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Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Fountain at El Mirador Hotel, Palm Springs
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Fountain at El Mirador Hotel, Palm Springs
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Description
Order Number
00079438
Title
Fountain
at
El
Mirador
Hotel
,
Palm
Springs
Collection ID
Security Pacific National Bank Collection
Location/Accession
Palm
Springs-Hotels
;
N-004-300.1
4x5
Date
Circa
1930
Physical Description
1
photographic
print
:b&w
;14
x
11
cm
. on
sheet
26
x
21
cm
.
Notes
Title
supplied
by
cataloger
.
Historical Data
El
Mirador
,
roughly
translated
as "The
Watchtower
", had its
gala
opening
on
New
Year's
Eve
1927
. The
200-room
hotel
was
built
by a
cattle
rancher-turned-real
estate
investor
named
Prescott
Thresher
Stevens
at a
cost
of
$1
million
-
a
staggering
sum
in that
era
.
Los
Angeles
architects
Walker
&
Eisen
designed
the
Spanish-Colonial
Revival
style
hotel
,
which
featured
1,500
beds
arranged
in
suites
,
ballrooms
, and
corridors
, and had
lavish
guest
rooms
with
hand-carved
furniture
and
sun
decks
. Its
signature
trait
was a
bell
tower
crowned
by a
cap
of
colorful
tile
in a
Moorish
mosaic
pattern
;
it
also had an
imported
Italian
bronze
bell
that was
later
supplemented
by
electric
chimes
.
El
Mirador
boasted
as
having
the
Coachella
Valley's
first
golf
course
,
tennis
courts
, and
stables
. Its
Olympic-size
pool
had
three
diving
boards
and
lured
aquatic
stars
such
as
Esther
Williams
and
Johnny
Weismuller
. This
hotel
,
which
served
as a
second
home
to the
stars
,
helped
establish
Palm
Springs
as a
resort
.
Among
the
many
famous
guests
were:
W
.
C
.
Fields
,
Clark
Gable
,
Gary
Cooper
,
Marlene
Dietrich
,
Al
Jolson
,
George
Raft
,
George
Burns
,
Gracie
Allen
,
Douglas
Fairbanks
,
Ralph
Bellamy
,
Shirley
Temple
,
Albert
Einstein
,
Bob
Hope
,
Frank
Sinatra
, etc.
During
WWII
, the
desert
became
training
grounds
for
General
George
S
.
Patton's
troops
as they
prepared
to
invade
North
Africa
.
El
Mirador
was
appropriated
by the
Army
in
1942
for
$425,000
, and
it
was
transformed
into
Torney
General
Hospital
,
primarily
catering
to
Gen
.
Patton's
wounded
troops
.
After
serving
10
years
as a
hospital
,
investors
purchased
the
property
from the
Army
and
attempted
the
hotel's
comback
by
putting
$4
million
into its
reconstruction
. In
1968
,
actor
John
Conte
and his
wife
, an
Oriental-rug
heiress
bought
the
hotel
and
it
became
El
Mirador
Hilton
. In
1972
, the
Contes
were
forced
to
sell
the
property
by
federal
bankruptcy
court
, and
it
closed
its
doors
for
good
.
Many
years
later
,
Desert
Hospital
bought
the
property
for
$4
million
, but on
July
26
,
1989
a
three-alarm
fire
destroyed
the
historic
building
,
along
with the
original
90-foot
landmark
tower
.
Luckily
,
it
had been
boarded
up
and
unoccupied
at the
time
of the
fire
,
serving
only
as a
warehouse
for
Desert
Hospital
.
Thanks
to the
availability
of the
original
plans
, the
building
and
tower
were
accurately
reconstructed
in
May
1991
.
Today
,
it
is
the
site
of
Desert
Regional
Medical
Center
,
located
at
1150
North
Indian
Canyon
Drive
.
Description
Two
female
members
of the
LAAC
(Los
Angeles
Athletic
Club)
Swim
Team
posing
in
front
of the
fountain
at
El
Mirador
Hotel
in
Palm
Springs
. They
both
wear
one-piece
swim
suits
and
swim
caps
.
Publisher
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
Subject
El Mirador Hotel (Palm Springs, Calif.).
Women--California--Palm Springs.
Fountains--California--Palm Springs.
Resorts--California--Palm Springs.
Hotels--California--Palm Springs.
Lost architecture--California--Palm Springs.
Palm Springs (Calif.).
Walker & Eisen.
Format
Photographic prints
Reproduction Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at
http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html
for additional information.
Sub-Collection Name
Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection
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