travel: sunnylands

When I travel, I like to plan at least a couple of visits to museums or sites of historical interest. My other objective besides the Palm Springs Museum of Art was the 200-acre winter home of Walter and Leonore Annenberg in Rancho Mirage. Spring is the best time to visit this estate. Even if I hadn't already booked two tours, I would've enjoyed just lounging in the Sunnylands Center, touring its surrounding gardens, and sitting in the café to eat a leisurely lunch.   

   

I love a garden that highlights native plants. 

I was only able to get tickets for a Friday on which there was free yoga (60 minutes) from November through April in the gardens.

I decided to sit in the café and watch the scene by one of two beautiful fountains.

 

Even before the chair exhibit I had attended, I'd always taken note of a chair. The white metal arm and side chairs in the café caught my attention.

 

The arms look tiny in comparison to most arm chairs but were perfectly comfortable for resting my elbows. I appreciate a chair design that takes into account support and comfort, and these short little arms make it easier to push the chair into the table when not in use.  Then my iced latte arrived. Even the double-walled glass for my latte shows a design decision.

 

If I were local, I would totally be availing myself of the tai chi or guided bird walks or family days or even bringing my water colors to paint the landscape. 

But I didn't know if or when I'd ever come back to Palm Springs and decided to explore the visitor grounds more with coffee in hand. Even in April it was very warm, and so I sucked on ice while exploring the gardens.

  

I loved walking the labyrinth. I could only live in Palm Springs if I had a bit of tree cover and some water feature like this river bed fountain in my backyard or atrium. I imagine it would dry up after a day in a Palm Springs summer.        

And then it was time for my first tour, the Open Air Experience. I clambered onto a golf cart with 5 other people, and the other single visitor had a walking chair and didn't climb out when the golf cart stopped for us to explore views. The tour starts with the opening of a gate from the visitors center onto the estate and as you drive into the estate from its opposite end, the house emerges gradually into view like of this circular driveway to the entrance of the house with its columnar fountain.       

 

The Annenbergs were captivated by a 40-foot-tall columnar fountain on the patio of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City that was designed and sculpted by two brothers, Jose and Tomas Chavez Morado. The Annenbergs likewise wanted to fuse modern design with ancient symbolism and commissioned the brothers to design and build a 20-feet-tall version for their estate in 1968.

The tour driver had us get out in order to examine more closely the carved relief which features the history of Mexico from its Mesoamerican period to its shedding of its colonial past to its postmodernity. I find the drop of water from its impressive height stunning.

What also starts to emerge even larger as you approach the 25,000-square-foot-house is the signature rose-pink steel Mayan-inspired pyramid structure(it's actually peach parfait according to the guide) atop the very flat cantilevered roof designed by midcentury architect, A. Quincy Jones of Los Angeles.

 

We then left the house entrance (I'd get to go in later for the house tour) and got back into the golf cart to see from afar the mausoleum where both Walter and Leonore Annenberg are entombed. 

And leaders of state and other dignitaries are greeted by the Birds of Welcome (also informally called the Birds of Peace I think) as they approach the residence. 

There were also 11 (now 9 I think to lessen environmental impact) lakes and numerous trees like Virginia live oak which managed to survive the desert climate of the Coachella Valley by being on the sprawling golf course of which the house was at the end.

A favorite target of golfers driving their balls besides the two Eisenhower palms (of which I didn't take a pic) was this totem pole from the Canadian Northwest which the Annenbergs also commissioned. Their tastes were roving and eclectic.

The tour continued around the perimeter of the retreat center where important thinkers and doers and world leaders meet still and stay in guest rooms around a pool and more gardens with a Chinese pavilion and tennis court and white marble bench surrounding the 18-hole golf course further afar.

 

Time to bid farewell to the mansion and its stunning view of the San Jacinto Mountains for now. My Open Experience ended with a return to the Sunnyland Center and Gardens where I asked what tree this is. The tree is Palo Verde, notable for its green bark and was in yellow bloom in April.

Before heading to lunch, I explored the two trails around the two gardens near the visitors center. I loved all the groupings of cactuses and succulents and agaves around the flowering meadow.      

  

 

I wished that I had thought to download the audio tour and learn the names of the various plants. Instead of eating lunch in the café, I decided to hop in the car and eat something I wouldn't normally find in a museum café. I ended up in Palm Desert at an unassuming strip mall with a Del Taco and a local taqueria AND a Vietnamese sandwich restaurant. 

Of course, I was going to opt for a bahn mi. The owner/baker/cook was so nice. He brought me a taste of his edamame pate on a slice of baguette. I almost ordered the vegan sandwich with that edamame and tofu, but decided on the combo instead of pork belly, pork roll, cured pork, pickled daikon and carrots, cucumber, jalapeno, cilantro and house made mayonnaise. The owner told me baking is not cooking, and we talked about why he doesn't use rice flour in his bread--he prefers the French style of bread with high gluten and no eggs, nor milk in his crusty but tender crumb loaf. I also had plenty of time to go to El Paseo and buy that Chuck Jones lithograph for Patrick and took a pic of this purse art as a reminder to draw and paint something as prosaic as my belongings. I asked Patrick if he liked the giclée of this painting called "Manhattan Beach" to which he said NO. I also popped into Anthropologie to take a pic of this top and skirt I had admired earlier. 

 

Ah to be young and too thin to wear such an outfit. It totally riffs on Carrie Bradshaw in her tank and tutu. 

Back to Sunnylands. The view from the center is really comfortable and relaxing.                               

I read all the information in the center of the estate's use for retreats after the Annenberg's deaths and a video about the design and decoration of the interior of the house. 

And there was just enough time afterward to use the restroom and shop the gift shop before jumping into a golf cart for the House tour. I adored the outfit of this fellow tour attendee, evoking the sunny spirit of the estate. 

Just like with the outside air experience, we got some history approaching the house, but this time we entered the house as if we were guests entering through a security gate.

We weren't allowed to photograph inside the mansion, which was fine because I was just fascinated by EVERYTHING in the interior. However, after the house tour, we got to tour the perimeter courtyards and patios of the house which included the pool. And I only noticed just now how close it is to one of the lakes.

 

This was the Palm Springs pool I'd been seeking.

Ah to have been a guest on a retreat and be able to swim this pool at this "Camp David West."                      

I loved this sculpture in the pool called Square Waves. And each steel square cocentrically placed in another square is not bolted to the bottom of the pool dais and moves balanced on its fulcrum, waving from the motion of water and wind.

Next was the rose garden.

  

I had to take pictures of roses named after Walter and Leonore Annenberg.

And I had to also photograph my favorite colored roses, the peach and orange blooms, one of which was named after Laura Bush, who was a librarian (like me!).

 

It was a wonderful afternoon. Someday I will learn what this shrub with small white blooms that smell like gardenias is.

However, I did learn that this tree, which would make a very good fence barrier, is a Tamarisk.

I think my traveling companions regretted that they didn't tour this estate, and I had been promised by my friend, Lisa that it wouldn't disappoint. I'm so glad I got to visit this place of history, hospitality and diplomacy in Southern California.