The History of Seven Lakes: Palm Springs Modernism, Golf and Presidents

On February 6, 1968, Dwight D. Eisenhower stepped onto the 13th tee at Seven Lakes in Palm Springs and struck the only reported hole-in-one of his life. The shot became the community’s most famous moment, but the history surrounding it is even larger.

Seven Lakes was an early experiment in Palm Springs fairway living—a complete environment in which modern homes, an executive golf course, lakes, pools, greenbelts, a William F. Cody clubhouse and mountain views were designed to function together. More than six decades later, that complete idea remains visible across the approximately 120-acre community.

• A 1960s beginning: Development started in 1964, and the 18-hole executive golf course opened in January 1965.
• A coordinated design team: Richard A. Harrison designed the residences, William F. Cody the clubhouse, Hugh Kaptur the 1975 gatehouse, Ted Robinson the course and David Hamilton the landscape.
• An early housing model: Palm Springs staff identifies Seven Lakes as the first local residential condominium development planned around a golf fairway.
• Presidential history: Eisenhower made his only reported ace here; 12 days later, he played Seven Lakes with President Lyndon B. Johnson.
• Preservation in progress: The community is seeking local historic-district designation, but final designation requires Palm Springs City Council action.

A Community Built Around the Fairway

By the 1950s and early 1960s, the Coachella Valley was becoming nationally known for winter golf, resort life and modern architecture. The country club was changing with it. A golf course could be more than a place beside the homes; it could become the open landscape around which the homes were organized.

Golf developer Johnny Dawson helped advance this model across the desert. His influence reached Thunderbird, Eldorado, La Quinta, Seven Lakes and Marrakesh. The wider story continued through later developers such as Sunrise Company, whose role in expanding the Valley’s shared-amenity lifestyle is explored in How Sunrise Company Defined the Coachella Valley Lifestyle.

Seven Lakes stands near the beginning of that evolution. City preservation staff describes it as the first golf-course condominium development in the Palm Springs area and the first local residential condominium project planned around a fairway. The distinction matters. Golf communities already existed, but Seven Lakes assembled condominium ownership, distributed resort amenities, low-rise modern homes and a course-centered landscape into an unusually early and cohesive form.

How Tribal Lease Law Opened South Palm Springs

Seven Lakes began on allotted Agua Caliente tribal lease land. That history is essential to understanding why large developments spread across south Palm Springs when they did.

Earlier lease limits had discouraged projects that required decades to finance and build. The Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955 expanded allowable terms, and federal legislation signed in 1959 permitted certain tribes—including the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians—to enter leases lasting up to 99 years. Palm Springs staff concluded that the new framework helped make projects such as Seven Lakes practical.

A land lease conveyed the right to use and occupy land; it did not erase tribal ownership, sovereignty or the federal rules governing trust land. That broader history should also be read within the much longer story of the Cahuilla people and their homeland, without treating the history of one Palm Springs parcel as the history of every tribal landholding.

Seven Lakes Opens in the 1960s

Development began in 1964. Ted Robinson’s 18-hole executive course opened in January 1965, and the first residences were offered later that year. Construction continued in phases into the early 1970s. Hugh Kaptur’s gatehouse arrived in 1975, completing another defining part of the entrance experience.

The 341 units are spread among 147 residential structures: 139 duplex buildings and eight two-story buildings. That distinction helps explain the low density. Much of the interior experience belongs to fairways, paths, lakes and greenbelts rather than roads and parking.

• 1964Development begins during a pivotal period for Palm Springs condominiums and fairway-oriented housing.
• January 1965The executive golf course opens; initial residential sales follow several months later.
• 1964–1972The primary residential community is built in phases.
• 1975Hugh Kaptur designs the modern gatehouse, closing the proposed period of historical significance.

Five Designers, One Complete Environment

Seven Lakes is sometimes reduced to a single famous architect. Its real strength is collaboration. Five professionals shaped different parts of the community, and their work gains meaning from the way those parts connect.

Cody—not Donald Wexler—should be credited with the clubhouse. City records, Seven Lakes’ official history, Palm Springs Life and the William Cody archive agree on that attribution. Harrison had previously worked for Cody and later partnered with Wexler, which may help explain how the error entered some secondary accounts.

Why the Homes Look Different

Seven Lakes is commonly called Midcentury Modern. A more precise description is International Style–influenced residential architecture within Palm Springs’ broader Desert Modernist tradition.

The one-story homes use long rooflines, minimal decoration, courtyard or atrium entries, clerestories and large panes of glass. Shadow-block walls filter sun and create privacy while casting changing patterns across paths and patios. Some floor plans integrate carports, and deep overhangs help control direct desert light.

The later two-story buildings remain horizontal rather than tower-like. Open balconies, breezeways, exposed stairs, integrated planters and rounded-square wall openings repeat the geometric vocabulary at a larger scale.

