At Casa Cody, the only sight brighter than the pink bougainvillea spilling over the walls is the vivid orange horseshoe hanging in every room. “We think of those as our good luck charms,” says Sana Keefer, head of brand for Casetta Hotels, which runs Casa Cody, the oldest continuously operating hotel in Palm Springs.
Built in the 1910s, the boutique hotel’s earliest structures feature a gentle hacienda style with warm hues — distinct from the colorful, geometric flair Palm Springs is known for. While Casa Cody has stayed true to its ranch-style roots, it has evolved with modern amenities. The orange horseshoes, Keefer says, bridge past and present.
Casa Cody has two bougainvillea-lined pools.
Before founder Harriet Cody became a hotelier in the 1920s, she ran the area’s first riding and boarding stable, counting cowboy movie stars Tom Mix and Jack Holt among her clients. Harriet and her husband, architect Harold Cody — cousin of showman Buffalo Bill Cody — moved from San Francisco to Hollywood seeking a warmer, drier climate to treat Harold’s tuberculosis. They discovered Palm Springs in 1916, and after Harold’s death in 1924, Harriet opened the hotel.
Casa Cody was designated a Class 1 Historic Site by the city in 2008. Its oldest structure, the Adobe House, was built in 1910 and once served as the winter home of Metropolitan Opera baritone Lawrence Tibbett, said to have stored his piano in the cellar (now a wine cellar) to shield it from the summer heat. Tibbett entertained friends including Charlie Chaplin at the house.
“It was a turning point culturally [when] Harriet Cody and her husband arrived,” Keefer says. “They helped start this enclave of artists, musicians, writers, and Hollywood elites.”
In many cultures, horseshoes are considered protective symbols, fitting for a property nestled against the San Jacinto Mountains that has long served as a sanctuary for travelers. Harriet herself was known as a quintessential host. “She had a natural magnetism,” Keefer says. “Everyone was welcome.”
lucky charm
You can purchase your own lucky orange horseshoe from Casa Cody’s curated lobby marketplace, which also stocks handmade citrus juicers, archival postcards, artisan food, and small-batch beauty goods.
