The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-06)

The Sunday Times February 6, 2022 7

Travel USA special

It’s all about the mid-century glamour, says Stephen Ferns

T

he second series of

Mad Men, episode

11: “The Jet Set”. It’s

1962. On business
      in sun-kissed Los
      Angeles, his old fashioned
      ordered at the hotel bar, Don
      Draper has caught the eye of
      the idle rich. A coterie of

itinerant, minor European

nobility are intrigued by

Draper; and he likewise — not

least by Joy, a challenge for

any man’s moral resolve. The

next day he encounters Joy

once more, her top-down

Mercedes SL purring at the

bottom of the hotel steps.

“I’m going to Palm Springs,”

she says. “You should come

with me.” He vacillates for all

of five seconds before sliding

into the passenger seat,

possibly seduced as much

by the promise of Palm Springs

as by Joy’s evident charms.

Palm Springs: playground of

film stars and the beau

monde where you can slip

back in time and imagine

sipping a gibson with

Frank Sinatra at Melvyn’s,

or lounging poolside at

your Richard Neutra

mid-century masterpiece

while Slim Aarons takes

snaps of you and your

immaculate friends.

The town took off as a

destination during the

mid-20th century — the

golden age of Hollywood,

when contracted stars were

required to be no more than

two hours from the studio; to

the west of Los Angeles, Santa

Barbara grew up and got rich

for much the same reason.

The list of Hollywood

greats who owned property

in Palm Springs is long and

distinguished: Sinatra, Elvis

Presley, Bob Hope, Cary

Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk

Douglas, Dean Martin, Nat

“King” Cole and Bing Crosby

to name a few. Legend has

it that Marilyn Monroe was

“discovered” at the Racquet

Club of Palm Springs. Today,

Barry Manilow is a permanent

resident, and Barack Obama

and Leonardo DiCaprio also

have homes here.

The two-hour drive from

LA, east along Interstate 10, is

no one’s idea of fun — even in a

Continued on page 8→

Frank Sinatra’s former home

and, left, a 1946 house by

Richard Neutra. Below,

a Marilyn Monroe tribute

ETERNAL

PALM SPRINGS

JACK HOBHOUSE, ROBERTHARDING/ALAMY; BUYENLARGE/GETTY IMAGES

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