Join the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation for a tour of the Leo and Ester Maranz Residence (also known as the “Gull Wing House”). Sited on the Tamarisk Country Club, and designed in 1960, the spectacular Rancho Mirage residence is a midcentury architectural wonder rarely open to the public. The Maranz Residence appears on the cover of the book Palm Springs Weekend and became part of television history in 2003 when it served as the backdrop for the reality show “Boy Meets Boy.”
Described as having an “upswept hyperbolic paraboloid roofline [that] peaks at three corners with a low central midpoint,” the residence was built by local contractor Robert Marx (son of Gummo Marx). Maranz, of Tastee Freez fame and a Chicago apartment-dweller, reportedly told Marx before beginning construction on the first house he ever owned, “If I'm going to have a house, I want it to be the most unusual one on the Tamarisk fairways." The residence was designated a historic resource by the city of Rancho Mirage in 2004 and was the site of PSPF’s popular Retro Martini Party in 2012.
The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to educate and promote public awareness of the importance of preserving the historical resources and architecture of the city of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area.” PSPF offers free membership as a public benefit. To learn more about the work of the foundation, see www.pspreservationfoundation.org.