The Desert Club of La Quinta: A Forgotten Club That Shaped the Cove
How a vanished social club helped shape La Quinta Cove through architecture, recreation, and the promise of desert living.
Long before La Quinta became a city, the Desert Club helped turn the Cove into a winter-home community. Its clubhouse is gone, but its story connects the neighborhood’s early casitas, bold architecture, social life, and real-estate ambitions.
- The club helped make early Cove homeownership a social experience.
- Its architecture contrasted sharply with the neighborhood’s Spanish-style casitas.
- Explore the key dates below, then connect the story with places and archives you can explore today.
Desert Club at a Glance
- What: A private social club tied to early La Quinta Cove home sales.
- When: Opened around 1937; the buildings were removed in 1989.
- Design: S. Charles Lee’s nautical-inspired Streamline Moderne clubhouse.
- Today: The clubhouse is gone; its legacy remains in local places and archives.
A Club Built to Sell a Way of Life
The Desert Club helps explain an idea that still shapes Coachella Valley real estate: the neighborhood’s social life can be as compelling as the home itself.
Developer E.S. “Harry” Kiener envisioned a winter-home community in what is now La Quinta Cove. The plan brought together residential lots, seasonal casitas, a commercial district, and a private club. Certain lot buyers received membership, giving an isolated desert purchase a ready-made social setting.
La Quinta Hotel had already shown the appeal of a mountain-framed desert retreat. Kiener applied that appeal to homeownership. A buyer could imagine a small casita, winter sunshine, swimming, dinner, and neighbors to meet.
The Desert Club also belonged to a seasonal resort concept: summers at the Peter Pan Woodland Club near Big Bear, winters in La Quinta. Reciprocal privileges linked the two experiences.
FROM DESERT LAND TO LOCAL MEMORY
Explore the Desert Club Timeline
Select an era, then a year to see what changed and why it mattered.
1932
Kiener buys Cove acreage
Harry Kiener acquires land near La Quinta Hotel. His plans connect winter recreation in the desert with his mountain resort near Big Bear.
Why it matters The homes and club grew out of the same development idea.
Historical Society · August 20241935–41
The casitas take shape
The Historical Society records 63 Spanish Colonial Revival casitas built during this period.
Why it matters A residential neighborhood gave the club its members and purpose.
Historical Society · August 20241937–40
The Desert Club opens
The Historical Society dates the opening to Thanksgiving 1937. City accounts also describe construction or operation in 1940.
Why it matters These records do not give a perfectly consistent opening chronology; the date range keeps that uncertainty visible.
Opening date · source note1941
The sales system reaches court
A published appellate decision describes the card-index prospecting system used to sell La Quinta lots.
Why it matters Club membership was also a way to find prospective land buyers.
California appellate decision · 19411947
Promotion reaches a national audience
The city’s history records promotion in Fortune by February 1947 and reproduces a brochure promising a broad recreation program.
Why it matters The advertised amenities describe the sales vision; they do not prove every proposed feature was completed.
City history · section 4.4.41952
Membership rights are disputed
Nyman v. The Desert Club concerns members’ access and the rules governing their relationship with the club.
Why it matters The membership promise had consequences beyond the sales brochure.
Membership-access case · reporting notes1965
Fire damages the clubhouse
The Historical Society records a damaging fire followed by rebuilding.
Why it matters The fire was a setback, not the final disappearance of the club.
Historical Society · August 20241972
Fritz Burns purchases the property
The city’s historical account records the purchase and plans for model homes west of the club.
Why it matters New ownership brought another attempt to revive the property.
City history · section 4.4.31989
The clubhouse disappears
Historical accounts place the club’s final removal in 1989, when the deteriorated structures were destroyed in a fire-department training exercise.
Why it matters The building is gone; its story remains connected with Fritz Burns Park.
Historical Society · August 2024Opening and ownership dates vary across historical accounts. Source notes distinguish firm milestones from dates that remain uncertain.
The Cove Connection: Homes and Membership
The Cove’s early Spanish Colonial Revival casitas were modest seasonal retreats, with white walls and low red-tile roofs. The club supplied a gathering place beyond the front door. That relationship made the development feel like a community before most of the neighborhood existed.
The Historical Society records 63 casitas built between 1935 and 1941. Its account also identifies the surviving Lumberyard and neighboring former sales office as links to the development story. For the neighborhood’s wider history, read the vision that built La Quinta Cove.
Historical membership records reference life, pioneer, and invitational memberships, with annual dues listed at $10. These were historical arrangements; they do not establish club rights for present-day Cove homeowners.
The 1952 case Nyman v. The Desert Club shows why those promises mattered. Members disputed their access to the club, and the appellate court upheld temporary protection while the underlying dispute continued. The case did not resolve every question about ownership or permanent membership rights.
