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Dinah Shore Residence

Covered entrance promenade of the Dinah Shore Residence with adobe walls, reflecting water, clipped trees, and mountains.

Palm Springs house history · Driving stop 3 · Walking stop 5

The commission connects Dinah Shore’s entertainment career to Donald Wexler’s unusual pairing of adobe and precise modern construction.

Built
1964S01
Architect
Donald WexlerS01
Design language
Adobe + desert modernismS01
Historic status
National RegisterS02

Celebrity history

Dinah Shore and Maurice Smith at Dinah Shore Residence.

Singer and television host Dinah Shore and her then-husband, Maurice Smith, commissioned the residence in 1964.S01

Architecture

Design, materials, and historic status.

Donald Wexler paired rugged adobe with precise modern construction, deep overhangs, and a long covered walkway to the entrance.S01

A commanding diagonal elevation leads to a covered promenade articulated by spider-leg beams—an apparent reference to Richard Neutra, whose office employed Wexler earlier in his career.S01

Beyond its private street elevation, the house unfolds as linear planes and glass walls facing mountain views, lawns, gardens, a pool and pool house, a gazebo, gym, and tennis court.S01

Historic status

The Dinah Shore Residence was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.S02

Architectural details

  • Adobe meeting modern precision

    Wexler set rugged adobe against exact modern construction rather than choosing one language exclusively.S01

  • A shaded approach

    Deep overhangs and a long covered walkway shelter the approach from the desert sun.S01

The wider story

The house in context.

The 1964 residence arrived one year after Wexler established Donald A. Wexler Associates and belongs to a career spanning experimental steel houses, schools, civic buildings, and Palm Springs International Airport.S01

House chronology

Key dates in the house’s history.

Dates come from the records cited below.

  1. Dinah Shore and Maurice Smith commission the residenceS01
  2. Leonardo DiCaprio acquires the estateS05
  3. Listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesS02
  4. Most recent Modernism Week event in the recordS04

Research notes

Sources for Dinah Shore Residence.

Claims on this page are tied to the records below. Research was checked .

  1. Donald Wexler Tour: Dinah Shore ResidencePalm Springs Modern Committee · checked
  2. Palm Springs historic resources registryCity of Palm Springs · checked
  3. Open Source Routing Machine service informationFOSSGIS and OpenStreetMap contributors · checked
  4. An Evening to Remember: Night at DinahModernism Week · checked
  5. 432 W Hermosa Place sale historyRedfin · checked