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Desert Inn Hotel, Palm Springs

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Order Number	00098344
Title	Desert Inn Hotel, Palm Springs
Photographer	Schultheis, Herman.
Collection ID	Herman J Schultheis Collection Los Angeles Photographers Collection
Location/Accession	N-007-784 8x10
Date	Circa 1938
Physical Description	1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm.
Notes	Title supplied by cataloger.; Herman J. Schultheis was born in Aachen, Germany in 1900, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s after obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering. He married Ethel Wisloh in 1936, and the pair moved to Los Angeles the following year. He worked in the film industry from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, most notably on the animated features "Fantasia" and "Pinocchio." His detailed notebook, documenting the special effects for "Fantasia" is the subject of a 14-minute short-subject included on the film's DVD. In 1949, he started employment with Librascope as a patent engineer. Schultheis was an avid amateur photographer who traveled the world with his cameras. It was on one of these photographic exhibitions in 1955 that he disappeared in the jungles of Guatemala. His remains were discovered 18 months later. The digitized portion of this collection represents the images Schultheis took of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities after he relocated to the area in 1937.
Historical Data	The Desert Inn was established in 1909 by village pioneers Dr. Harry Lee Coffman (1867-1935) and Nellie Norton Coffman (1867-1950), along with their two sons George Roberson, Jr. (Nellie's son from a previous marriage) and Owen Earl Coffman. The Desert Inn started as a sanitarium in the tiny, unincorporated town called Palm Springs, and was originally a place for those afflicted with tuberculosis. In 1914 Nellie decided a change was needed and she converted the business into a hotel. Dr. Harry was in disagreement and not at all happy with this decision, and he and Nellie eventually divorced. The good doctor soon left Palm Springs and practiced medicine in Coachella Valley, and later in San Diego County, where he passed away in 1935. During this time, the Desert Inn was becoming a world-renowned resort hotel catering to the very wealthy, which included well-known millionaires such as the Vanderbilt and Hearst families. Nellie and her sons continually added to the hotel property, and by 1927 a modern hotel had replaced the earlier structures, becoming a white-walled, Indian-Spanish inspired landmark complete with red-tiled roof and wide verandas of terra cotta, the gardens boasting of the best of desert flora. The Inn was run by Nellie and her sons for decades, and Nellie's ability, determination, and charm extended the resort's reputation which brought people from all over the world to this fine establishment. Nellie's love and charitable works for the community earned her the title of "Mother Coffman". The famed Desert Inn closed its doors in 1955 after Nellie's death, and was finally razed in 1967, making way for the Desert Fashion Shopping Plaza.
Description	View of Palm Springs' Dessert Inn resort, catering to the winter tourist trade. Photograph shows the main building along the back, and several small tables with umbrellas are visible in the middle of the courtyard. The grounds are neatly landscaped with trees, palms and cacti.
Subject	Desert Inn (Palm Springs, Calif.). Hotels--California--Palm Springs. Resorts--California--Palm Springs. Umbrellas--California--Palm Springs. Lawns--California--Palm Springs. Architecture--California--Palm Springs--Spanish influences. Lost architecture--California--Palm Springs. Mountains--California, Southern. San Jacinto Mountains (Calif.). Palm Springs (Calif.). Schultheis Collection photographs. Coffman, Nellie Norton. Coffman, Harry Lee.
Format	Photographic prints
Credits	Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.
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	Los Angeles Photographers Photo Collection