Why the Clubhouse Looked Like a Ship
The clubhouse stood apart from the Cove’s Spanish-style casitas. Architect S. Charles Lee, known for theater design, used Streamline Moderne forms associated with movement and modernity: rounded corners, horizontal lines, smooth walls, and nautical details.
Those features explain the recurring description of a “ship” in the desert. The building was a visual attraction as well as a gathering place. Its contrast with the surrounding casitas made the whole development more memorable.
Curves softened the building’s corners and reinforced its nautical character.
Long bands and smooth surfaces emphasized the low, streamlined shape.
A modern white clubhouse stood against the desert and mountains.
The featured image is a conceptual illustration. For the original building’s appearance, see the Historical Society’s archival photographs, including images identified as circa 1938 and circa 1940.
Explore the Desert Club’s Amenities
Swimming, recreation, dining, and shared gathering places were the heart of the club’s promise: a winter home with a social life beyond its front door.
THE AMENITY DREAM
What Would Draw You to the Club?
Explore the activities and spaces promoted to early Cove buyers. Select an amenity to learn how it fitted into the club’s appeal.
Swimming PoolSwim, cool off, gather
The pool was central to the club’s recreational appeal. It gave seasonal residents a place to swim and spend time together beyond their own casitas.
The appeal: A shared pool helped make a small winter home feel part of a resort setting.
TennisCourts and friendly competition
Tennis courts appeared in the club’s amenity program, offering a recognizable resort activity alongside swimming and dining.
The appeal: A regular game could turn neighbors into friends.
BadmintonOutdoor racket play
Promotional material listed badminton courts among the planned outdoor facilities. The brochure establishes the proposal, rather than a confirmed operating history.
The appeal: The club promoted several ways to play, not a single signature sport.
ArcheryA proposed archery range
An archery range was part of the recreation program described in the promotional brochure. Its inclusion speaks to the breadth of the sales pitch.
The appeal: The promise extended beyond the usual pool-and-tennis combination.
Riding StablesHorses and a riding ring
The advertised plan included riding stables and a ring. These facilities were presented as part of a wider desert recreation experience.
The appeal: Riding added another reason to spend an extended season in the desert.
SunbathingWinter sunshine and rest
The brochure promoted sunbathing equipment as part of the club’s leisure offering. Winter warmth was a major part of the setting being sold.
The appeal: Rest and sunshine were amenities in their own right.
Grand LoungeA shared social room
A grand lounge appeared in the promotional program as a place for members to gather away from their individual homes.
The appeal: A comfortable common room helped give the neighborhood a social center.
Dining & Coffee ShopMeals and conversation
The program paired a dining room with a proposed coffee shop, presenting both dining and more casual gathering as part of membership.
The appeal: Meals offered a reason to return to the club after the day’s recreation.
Cards & BilliardsIndoor games and leisure
Billiard and card rooms were listed among the proposed facilities. Indoor recreation broadened the club’s appeal beyond outdoor sports.
The appeal: An evening game could keep the social day going after sunset.
Patios & TerracesLandscaped places to linger
Landscaped patios and terraces rounded out the promoted amenity program, extending the gathering spaces outdoors.
The appeal: The desert setting became part of everyday club life.
Promoted does not always mean completed. The brochure describes an amenity program; it does not establish that all ten features were built or operated together. Read the city’s historical account, section 4.4.4.
Behind the Glamour: an Organized Sales Operation
The marketing had a practical infrastructure. The 1941 appellate decision Palm Springs-La Quinta Development Co. v. Kieberk Corp. describes a detailed card-index system holding information about customers, sales prospects, agents, and installment contracts.
The dispute involved control and use of those records. It offers unusually direct evidence of how recreation and land sales worked together: clubs attracted prospective customers; sales teams used organized information to sell lots and follow up on contracts.
The club’s name also became part of the surrounding geography through the Desert Club tracts. Growth was gradual, constrained by water, drainage, economic conditions, and uneven demand. The clubhouse did not turn the Cove into a finished resort community overnight.
Hollywood Stories: Keep the History and the Lore Separate
Local accounts connect the club with the celebrity atmosphere surrounding La Quinta Hotel. Those stories help explain its reputation, but individual visits and colorful anecdotes deserve their own evidence.
The club’s significance does not depend on proving every celebrity story. Its architecture, connection to home sales, membership disputes, and place in Cove development make a substantial history on their own. Unverified gambling tales and detailed celebrity guest lists are omitted here.
Why the Desert Club Disappeared
The Historical Society records fire damage in 1965 followed by rebuilding. The club then passed through further ownership changes and decline. The city’s account identifies Fritz Burns’s 1972 purchase and later attempts to keep the property operating.
