Palm Springs Air Museum

The Palm Springs Air Museum is very cool; lots of vintage planes, vintage combat photos, art including fantastic murals and a nice gift shop.  It is the Home of One of the Nation's Largest Collection of World War II Flying Aircraft, the planes are in huge airconditioned hangars adjacent to the Palm Springs Airport.  It only takes around and hour or so to see the whole thing and well worth the trip. The day I was there they were having a Carnation Drop to honor fallen soldiers.  The crowd was filled with lots of Veterans and families, so there was lots of energy; definitely a great thing to do in the desert.

Discounts are offered at their website:
http://palmspringsairmuseum.org/
745 North Gene Autry Trail
Palm Springs, California 92262
760-778-6262

La Quinta Organic Market

La Quinta Old Town on Calle Tampico hosts a small but nice Farmers Market on Sundays from 8:00-noon.
Bring your dog, your kids and friends to enjoy a cup of coffee and listen to the music of the day.  Today there were two musicians one playing Calyspo type music and the was Joe Baldino who plays Latin inspired Jazz.  Organic veggies including all kinds of greens, root vegetables a large selection of mushrooms, tomatoes and berries were beautifully displayed.  Also available were flats of wheat grass, honey, nuts, bakery items, and flowers at $5.00 a bunch.

Discount Shopping for the Home

Many of my real estate clients want to know where the best shopping is to decorate their new home without running up too big of a price tag; below are some of my favorite places.
The estate stores are a big source of second hand furniture, some good deals and some ridiculously expensive.  Many pieces are custom for very big homes, many pieces are very dated. It is a treasure hunt; sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. 

I personally like the Estate Sale Co. in Palm Springs, the inventory is always revolving, the staff is very nice and they even have a jewelry and antique section.  Of all the estate stores I have been in this store seems to have the most reasonable pricing. They lower prices based on how long a piece has been in, or if you ask they will call the owner of the piece and try to get an additional discount. They are located at 4185 E Palm Canyon, Palm Springs

For furniture try Mathis Brothers in Indio, the store boasts of having 3 football fields worth of furniture.  They carry every price range and quality of furniture and have sales staff/decorators that will come to your home at no cost to help you.  They are located in Indio on Highway 111, for more information try their website: http://www.mathisbrothers.com/

For decorator items, towels, sheets, kitchenware, rugs, art and some furniture try Home Goods (42400 Washington St, Bermuda Dunes), they are part of the Marshalls, TJ Maxx group.  Good quality items at discounted prices.  The Alley also has some interesting pieces, the leather sofas in the photos above came from them. They have well priced antiques, rustic pieces and lots of home decor items. There are 4 or more locations in the desert that I know of;  try this link to find the location closest to you: http://www.thealley.info/

Of course there is also Target which has 4 or more locations in the desert, they have very current styling of home goods and a few pieces of cheap quality, but attractive furniture. For hardware and cleaning supplies you can't go wrong.

Tuesday Morning has several locations in the desert.   For home decorating items such as sheets, towels, wall hangings, bath and kitchen supplies they are great.  They have an odd schedule as they close for a few days at a time to restock and then open up once the stock is ready, they day they open is always a Tuesday.

For a location and a sample of stock: http://www.tuesdaymorning.com/indexCatalogOff.asp

Celebrity Tours

Celebrity Homes

                                                                   Elvis Honeymoon House
There are always celebrity spottings in the desert, personally I have seen Goldie Hawn, George Lopez, Suzanne Sommers, Jessica Simpson, Lily Tomlin, Jack Jones, also many minor and old time celebs.  As a realtor I go into many homes that have a celebrity past which is always a bit exciting.   I hear the celebrity tour that passes all the homes is alot of fun.  While my mother was out visiting I decided to take her on the Celebrity Tour.  Our guide Anne, who doubled as the bus driver is an 18 year veteran on the job.  Her tour was full of fun facts including geography, history, and climate points.  It was so much more than local celebrity lore, my mother loved it. 
The 2 1/2 hour trip was entertaining and even included a date shake from a crazy little market in north Palm Springs that was nestled amongst the windmills.  According to Anne, each of those windmills cost $4 million dollars each; can that be possible?
It was a very interesting city tour, at $44 per person it was well worth it.

For more information: 760.770.2700        http://www.thecelebritytour.com/

Mid Century Modern Architecture

The beautiful sleek lines of mid-century modern architecture is quite prevalent throughout Palm Springs and a few of the other desert cities. 

