Discover La Quinta: Gem of the Desert
Nestled against the dramatic backdrop of the Santa Rosa Mountains, La Quinta has evolved from a secluded desert retreat into one of Greater Palm Springs' most distinctive residential and resort communities. Known as the “Gem of the Desert,” La Quinta combines a remarkable history with world-class golf, beautiful neighborhoods, celebrated events, exceptional recreation and the relaxed sophistication that has come to define desert living.
The city's story reaches back long before modern La Quinta took shape. The Desert Cahuilla were the area's earliest inhabitants, living amid a landscape dramatically shaped by ancient Lake Cahuilla and developing ways to thrive in the desert environment, including digging wells for water. The name La Quinta translates from Spanish as “the fifth.” Local tradition has long associated the name with the fifth stop along a desert trail used by Cahuilla travelers as they journeyed west—a connection that adds another layer to the community's enduring sense of place.
From Walter Morgan's Desert Vision to an Icon
The modern story of La Quinta began in earnest with Walter H. Morgan, a San Francisco businessman who came to the Coachella Valley in the early 1920s and ultimately acquired approximately 1,400 acres beneath the Santa Rosa Mountains. Morgan envisioned an intimate desert retreat and commissioned architect Gordon Kaufmann to help bring it to life in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
On December 29, 1926, the La Quinta Hotel opened with just 20 guest casitas, three courtyards and a dining room. Morgan also established the Coachella Valley's first nine-hole golf course on the property — an extraordinary bit of foreshadowing for the role golf would eventually play in La Quinta's identity.
The secluded resort soon attracted Hollywood personalities including Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and Shirley Temple. Director Frank Capra became particularly associated with the property; in 1934, Capra and Robert Riskin worked on It Happened One Night at the hotel, and Capra would return to La Quinta as a favored writing retreat.
Nearly a century later, today's La Quinta Resort & Club remains one of the community's defining landmarks. In fact, when La Quinta incorporated on May 1, 1982, the new city took its name from the historic resort Walter Morgan had established more than half a century earlier.
A Golf Legacy Known Around the World
Golf has remained inseparable from the La Quinta lifestyle. Today the city is home to more than 20 golf courses, including PGA WEST, and hosts the PGA Tour's The American Express tournament. PGA WEST itself has grown into a nationally recognized golf destination, with nine public and private courses and a history of hosting more than 45 PGA Tour events since 1985.
That golf heritage has also influenced the city's residential character. La Quinta offers everything from established neighborhoods and intimate enclaves to prestigious gated and country club communities, custom estates and luxury homes positioned against some of the most dramatic mountain and fairway settings in the Coachella Valley.
More Than Golf
Yet La Quinta's appeal extends well beyond the fairways. Old Town La Quinta brings boutique shopping and restaurants into a charming village setting, while the city's arts culture, public art, hiking and biking opportunities provide a distinctly active desert lifestyle. The Santa Rosa Mountains aren't simply a backdrop here—they are an integral part of the community's visual identity and outdoor experience.
That combination of history, recreation, architecture, natural beauty and residential diversity is what makes La Quinta so distinctive. Walter Morgan could scarcely have imagined what would eventually grow around his intimate 20-casita desert hotel, but nearly a century later, the qualities that drew people here in the first place remain remarkably recognizable.
La Quinta is still a place defined by its mountains, its sense of escape and its unmistakable desert character — a true Gem of the Desert.
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