- Welcome to the Historic Ocotillo Lodge
When the Alexander Construction Company moved to Palm Springs in the early 1950s, they had a dream of building tract homes in the modernist style of architecture. The Alexanders, father George and son Robert, had already built a successful modernist neighborhood elsewhere in California. Utilizing the talent and skill of Robert’s college friend Bill Krisel, they developed an ingenious method to make tract housing wherein all the homes looked unique.
The first neighborhood they built in Palm Springs is our neighborhood, Twin Palms. After building about 1/3 of the homes in Twin Palms, they decided to build a hotel to house prospective home buyers. That hotel, on the northern edge of Twin Palms and up against E Palm Canyon Drive, was the Ocotillo Lodge.
In a brilliant move, they designed each hotel room — which included one bedroom, one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchenette — to mimic the houses that were for sale. Just like the homes, the hotel rooms all had tongue-and-groove ceilings with exposed beams, clerestory windows, and floor-to-ceiling glass walls and sliders that exited onto a private fenced patio, and the hotel was painted in the color scheme they were using on the homes. If you were a prospective home buyer and you stayed at the Ocotillo Lodge, you were already being sold subliminally before you even left your hotel room!
In 1958, the hotel was bought by the Doric Hotel Corporation who then sold it to singing cowboy/California Angels owner/hotelier Gene Autry in 1963. He would house his team here when they played in Palm Springs for spring training.
In 1968, Autry sold the complex to L.A. Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who owned it until 1990. And yes, the Lakers stayed here, too.
Between the lean years of 1990 to 1995, the hotel went through three different ownerships before an investment company bought it to sell and break up as condominiums. You could get one for about $36,000.
We are extremely fortunate that there have been very few architectural changes over the past 65+ years. Therefore, when we applied to the city of Palm Springs to be designated a Class 1 Historical Site, we were approved in 2024. As one of the members of the Palm Springs preservation board said during deliberation, “The Ocotillo Lodge is one of those places that you can’t believe does not already have historic designation. This one is a no brainer.”
The current homeowners’ association very much appreciates the historical past of our place. In 2023, when we were overdue for a new paint job, we did extensive paint research with the help of Architectural Resources Group and decided to paint the complex in its original color scheme. In 2024, when it became necessary to repair our sign, we found it was only slightly more expensive to replace the sign, so we installed an exact replica of the original 1957 sign. The sign featured a font created by William Krisel surrounded by an 11-sided amorphous shape. When the sign was changed by Jerry Buss in 1974, Krisel was very disappointed. We are extremely pleased to have restored his original vision with the help of Canyon Signs, a generous grant from the Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization, and the support of ownership.
Going forward, we are hoping to restore the original restaurant and, although it can never be a restaurant again (the kitchen equipment was all removed), we envision it being used as an event center after restoration.
Stunning and historic imagery of the famous Ocotillo Lodge located in Palm Springs, California