Most important, the homes rarely compete with the horizon. Their low profiles preserve the mountain line, while glass and clerestories draw green space and sky into the interiors. It is the same regional conversation between engineering, architecture and landscape seen in landmarks such as the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, expressed here at residential scale.

The Lakes, Pools and Greenbelts Were Part of the Architecture

At Seven Lakes, the spaces between buildings are not leftover land. They are part of the design.

More than 30 percent of the site was dedicated to green space. Fairways were lowered by approximately three to four feet in places, preserving views from the homes. Seven biomorphic lakes created water hazards while reflecting the surrounding mountains. Curving pedestrian and cart paths linked the architecture to a landscape of palms, citrus, olive trees and broad greenbelts.

The community also distributed recreation close to the residences. The historic study documents 15 pool-and-ramada resources, including long, low shade structures, changing areas, showers and, in some locations, outdoor kitchens, shuffleboard or saunas. Rather than forcing every resident to gather at one central pool, the plan allowed the entire property to function like a resort campus.

Eisenhower’s Lucky 13

Seven Lakes’ best-known moment arrived on February 6, 1968. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, then 77, played the 104-yard 13th hole with a 9-iron and recorded the only reported hole-in-one of his life.

The event became part of the physical memory of the club. A commemorative plaque marks the hole, Eisenhower memorabilia has been displayed in the clubhouse, and the story has appeared in architectural tours and anniversary events. The shot is more than a celebrity anecdote because the place continues to preserve and interpret it.

The Day Two Presidents Played Seven Lakes

Twelve days after Eisenhower’s ace, presidential history returned to the course. On February 18, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson visited Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower at their Palm Desert home. Johnson and Eisenhower discussed the Vietnam War, then the two presidents played Seven Lakes. Johnson later held a press conference near the 18th green for the White House press corps.

A recorded telephone conversation from February 19 confirms that the round occurred the previous day. Eisenhower recounted his recent ace, while Johnson joked about losing most of their holes.

The surviving record does not support turning the outing into a secret summit or claiming a specific war decision was made on the course. Its importance is subtler: a private leisure landscape in Palm Springs briefly became a setting where a sitting president and a former president discussed one of the defining issues of the era.

From Tribal Lease Land to Fee Ownership

Seven Lakes’ land story changed again decades after its opening. Major acquisitions completed in 2009 and 2014 converted the community from tribal lease land to fee-simple ownership.

That transition should be described as a change in ownership structure, not as the correction of a defective arrangement. Long-term Agua Caliente leases were a lawful and historically significant foundation for development across Palm Springs. The later purchases are another chapter in the same property history.

Why Seven Lakes May Become a Historic District

The Seven Lakes Homeowners Association filed its application for local historic-district designation on November 24, 2025. The proposed period of significance runs from 1964 through 1975, covering the original development, primary residential build-out and Kaptur gatehouse.

The application received support from 246 of 341 units, or 72 percent. The historic study identifies 205 residential units and 29 of 34 nonresidential resources as contributing. A contributing resource retains enough historic character to help communicate the district’s period and design; the term does not mean a home is untouched, nor does “noncontributing” mean a property lacks value.

Palm Springs staff concluded that the proposed district qualifies because of its associations with Eisenhower and Johnson, its connection to postwar resort development and condominium living, the work of master designers, and its identity as a distinguishable whole.

If the City Council ultimately designates Seven Lakes, certain exterior alterations, demolition and new construction would receive added preservation review. Ordinary maintenance, many interior projects and appropriate like-for-like replacement are generally exempt, subject to city and HOA requirements. Designation would not freeze every interior, individually landmark every unit, automatically place the property on the National Register or guarantee a change in property values.

Why Seven Lakes Still Matters

Seven Lakes helped turn fairway living into a recognizable Palm Springs lifestyle. It joined a comparatively new form of condominium ownership with resort recreation, modern architecture and a golf course that doubled as shared scenery.

The community was designed to make its architecture recede while mountains, water and fairways took center stage. That relationship still survives. Seven Lakes’ strongest claim to history is not one house, one clubhouse, one golf shot or even one presidential visit. It is the continued presence of the complete idea.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and Further Reading

This article distinguishes the proposed historic district from a final City Council designation. William F. Cody is identified as the clubhouse architect because the city report, official Seven Lakes history and professional archives agree on that attribution.

• City of Palm Springs: Seven Lakes HSPB staff report and draft resolution
• City of Palm Springs: Seven Lakes historic-resources application
• City of Palm Springs: Historic Site Preservation Board records
• Seven Lakes Golf & Country Club: Official history
• Palm Springs Life: Lucky 13
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: Palm Springs Agency
• National Museum of the American Indian: Agua Caliente leasing history
• Presidential Recordings Digital Edition: Johnson and Eisenhower, February 19, 1968
• Palm Springs Municipal Code: Historic district review
• USModernist: William F. Cody archive
• American Society of Golf Course Architects: Ted Robinson