The Orchid HousePalm Springs, California1971Book your stay
Image: The Jon B. Lovelace Collection of California Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Twin Palms Estate

Twin Palms Estate's piano-shaped swimming pool in front of the glass-walled house and two tall palms.

Palm Springs house history · Driving stop 1

E. Stewart Williams’s 1947 design curls around a sheltered pool, with glass walls and long rooflines opening Sinatra’s retreat toward the San Jacinto Mountains.

Built
1947S01
Architect
E. Stewart WilliamsS01
Style
Desert modernismS01
Historic status
Palm Springs Class 1S01

Celebrity history

Frank Sinatra at Twin Palms Estate.

Frank Sinatra commissioned and occupied Twin Palms beginning in 1947; preservation title research places his ownership from 1947 to 1953.S01

Architecture

Design, materials, and historic status.

E. Stewart Williams designed the 1947 residence as an early expression of desert modernism, organized around long horizontal lines, indoor-outdoor living, and the property’s paired palms.S01

The preservation record identifies tongue-and-groove Douglas fir at the soaring sloped ceilings, broad areas of glass, and Arizona flagstone chimney stacks as defining material features.S01

Williams arranged the house in a pinwheel around a large pool sheltered by the residence, pergola, and cabana; the plan directs the principal rooms toward outdoor living and San Jacinto Mountain views.S01

Historic status

Palm Springs designated Twin Palms a Class 1 historic site in 2011.S01

Architectural details

  • Low horizontal composition

    Long rooflines and a deliberately low profile make the desert setting part of the composition.S01

  • Indoor-outdoor organization

    The plan turns toward outdoor living and the paired palms that gave the estate its name.S01

The wider story

The house in context.

Palm Springs Preservation Foundation describes the estate as remarkably intact and only slightly modified, while recording a reorientation of the main entrance in the late 1990s.S01

House chronology

Key dates in the house’s history.

Dates come from the records cited below.

  1. Williams completes Twin PalmsS01
  2. Frank Sinatra’s documented ownershipS01
  3. Most recent documented saleS05
  4. Class 1 historic designationS01
  5. Most recent Modernism Week access in the recordS06

Research notes

Sources for Twin Palms Estate.

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

  1. Sinatra Twin Palms EstatePalm Springs Preservation Foundation · checked
  2. Palm Springs historic resources registryCity of Palm Springs · checked
  3. Open Source Routing Machine service informationFOSSGIS and OpenStreetMap contributors · checked
  4. 1145 E Via Colusa property and ownership historyHomes.com · checked
  5. 1145 E Via Colusa sale historyRedfin · checked
  6. Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms Estate TourModernism Week · checked