La Reina Estates: A Fabulous 1970’s Neighborhood in Palm Springs

Imagine looking through the newspaper and finding this ad:

Source: The Desert Sun via UCR, Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research.

The year was 1971.* The newspaper was The Desert Sun. The development was La Reina Estates in South Palm Springs. These distinctive, single-family homes were designed and constructed to meet new energy efficiency standards of the time without sacrificing spaciousness, luxury and convenience (recall that the first Earth day was in 1970). The developer, Sheldon Appel, was pushing the envelope for then-prevailing home construction standards. The developer was also striving to attain a cohesive neighborhood feel, while offering a fairly rich palette of architectural elements and exterior features to provide visual interest and to appeal to varying tastes. A marketing brochure for La Reina Estates, proudly proclaimed the following features:

· “High Cathedral ceilings in living rooms and family rooms”

· “Quarry tiled entryways”

· “Fully carpeted”

· “Interesting variations of fireplace, some freestanding double-faced”

· “Custom pools, heated and filtered”

· “Fenced yards for total privacy and security”

· “Gold Medallion Homes (totally Electric)”

· “Sewers in and paid for”

· “Sidewalks, Curbs, Paved Street, and quiet Cul-de-Sac living”

· “Oversize double garages with easy lifting handsome doors”

· “Heavy duty shake or Mission tile roofs”

· “Choice of outstanding exterior designs”

· “Double-thick insulation in walls and ceilings”

· “5-ton Refrigerated central air-conditioning and forced air heating”

· “Glamorous baths and continental dressing rooms”

· “Wet bars for convenience, conversation and storage”

· “Complete kitchens with fine wood cabinets, panty, Gaffers and Sattler continuous-cleaning double oven eye-level stoves, dishwashers, disposals, luminous ceilings, and indoor-outdoor service to the pool and patio”

Times have changed, as have home standards, but on the whole, La Reina Estates has aged very well and remains a highly desirable neighborhood. Many of the folks who move into the neighborhood, stay there. By and large, the homes are well maintained. Some have been beautifully updated. Others are hoping for a tender but tasteful makeover. The neighborhood is free of power lines, and visually lush with hundreds if not thousands of mature palm trees in the immediate vicinity. Most of the homes offer spectacular mountain views from inside as well as from their spacious backyards. Most of the lots are generously sized, and in the 10,000 SF range. La Reina Estates is a few short blocks from the Smoketree Village and Smoketree Commons shopping centers, and thus many amenities are very close-by. The quiet and well landscaped streets in the neighborhood provide a perfect place for dog walking, jogging, strolling or biking.

Circa 1974 construction. Originally in the La Reina Estates development, but now referred to as Los Compadres/Sonora Sunrise.

La Reina Estates, is an enclave of roughly 60+ single-family homes, mostly on Cul-de-Sac streets, in South Palm Springs, bounded by S. Farrell Drive on the east, Sonora Road on the north, S.Cerritos Drive on the west, and essentially East Palm Canyon Drive on the south. The roadway at the center of this enclave is named La Reina Way.

Sadly, the name La Reina Estates is rarely used these days. Instead, this noteworthy neighborhood falls within the area that is now most commonly referred to as Los Compadres, and people typically defer to that name (as does the Multiple Listing Service (“MLS”) used by the local real estate profession). Another recently-coined name for this general area of Palm Springs is Sonora Sunrise.

John and Russell live in La Reina Estates, know it well, and are extremely happy to have a home there. Moreover, we are very thankful for all of the wonderful people and fantastic neighbors that we share this neighborhood with.

Below are a few photos of the La Reina Estates neighborhood, which hopefully captures some of its character and attributes.

*(Footnote) While the advertisement above dates back to 1971, public records show most of the homes in La Reina Estates were completed circa 1973 and 1974.