If you come into town via Highway 10 you will pass right by one of our modern landmarks which also happens to be the Palm Springs Official Visitor Center, it was once the Tramway Gas Station designed by Albert Frey and Robson Chambers. Be sure to stop in and pick up a map of mid-century homes and businesses. Also, The company I work with Greater Palm Springs Realty has a great Mid-century modern website.  The link below will take you to a self-guided tour of some of the deserts best examples of Mid-century modern architecture.
http://www.midcenturypalmsprings.com/palm-springs-tour-of-midcentury-architecture.php

The Kaufmann House, in Palm Springs was designed by Richard Neutra in 1946. It was one of

the last domestic projects conducted by the architect, but it is also arguably one of his most famous homes

This Butterfly roof home is one of the most sought after styles of the Alexander Construction Company

Alexander Homes

Bob and George Alexander were builders of approximately 2,500 homes in the desert.  They worked with William Krisel a talented young architect. The homes ranged in size from 1,200 square foot tract homes to large custom homes.  There are several noted neighborhoods such as Twin Palms, Racquet Club Estates, Las Palmas that are host to many of the homes.

Great article on Alexander Homes: http://www.eichlernetwork.com/article/alexander-homes

Palm Springs Visitors Center

2901 North Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs 760-778-8418



Modernism Week

Each year Palm Springs hosts an amazing week of tours, lectures, and show of mid-century modern architecture, products and services.  The convention itself has all kinds of great things to see and buy; furniture, art, jewelry, clothing, pottery, etc.

For more information: http://www.modernismweek.com/

Looking to Buy a home or condo?

If you are interested in buying a home or condo, I would be happy to assist you.  There are many fabulous condos and homes available throughout Palm Springs.  Whether you are looking for 400 or 4,000 square feet of living space, I can help you.

For more information (760) 880-5888 or my website: http://deserthousesales.com/

High End Shopping in the Desert

                                                             El Paseo

By far the finest shopping in the desert is in Palm Desert on El Paseo.  Located in Palm Desert at Highway 74 & El Paseo, you will find stores such as Gucci, St. John Knits, Apple, Kate Spade and many more.

The center piece of the area is The Gardens, where you will find Tiffany's, Saks 5th Avenue, Coach, J. Crew, Cole Hahn, Louis Vuitton and many other high end shops.  If you like seafood be sure to stop by Pacifica, I love the Bass in Green Curry.  They also boast of having over 100 brands of vodka to choose from, all costing around $6 for any vodka drink in the bar.  I also like Sammy's they have wonderful salads, you can order half a salad which is for me the perfect size.  For the steak lovers try Sullivan's Steak house, they have a great quality of meat served in a high end steak house atmosphere.  From January to April there are jazz concerts on Saturday night, each week the approximately $10 donation, which includes wine and cheese helps out a different charity.

High Desert Day Trip #2

                                                                Pioneer Town

 A fun afternoon trip is to head up Hwy 62, you will drive through the fabulous Joshua Trees that are so prolific to this area.  Pioneertown is a fun stop, it was originally built as a set for the old westerns, according to the website:"Pioneertown was built in 1946 as a movie set for western movies, including the movies of Gene Autry, The Cisco Kid with Duncan Renaldo, Annie Oakley with Gail Davis, Judge Roy Bean with Edgar Buchanan, Range Rider withJock O. Mahoney, and Buffalo Bill Jr. with Dick Jones.  The movie set was to provide a place for the actors to live, and have their homes used as part of a movie set."  Whenever I have gone it was quiet so we just looked through windows and then headed to Pappy and Harriets.  The gunfight on Saturdays is supposed to be fun.
Saturdays at 2:30 the Pioneertown Posse; a re-enactment troupe performs an old west type show with a shoot out.

                       For more information: http://www.pioneertown.com/f-index.htm

                                                                      Pappy & Harriets

When you are done checking out Pioneertown, head over to Pappy & Harriet's for great mesquite wood barbeque, a fun atmosphere.  There is always some type of music happening at night and the musicians are quite good, the people watching is fabulous and the decor one-of-a-kind.

For more information:  http://www.pappyandharriets.com/

Directions: From Palm Springs Take I-10 west to Route 62 (29 Palms Hwy - Joshua Tree Nat'l Park). Take Route 62 NE about 25 miles into Yucca Valley.At the second stop light (Pioneertown Road), make a left and take Pioneertown Roadabout 4 miles up. Pass the sign Pioneertown 1946" and just ahead on the right, you'll see the neon lights.
Reservations are not required but highly recommended 760 365-5956.

Free Real Estate info with No Obligation

The website http://deserthousesales.listingbook.com/  offers a fun program that allows you to see about 99% of the listing information formally only available to agents.  There is no obligation, and no cost.  You simply input information about your neighborhood or neighborhoods you are interested in and you will begin to recieve daily listing updates in your email box.   Some of my clients have been using it and love the simplicity, I hope you will enjoy it also.

Palm Springs Foreclosures and Economic Forecast

                                                                Desert Foreclosures

According to numbers provided by an article in the Desert Sun foreclosures in the Coachella Valley are not as prevalant as they have been. However, the number has been so high that prices have deflated and there are many values for Buyers. 
As a real estate agent here in the valley I look at what is new on the market daily, if you would like todays list of foreclosures in any of our desert cities just give me a call or send  an email to carol@greaterpalmsprings.com 

you can also visit my website:
http://www.deserthousesales.com/


The below link gives a bit of the article mentioned above:
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20111022/BUSINESS/110220311/Expert-State-failing-remain-competitive