'The world' visited Sinatra's Rancho Mirage compound
Frank Sinatra
Skip in Skip  x Embed x Share CLOSE Frank Sinatra  makes a deal with known mobster Sam Giancana on the golf course at the Tamarisk Country Club. Marilyn Chung and Brett Kelman/The Desert Sun
Frank Sinatra's home in Rancho Mirage  designed by William Cody  shortly after its completion. (Photo: Courtesy of Palm Springs Historical Society)
 Sinatra âs âTwin Palmsâ home in Palm Springs by famed architect E. Stewart Williams (1947) is well-known  but it was his base for only five years. It can be hired for events  photo shoots  vacation rentals and tours  e.g. during Modernism Week. By contrast  his home in Rancho Mirage is as much a private residence today as it was when  Sinatra  lived there from 1954 â 1995.
The reason usually given for Sinatraâs move a few miles away was because âPalm Springs was getting too crowded.â It wasnât quite that simple. He and Ava Gardner were calling it quits in 1953 â she filed for divorce in 1954 â and  Sinatra âs career was in trouble. The âTwin Palmsâ home was a regular reminder of his recent personal and professional problems  so he sold the house in April 1953. He then stayed at songwriter friend Jimmy Van Heusenâs home in Thunderbird Heights âhiding from reportersâ when he was in town. Van Heusen had introduced  Sinatra  to the desert in the 1940s.
 Sinatra âs career was about to reignite with the film  From Here to Eternity  for which  Sinatra  won an Oscar in 1954. February 1954 also saw the launch of his first successful album for Capitol Records  Songs for Young Lovers. Around the same time   Sinatra  purchased a couple of lots including a modest home at Tamarisk Country Club beside the 17th fairway  on Wonder Palms Road  now Frank Sinatra Drive. Having a quieter place to escape to for  Sinatra  was vital as  his  career rebounded. Like many entertainment figures in the desert   Sinatra  enjoyed golf.  He  became a member of Tamarisk Country Club in 1954 and  although  he  didnât play often   he  signed up for Pro-Am fundraisers along with Danny Kaye and Groucho Marx.
 The house Sinatra  bought with the land was even smaller than  his  Twin Palms home. Architectural Digest (1998) described it thus:
William F. Cody designed the original home (similar in style to the Cody Cottages at Thunderbird) in 1952 for client Austin H. Peterson  but  Sinatra  saw  fell in love with  and purchased the home before Peterson ever moved in. Records show that Cody designed the houseâs expansion and remodel for  Sinatra .
In November 1955  Palm Springs Villager magazine ran a full-page ad for Tony Burke Realtors featuring a photo of  Frank Sinatra  and announcing the sale of the Tamarisk Country Club home. Was  Sinatra  having buyerâs remorse? Or was this a favor for the realtor? The ad read:
â Mr Frank Sinatra  said â¦ 'Tony  find a bigger house for  me .' We did. He bought the handsome estate once owned by Al Jolson. So now he has entrusted us with the disposal of his elegant home on the golf course at Tamarisk Country Club. Pictured above   Frank  and Jimmy Van Heusen are relaxing musically in the living room.â
 Sinatra  had a change of heart. Maybe  he  was just too busy to move. Earl Wilsonâs society column observed (Desert Sun  May 10  1956):
â Frank Sinatra   nearly washed up two years ago  will have six films in release in â56.â
In 1956  another room and bathroom were added  then over the next few years  according to Architectural Digest (1998)   he  added a pair of two bedroom cottages  one off either end of the pool.
âEach bedroom had its own separate  his -and-her baths.  Sinatra  also expanded the main house  adding a dining room for twenty-four and a restaurant-size kitchen with a commercial range  a walk-in refrigerator and freezer and a wine closet.â
 He  bought adjoining lots so that  he  eventually owned two-and-a-half acres.
 Sinatra  also moved to Tamarisk because it was unrestricted.  He  couldnât stand bigotry on any level. Frankâs best friend and Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. was unwelcome most places unless he was performing. The two singers became friends in 1941. It was at  Sinatra âs Tamarisk home that Sammy Davis recuperated following the 1954 car accident that nearly killed him in which Davis lost his left eye. Davis normally wore a good luck charm around his neck  a mezuzah given to him by Eddie Cantor. The night of the accident he wasnât wearing it. Davis converted to Judaism in 1961.
