At the Corner of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope you will find Sunnylands. The 200 acre estate of Walter and Leonore Annenburg. If you are not familiar with them.... Walter took over the his family's publishing business when his father went to jail for tax evasion. He was a communication genuis and turned the company into a small empire. Think Seventeen Magazine, TV Guide, and WFIL in Philadelphia and the start of American Bandstand. And Leonore, well she was born Lenore "Lee" Cohn and was raised by her uncle, Harry Cohn, the founder of Columbia Pictures Studio. The Annenburgs were very wealthy art collectors and philanthropists who both served as Ambassadors of the United States at different points in time. He the ambassador to London and she the White House Ambassador of Protocol. They were friends with and rubbed elbows with movie stars, presidents, and royalty.
They bought this piece of property in the Palm Springs area to be their winter vacation home and named it Sunnylands. It was built between 1963 and 1966 and remained a private residence until Leonore's death in 2009. It has been called the Camp David of the West and indeed has been used as a Presidential Retreat and working vacation location by no less than 8 presidents starting with Richard Nixon. They only recent president to not ever have come to Sunnylands was Jimmy Carter. Queen Elizabeth was once a guest as were many heads of state. Most recently the President of the People's Republic of China for a summit with President Obama.
The property is now open for tours but also hosts about 10 major conferences or retreats a year.
The home is 25000 Square Feet and represents a prime example of California MidCentury Modern architecture which by definition means bringing the outside in. The onlly deviation is the roof line because the Annenburg's wanted a Mayan style roof and they had it colored pink so it would blend in to the natural sunset colors of the mountain view behind it.
Approaching Sunnylands
Front Courtyard
View from the golf course back towards the house.
Pool and Guest Quarters
The Annenburg collection of impressionists now resides at the Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC, but they made digital replicas of them to be hung at the property so guests could view the scope of the collection. It included Monet, Picasso, Guigan to name a few. All the other art in the home is still original including sketches by Picasso and statues by Rodin.
If the Anneburg saw a piece of art of something they wanted, they offer would hire the artist to just recreate a copy of it for them for thier estate. For example at one of the Scandanavian airports they noticed a sculpture known as the Brids of Welcome, they invited that artist to make a smaller version of that sculpture to welcome their guests as the drove down the long winding driveway to the home. Also that column in the front courtyard that stands about 20 feet tall is a replica of the original found in Mexico and recreated by the orignal artists.
There is much more to this story, you could fill a book! We were very glad we had the opportunity to tour this impressive piece of culture and history.
After Annenburg we drove down to El Paseo, a well known high end shopping district. Sort of like strolling down a smaller scale Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills with all the upscale shops and eateries. We stopped in to enjoy a nice lunch and do a litte window shopping.
Sculptures in the Median along El Paseo
At the end of El Paseo we stopped in to enjoy a photo exhibit and the Sculpture Garden at the Palm Desert Annex of the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Entrance to the Art Museum
One of the Sculptures in the Garden
Then it was time to return to our condo to sit back and relax a bit for the afternoon. Later this evening we'll be going out to enjoy the Ladies of Rock & Soul at a near by theater.
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