While in Palm Springs, we visited Sunnylands Center & Gardens on the recommendation of our concierge. Sunnylands, a 200-acre estate completed in 1966, was the winter home of Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg. The estate includes their 25,000 square foot mid-century modern home (with an iconic...
Read MoreWhile in Palm Springs, we visited Sunnylands Center & Gardens on the recommendation of our concierge. Sunnylands, a 200-acre estate completed in 1966, was the winter home of Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg. The estate includes their 25,000 square foot mid-century modern home (with an iconic pink pyramid roof!), guest cottages, a 9-hole golf course, and 13 man-made lakes. The Annenbergs had a great appreciation of art and architecture, and the estate, as well as the more recent Sunnylands Center and gardens, were designed to reflect this.
Over more than 40 years, they hosted 8 US Presidents, other political, business and entertainment leaders and numerous famous entertainers. It was sometimes referred to as the "Camp David" of the west, and was declared a historic site in 1990. In 2001, the Annenbergs established a foundation trust to preserve the estate as a place where world leaders could meet to discuss national and international issues. They also specified that the Trust provide the public with opportunities to learn about Sunnylands unique place in history. Prior to her death in 2009, Leonore identified 15 acres adjacent to Sunnylands as the location for a visitor center.
Unfortunately, we didn't plan (way) ahead and were unable to get tickets for the house tour which I was really hoping for! You really need to plan ahead if you want to tour the home; only 7 people per tour and they sell out immediately. Tickets go on sale online only (no phone, email or in person sales) on the 15th of the month (9AM Pacific time!) for the following month's tours. They also offer an "Open Air Experience" for $30 (7 people per tour), a guided 45-minute shuttle ride throughout the 200 acre estate; "Birding on the Estate", $42 (7 people per tour Nov-Apr) for a 90-min shuttle tour, and an "Historic Walk", $28 (12 people per walk Nov-Apr) for a guided 60-min walking tour of the estate. Note that none of these last three tours includes any access to the house interior. Also, Sunnylands is closed to the public from early June through mid-September.
Parking and admission to the Center and gardens is free. So, coming at the last minute, we were able to walk around the 15,000 sq ft Center, watch a 20-minute film about the history of Sunnylands, stroll through the beautiful botanical gardens (53,000 desert plants!), walk the labyrinth, and stop at the outdoor cafe for a drink. The gardens were inspired by the Annenberg's collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and designed to be like a painting come to life.
After our visit, I dug more into the website and discovered that they also offer free self-guided audio garden walks, which we weren't made aware of when coming into the visitor center. The person directing people at the visitor center was not particularly helpful and didn't offer this. Granted, I should have done more research ahead of time...and will next time because we will be back!
We enjoyed Sunnylands and definitely plan on returning. I rated this 4-star (really 4.5 star) only because the person we encountered wasn't helpful at all and we didn't get a full experience. I'm confident an updated review after another (planned) visit will be 5-star!
Visited on
Weekday
Wait time
Up to 10 min
Reservation recommended
Yes
Wheelchair accessible entrance 
Restaurants
Hotels
Services
Stores
Lawyers
Health
Things To Do
Churches
Transportation
Walmart