Artists brought their easels and palettes to this area to capture the flora and fauna framed by the nearby hills. This Painters Path area bordered by east Shadow Mountain and Edgehill became a site of smaller homes and condominiums that helped provide diversification in housing for South Palm Desert. In the early 1950s, the Planning Department declined to allow one or two companies (i.e., Metro Homes) to dominate. Instead, they encouraged a variety of builders (over 20!) and architects such as Walter White, Ross Patten, Duke Wild, John P. Moyer (and others) to build small homes. In addition, Harold Bissner Sr’s Sands and Shadows, the award-winning Sandpiper Condominiums (William Krisel), and Kings Point (Hugh Kaptur) were built over a 20-year period beginning in 1958. The latter two (Sandpiper and Kings Point) have Palm Desert Historical Designation, along with one of the Walter White homes in the area.

Fortunately for us, many of these original homes remain unaltered or have been restored and await. This Encore walking tour will begin at Kings Point and circle throughout the neighborhood returning to Kings Point for a reception. Along the way...we may have a surprise or two.

Now confirmed on the tour: the interiors of a Krisel Sandpiper, a Hugh Kaptur Kings Point, a Bissner Sands and Shadows and ‘never before seen on a tour’ Walter White’s and Duke Wild’s (Patten and Wild) own homes as well as an original John P. Moyer garden. Whew! Truly an abundance of riches.

hspd.org