Visiting Borrego Springs
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With nary a traffic light in sight, Christmas Circle (a large traffic circle) welcomes visitors into the center of town.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
The main shopping area is an outdoor mall that has all the sun-baked vibes of Californian mid-century design. The big overhangs provide ample shade in the hot summers and the design has a kind of modern-meets-adobe feel. There must be a thousand plazas, schools, and civic spaces in California that have this same, sunny feel.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
These benches shaded by an olive tree very ably capture the modern feel of the place with the bricks echoing the adobe building blocks of the region.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
What fan of retro design could resist a night at the Hacienda del Sol Motel downtown? You also get a good sense of how near the mountains of the Anza Borrego State Park are. The town is entirely within the bounds of the park.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
Here's another mod building downtown with its large glass facade and projecting roof. It looked fairly abandoned when I poked around, but appeared to be an office or business at one point.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
The Desert Club is not in use now, but back in the 50s it was the heart of the swinging social scene in Borrego Springs. It opened in 1950 and was designed by William Kessling. The pool is now empty, but I can only imagine what it was like to loll there with the gorgeous mountains looming overhead.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
Here's a glimpse of the faded glory of the Dick Zerbe-designed bar. Also dig the expanse of glass that keeps the big ballroom perpetually engaged with the desert.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
When Hollywood celebs were burned out by Palm Springs they'd often zip down to Borrego. The Palms at Indian Head is just the hotel they'd stay at, too. In the lobby are photos are Bing Crosby and the like. They also say that Sinatra and Monroe stayed here too. It was bought and fixed up by the current owners in 1993.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
I could not get over the pool at the Palms. It's the biggest one in town and that Palms logo at the bottom is classy as can be.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
Here are the set of stairs you see when you enter the hotel. Hard to imagine a better set of mid-century bones. Unfortunately the architect is not known.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
Occasionally when driving around town you see these massive sculptures in the middle-distance. They're of the present day and ancient fauna of the region, done by sculptor Ricardo Breceda.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
For a bit of real fauna, I couldn't help myself when I saw this real live roadrunner. He was fast, but I got a picture from the car.Photo by: Aaron Britt -
Finally, here's a look at Lawrence's Fairway cottage designed by Dick Zerbe. It's at the De Anza Country Club and was originally used as temporary housing for folk who were considering buying a house at the Club.Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!
Photo by: Aaron Britt
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