â[ Sinatra âs] various defenses of civil rights causes and  his  friendship with (Sammy) Davis have hurt him commercially in the South  while his contributions to Israeli charities have gotten him  his records and movies banned in the Arab countries.â
Skip in Skip  x Embed x Share CLOSE  [TGT] makes a deal with known mobster Sam Giancana on the golf course at the Tamarisk Country Club. Marilyn Chung and Brett Kelman/The Desert Sun
Frank Sinatra's home in Rancho Mirage  designed by William Cody  shortly after its completion. (Photo: Courtesy of Palm Springs Historical Society)
  [TGT]  âs âTwin Palmsâ home in Palm Springs by famed architect E. Stewart Williams (1947) is well-known  but it was his base for only five years. It can be hired for events  photo shoots  vacation rentals and tours  e.g. during Modernism Week. By contrast  his home in Rancho Mirage is as much a private residence today as it was when  Sinatra  lived there from 1954 â 1995.
The reason usually given for Sinatraâs move a few miles away was because âPalm Springs was getting too crowded.â It wasnât quite that simple. He and Ava Gardner were calling it quits in 1953 â she filed for divorce in 1954 â and   [TGT]  âs career was in trouble. The âTwin Palmsâ home was a regular reminder of his recent personal and professional problems  so he sold the house in April 1953. He then stayed at songwriter friend Jimmy Van Heusenâs home in Thunderbird Heights âhiding from reportersâ when he was in town. Van Heusen had introduced  Sinatra  to the desert in the 1940s.
 Sinatra âs career was about to reignite with the film  From Here to Eternity  for which  Sinatra  won an Oscar in 1954. February 1954 also saw the launch of his first successful album for Capitol Records  Songs for Young Lovers. Around the same time   Sinatra  purchased a couple of lots including a modest home at Tamarisk Country Club beside the 17th fairway  on Wonder Palms Road  now Frank Sinatra Drive. Having a quieter place to escape to for  Sinatra  was vital as  his  career rebounded. Like many entertainment figures in the desert   Sinatra  enjoyed golf.  He  became a member of Tamarisk Country Club in 1954 and  although  he  didnât play often   he  signed up for Pro-Am fundraisers along with Danny Kaye and Groucho Marx.
 The house Sinatra  bought with the land was even smaller than  his  Twin Palms home. Architectural Digest (1998) described it thus:
William F. Cody designed the original home (similar in style to the Cody Cottages at Thunderbird) in 1952 for client Austin H. Peterson  but  Sinatra  saw  fell in love with  and purchased the home before Peterson ever moved in. Records show that Cody designed the houseâs expansion and remodel for  Sinatra .
In November 1955  Palm Springs Villager magazine ran a full-page ad for Tony Burke Realtors featuring a photo of  Frank Sinatra  and announcing the sale of the Tamarisk Country Club home. Was  Sinatra  having buyerâs remorse? Or was this a favor for the realtor? The ad read:
â Mr Frank Sinatra  said â¦ 'Tony  find a bigger house for  me .' We did. He bought the handsome estate once owned by Al Jolson. So now he has entrusted us with the disposal of his elegant home on the golf course at Tamarisk Country Club. Pictured above   Frank  and Jimmy Van Heusen are relaxing musically in the living room.â
 Sinatra  had a change of heart. Maybe  he  was just too busy to move. Earl Wilsonâs society column observed (Desert Sun  May 10  1956):
â Frank Sinatra   nearly washed up two years ago  will have six films in release in â56.â
In 1956  another room and bathroom were added  then over the next few years  according to Architectural Digest (1998)   he  added a pair of two bedroom cottages  one off either end of the pool.
âEach bedroom had its own separate  his -and-her baths.  Sinatra  also expanded the main house  adding a dining room for twenty-four and a restaurant-size kitchen with a commercial range  a walk-in refrigerator and freezer and a wine closet.â
 He  bought adjoining lots so that  he  eventually owned two-and-a-half acres.
 Sinatra  also moved to Tamarisk because it was unrestricted.  He  couldnât stand bigotry on any level. Frankâs best friend and Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. was unwelcome most places unless he was performing. The two singers became friends in 1941. It was at  Sinatra âs Tamarisk home that Sammy Davis recuperated following the 1954 car accident that nearly killed him in which Davis lost his left eye. Davis normally wore a good luck charm around his neck  a mezuzah given to him by Eddie Cantor. The night of the accident he wasnât wearing it. Davis converted to Judaism in 1961.
â[ Sinatra âs] various defenses of civil rights causes and  his  friendship with (Sammy) Davis have hurt him commercially in the South  while his contributions to Israeli charities have gotten him  his records and movies banned in the Arab countries.â