Historic buildingPalm Desert
Desert Magazine Building
Step inside Palm Desert’s publishing history at the former home of Desert Magazine, a 1948 landmark where printing, books and art helped shape the new community.
At a glance
- Location
- 74-225 Highway 111 · Palm Desert
- Opened
- October 1948
- Original architect
- Harry J. Williams
- Original style
- Pueblo Revival
- Today
- Commercial building · remodeled façade
The former Desert Magazine Building at 74-225 Highway 111 in Palm Desert is a surviving connection to the city’s beginnings. Behind today’s commercial façade is the place where Randall Henderson’s regional publication brought printing, books and art together in 1948.
A publishing house that helped make a town
The building opened in October 1948, as the planned community of Palm Desert was taking shape south of Highway 111. It housed the offices and printing operation of Desert Magazine and Desert Printers, along with a bookstore, gem shop and Southwest Art Gallery. Its roughly 17,000 square feet accommodated both the practical work of publishing and places where early residents could gather.
The Historical Society of Palm Desert identifies it as the first commercial structure completed on the south side of the highway in Palm Desert. The society also connects its heavy volume of mail with the community receiving its first post office. Alongside Shadow Mountain Club, the publishing building helped give the new development a cultural and commercial life.
Architecture and the building you see today
The original 1948 building was designed by Harry J. Williams in the Pueblo Revival style. The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation documents a 2012 City Council decision allowing changes to its façade, a proposal the foundation opposed.
The October 15, 2026 photographs show the building’s present-day exterior and its setting beneath the Santa Rosa Mountains. The façade has been remodeled since the magazine’s era; not all visible details are original to 1948.
Finding the building
Address: 74-225 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California 92260. The address is also written as 74225 Highway 111.
This is a commercial building with a publishing history. Exterior viewing is the focus of this guide; it is not presented as a museum or an operating magazine office. Interior access and business hours depend on the current tenants.
Read the larger story
Desert Magazine: How a Publication Taught Readers to See the Desert follows the publication from its 1937 beginnings in El Centro to its Palm Desert home, with an interactive story map and timeline.
Continue with Why Palm Desert Exists, explore El Paseo, or browse more places in Palm Desert.
Sources
History checked October 15, 2026. Historical Society of Palm Desert — Historic Landmarks: address, opening, original uses and early community role. Palm Springs Preservation Foundation — Desert Magazine Building: architect, original style and its account of the 2012 façade decision. The foundation’s account reflects its preservation advocacy.
