Home of Tomorrow” featured over eight-pages the September 1992 Look Magazine. The $300,000 cost set a new standard in Southern California. Elvis & Priscilla Presley used it in 1968 for their honeymoon.
In 1965, George & Robert Alexander and their wives died in a plane crash northwest of Indio. Their work lives on in Vista Las Palmas.