Create Your Own Modernism Tour With a Drive Through These Neighborhoods

Modernism, Things to Do

Cue the midcentury architecture and colorful doors. Here are four neighborhoods to check out by car on a self-guided modernism tour of Palm Springs.

by | Oct 6, 2025

Canyon View Estates in Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY steve treinen, courtesy modernism week

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Canyon View Estates

Boundaries: East San Jose Road to the north, East Avenida Grande to the south, South Calle Palo Fierro to the east, South Sierra Madre to the west.

Harry Styles and Florence Pugh’s characters in the 2022 psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling lived here in a house on Azur Circle. Built between 1962 and 1965, the neighborhood doubled as the film’s idyllic 1950s town of Victory.

Vista Las Palmas

Boundaries: West Vista Chino to the north, West Crescent Drive to the south, North Via Monte Vista to the east, Mount San Jacinto to the west.

Homes from the 1950s showcase architect William Krisel’s butterfly roofs and Charles Du Bois’ Alohaus A-frames. The House of Tomorrow (1350 Ladera Circle), with its circular glass rooms beneath a jet-wing roof, became famous as Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s 1967 honeymoon hideaway.

Deepwell Estates

Boundaries: East Mesquite Avenue to the north, East Palm Canyon Drive to the south, South Sunrise Way to the east, Deep Well Road to the west.

Named for a 630-foot-deep well drilled in 1926, the neighborhood includes the William Holden Estate (1323 S. Driftwood Drive). Built in 1955, the post-and-beam home features glass walls and 47 pivoting doors and windows. Holden owned it from 1966 to 1977; actress Tippi Hedren later lived there.

Movie Colony

Boundaries: East Vista Chino to the north, East Alejo Road to the south, North Sunrise Way to the east, North Avenida Caballeros to the west.

From the 1930s to 1960s, Hollywood stars flocked here, including Cary Grant, Dinah Shore, and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra’s Twin Palms estate (1148 E. Alejo Road), designed in 1947 by E. Stewart Williams, balances sleek horizontal lines with glass walls that echo the desert landscape.

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