Sunnylands is a 200 acre estate located in Rancho Mirage, California and is owned an operated by the Annenberg Trust with the idea that the estate itself will be used to host retreats for some of the most powerful individuals on the planet. Blah blah blah. Let’s get on to the design of the place.
Fair warning: this post will be full of detail oriented photos.
The estate itself was designed by architect A. Quincey Jones. It’s a glorious example of midcentury modern architecture that is chock full of Impressionist era art work that’s billed as a modest, casual home. I don’t know about your casual modest home, but this one includes a 9 hole, parkland style, Dick Wilson golf course and a ginormous pool that has enough water in it to change the surface of Sudan, but I digress. I didn’t go on this tour because I didn’t register in time. Instead we’re going to focus on the newly designed center and gardens attached to the estate.
Above you see the site plan of the new gardens and the visitor center. It is spectacular. The new center itself was designed by Fredrick Fisher and Partners based out of Los Angeles, CA. The building itself is a sight to behold. The brilliant, white single-story, multi-use building is certified LEED Gold and blends seamlessly into the over all plan of the estate itself. There’s a cafe, videos about the Annenbergs, selected pieces from the Annenberg’s massive collection of art, and a tasteful and well done gift shop. Such a good gift shop that I spent a small fortune on postcards there.
The gardens themselves were designed by the office of James Burnett in Solana Beach, CA. His vision for the space was to use desert plants to mirror the Annenberg’s love of Impressionist era art. Does he succeed? Sure, in a way. The plant palette is limited and will be expensive to replace when things die, but it is spectacular in its own way. Let’s get into this.
The nine acre gardens feature over 50,000 desert plants which were chosen to provide year round visual interest while providing a much needed contrast to the lush greenery in the desert of the main estate itself. There are a little over a mile of walking paths, a labrynth, a large green lawn, and a natural wildflower area. Yellow is the predominant bloom color which reflects the Sunnylands logo and the gardens also provide a look into how lush desert plants really can be by using desert plants from all over the world.
So, you want to tour this beast? You’re in luck, you can. The tour of the entire property is $35 bucks and you need to schedule your visit on the 1st or the 15th every month when they release a limited amount of tickets for each day of the week. Word of warning: it’s a two hour tour and there’s a lot of walking involved. The gardens and visitor center are free to the public and you can come and go as you please. For more information on Sunnylands, its history, and the tour go here. The newly installed gardens were awarded ASLA’s Honor Award for 2012 (this is like winning an Oscar in my field), to see this, click here.
If you have questions ask me in the comments below.
Photo credits: Unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken by this guy.