Twin Palms

Architect: Emerson Stewart Williams
Style: Mid-Century Modern
City: Palm Springs, CA
Collection: desert modernism

Twin Palms, also known as the Frank Sinatra House, stands at 1148 East Alejo Road in the Movie Colony East neighborhood of Palm Springs. Frank Sinatra commissioned the mid-century modern house from E. Stewart Williams in 1947, shortly after signing his first million-dollar contract with MGM — it was Williams's first residential commission.

the building

The sailor cap and ice cream cone. On May 1, 1947, Sinatra arrived at Williams's office wearing a white sailor cap and eating an ice cream cone, and asked for a Georgian-style weekend house. The house Williams designed instead was a work of modern architecture.

the style

Mid-Century Modern (c. 1945–1970): Post-and-beam houses with walls of glass, flat or butterfly roofs, and easy flow between indoors and out.

the architect

Twin Palms was E. Stewart Williams's first residential commission.

significance

Twin Palms is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

nearby

Sieroty House 0.6 mi · Mid-Century Modern
Fire Station No. 1 0.8 mi · Mid-Century Modern · 1955
Kocher-Samson Building 0.8 mi · 1934
Palm Springs Art Museum 1.0 mi · 1938
Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan Association 1.1 mi · Streamline Moderne
Coachella Valley Savings No. 1 1.2 mi · Mid-Century Modern

All 21 buildings in Palm Springs