Borrego Modern Weekend

This past weekend, Jane and I headed north once more into the desert - this time, to San Diego's own corner of the Colorado Desert, the Anza-Borrego region. Our friend at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park had heard of an upcoming architecture and preservation event taking place in the small resort town of Borrego Springs and arranged tickets for a day-long tour and supporting receptions. The Borrego Modern III event encompassed five homes exemplifying the best of mid-century modernism - the "Palm Springs" style of architecture, yet here stripped of Palm Springs' sprawl and over development. As somebody who loves both the desert and mid-century style - and as somebody astonished to finally find themselves living somewhere that once gave birth to a famous and identifiable school of design - this equally historical and swanky event was not to be missed.

I took literally hundreds of photographs this past weekend, many of which will find their way onto this site as the week progresses, but I thought I'd first share some images from the lovely and historically significant hotel / resort the four of us stayed at. The Palms at Indian Head lies just outside the park entrance of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and stands as the perfect example of mid-century desert modernism. Once the equal of any Palm Springs resort, the original structure of 1947 burned to the ground in a fire, but the current grounds date from 1955. A key draw to the Palms were the numerous film stars who often flew in on private planes (a small landing strip lay nearby) to escape the confines of Hollywood - the lobby boasts photos of Marilyn Monroe, Lon Chaney, Jr., Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift, among other famous guests. The hotel had at one point fallen into disrepair, but the new owners have (rather slowly) set about restoring the place and returning sections to its former glory. There are still some landscaping issues to be improved, and one hopes the subterranean bar looking into the pool will one day return, but the resort seems to once again approach its former glory.

While the original 56 bungalows from 1947 were destroyed in the fire and never replaced, the pool remains, and it stands as one of the most gorgeous of its kind in San Diego County. Even in late April, the water was still a bit cold, but the adjacent spa was plenty warm and the views both across the Olympic-size facility and of the surrounding mountains were impressive.

Our rooms were the two poolside casitas that opened up directly onto the patio and courtyard areas.

We saw this trip as a nice escape from the drudgeries of library school and the pressures of weekly ship visits and clinic, and a great chance to play at being grown up. The furious wind storm that blew in Friday afternoon and buffetted the resort throughout the night was an added treat.