“The Good El Rancho Vista Feeling"…
Welcome to El Rancho Vista Estates (ERVE), our beautifully preserved midcentury modern neighborhood located in Palm Springs, California. This is the official site of our neighborhood organization, dedicated to sharing the history and preservation efforts of our historic community.
Designed by famed desert modernists, architects Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison, in partnership with renowned desert developer Roy Fey, our neighborhood was built in 3 distinct phases.
The Wexler & Harrison designed homes (Phase 1 & 2) were built between 1960–1962 and remain the only intact, single family home tract neighborhood of this scale that this master architectural team created. ERVE includes 72 mostly preserved homes from the original Wexler & Harrison design phases, that have retained their famous, midcentury modern character thanks to passionate owners considered restorations to preserve their original design.
Phase 3 development of our neighborhood, beginning in 1964, introduced a complementary ranch house design, developed by Roy Fey with architect Joe Koch, further expanding ERVE while continuing its original, desert modernist feel.
Our community is located in northeast Palm Springs, at the corner of Gene Autry Trail and Vista Chino, bordering the Gateway Park and Palm Springs sign.
El Rancho Vista Estates has been noted as a Class 3 historic district by the City of Palm Springs (Historic Resources Group, Citywide Historic Context Statement & Survey Findings, 2018) which identified the significance of our collection of Wexler and Harrison designed homes, our wide set streets maximizing mountain views, and our contribution to the legacy of the city. Our community is involved in Palm Springs preservation and celebration through active participation in OnePS and Modernism Week programming.
Explore our history, learn about our architecture and designers, and discover upcoming community events below.
Explore Our History
What makes our community so special is its architecture, and the design legacy it inspired. We’re proud to be the largest, and the first, collection of residential tract homes designed by iconic architects Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison that remain largely true to their original form.
Our varied rooflines and curved streets create a special architectural footprint in the city, and continues to draw global visitors to our neighborhood, especially during Modernism Week feature home tours and broader neighborhood events. You can learn more about our unique background in Palm Springs below
ERVE Noteworthy Homes
While we love to showcase our entire community at any opportunity, we have a rich history of notable homes and famous visitors pass through our neighborhood. You can explore some of our well known property stories, including our first designated Class 1 Historic Site “The Ratner Residence”, by following the link to our noteworthy homes page below.
Community Events
From Modernism Week feature home tours and events, to community garage sales and cocktail parties, El Rancho Vista Estates strives to showcase and connect our Palm Springs community year round.
True to the architectural design intention of our mid century modern neighborhood, our homes shine when we open our doors for Modernism each season. With our cleverly placed clerestory windows and meticulously planned block orientations, our homes welcome in the famous Palm Springs sunshine, set against the breathtaking backdrop of the San Jacinto mountains.
Learn more about how you can join us at our next community event by emailing our board on our Contact page.
Welcome, Neighbor!
We’ve just released our dedicated community Neighbors Portal, exclusively for our ERVE residents. You’ll find an archive of our meetings, community links for ERVE neighbors and notifications of any upcoming neighbors only events happening throughout the year.
If you’re a homeowner, tenant or property manager of our neighborhood, you can sign up for access to our portal using the button below, or navigating to our “Neighbors Portal” page in the top right navigation under the About tab.
If you’d like more information about our neighborhood and are not yet apart of our community, you can reach out to our board via email here