On the edge of California’s Joshua Tree National Park is a national treasure of another sort: The Bungalows, a testament to optimism and a triumph of desert modernism.

On the edge of California’s Joshua Tree National Park is a national treasure of another sort: The Bungalows, a testament to optimism and a triumph of desert modernism.
Palm Springs is a modernist mecca. And when visiting, it can seem like the safest bet is to stay in a modernist hotel. Don’t be afraid to gamble on something different, though. You can’t lose.
In 1998, designer Dana Hollister bought an aging but iconic mansion in Los Angeles. In the years since, she’s painstakingly restored its Roaring Twenties magnificence — and opened it to guests, as the Paramour Estate.
More than any other state in the union, California is where you’ll find the most hotels that demonstrate the most remarkable range of design. Where this really stands out isn’t with newer builds, but with older structures, particularly those erected in the first half of the twentieth century. Come and behold.
If living like a 20th-century enlisted man doesn’t sound like your idea of a luxurious vacation, let us introduce you to Cavallo Point Lodge. This is what happens when the military abandons its fort and the hotel rebels move in — and it’s all right in view of San Francisco.