By the end, deterioration had overwhelmed the revival plans. The remaining buildings were destroyed in a county fire-department training exercise, generally dated to 1989. The city’s account describes the structures as unsafe and unsuitable for rehabilitation.
Accounts differ on the transfer chronology and exact historic site description. The Historical Society associates the former club with today’s Fritz Burns Park. This guide uses that connection without presenting a precise clubhouse footprint or a firm transfer date.
Explore the Story Today
The original clubhouse cannot be toured. These three places and resources help connect the story to present-day La Quinta:
THE LANDSCAPE
Fritz Burns Park
Start with the public place most commonly associated with the club’s former site. Look at the mountain setting and the relationship between the Cove and Village.
Explore Fritz Burns ParkTHE NEIGHBORHOOD
La Quinta Cove
Look for the small scale and Spanish Colonial Revival character that shaped the early casitas. These are private homes; appreciate them from public streets.
Read the Cove’s historyTHE ORIGINAL RECORD
Historical Society Archives
Compare the conceptual illustration with the Society’s historic Desert Club images, then explore its broader collection.
See the historical photographsThe Idea That Outlived the Building
The Desert Club brought together a home, a view, recreation, dining, and a social circle. That combination remains familiar to anyone comparing communities in the Coachella Valley.
Its story also reveals the gap between the development promise and what endures. The clubhouse disappeared. The neighborhood, street names, surviving early buildings, and historical record remain. Understanding both makes the Cove a more interesting place to explore—and a more informed place to consider living.
Explore the La Quinta Cove Buying Guide
Watch the Desert Club Story
Desert Club of La Quinta: FAQs
Was the Desert Club in La Quinta a golf country club?
No. The Desert Club was not a golf country club in the modern Coachella Valley sense. It was closer to a private social and recreation club tied to early La Quinta Cove real estate. Instead of being centered around a golf course, it offered resort-style amenities such as swimming, dining, tennis, horseback riding, patios, social rooms, and other leisure activities. Its purpose was partly social and partly promotional: it helped make early Cove homeownership feel like part of a complete desert lifestyle.
How was the Desert Club connected to homes in La Quinta Cove?
The Desert Club was closely tied to the early development of La Quinta Cove. Developers promoted the Cove as a winter-home colony, and Desert Club membership was used as part of the sales appeal for certain lot and home buyers. The idea was simple but powerful: buyers were not just purchasing land or a small seasonal casita; they were buying into a private desert community with recreation, dining, and social status built in.
Where was the Desert Club located?
The historic club was in the La Quinta Cove and Village area. The La Quinta Historical Society identifies Fritz Burns Park with its former site. The building is gone, and conflicting historic descriptions make a precise modern clubhouse footprint inappropriate without further archival work.
What happened to the original Desert Club building?
The original Desert Club building no longer exists. After decades of use, ownership changes, financial difficulty, and deterioration, the club fell into decline. A major fire damaged the property in the 1960s, and later redevelopment plans never fully revived it. By the late 1980s, the remaining structures were considered unsafe, and the buildings were destroyed in a controlled fire-training exercise. Today, the club survives through local history, photographs, street names, and the memory of early La Quinta.
Who designed the Desert Club?
The Desert Club is associated with architect S. Charles Lee, a noted Southern California architect best known for his theater designs. That background helps explain why the Desert Club had such a distinctive look. Rather than matching the Spanish Colonial casitas of La Quinta Cove, the clubhouse used a Streamline Moderne style with nautical-inspired details such as rounded forms, horizontal lines, and porthole-like features. It was a dramatic building meant to feel stylish, modern, and memorable.
Sources & reporting notes
- La Quinta Historical Society: The Cove and Desert Club Beginnings (August 2024) — land purchase, casitas, opening, fire damage, and the club’s final years.
- City of La Quinta: Historic Resources Survey, archived context statement — sections 4.4.1–4.4.4 cover design, construction, ownership, and promotion.
- Palm Springs-La Quinta Development Co. v. Kieberk Corp. (1941) — published appellate decision concerning sales records.
- Nyman v. The Desert Club (1952) — membership-access case cited in the original article.
- La Quinta Historical Society archival photographs — Desert Club images identified as circa 1938 and circa 1940.
Chronology: The Society gives Thanksgiving 1937 as the opening. The city account contains both 1937 and 1940 references. The timeline therefore uses 1937–40. The former timeline’s claim of a 1982 transfer to the city has been removed: the city narrative describes an ownership court order that year; accounts of the final transfer differ.
Images and amenities: The illustrations are interpretations, not archival photographs or survey maps. Amenities described as proposed come from promotional material, not a verified inventory of completed facilities.
