S
unnylands was the Southern California winter home of the late Walter and Leonore Annenberg — wealthy Philadelphia socialites who, during the latter half of the 20th century, became legendary for their philanthropy, patronage of the arts, and commitment to politics. The couple donated vast quantities of their media fortune to education, including $50 million to the United Negro College Fund, and gifted a $1 billion collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They also held civil service posts (Walter was ambassador to Great Britain under Richard Nixon, and Leonore was the State Department’s chief of protocol under Ronald Reagan) and hosted seven U.S. presidents and the British Royal Family at Sunnylands. Appropriately named, the estate is sited on the corner of Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra drives in Rancho Mirage, just outside of Palm Springs. Its sprawling modernist house, designed by A. Quincy Jones, FAIA, is situated
The new Center & Gardens is a composition of color and texture achieved through a densely layered, yet sustainable, planting design. in the midst of 200 acres featuring verdant gardens and a private nine-hole golf course — an oasis in the sun-scorched Sonoran Desert. The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, which comprises both the home and the grounds, was created by the couple prior to their passing. Under the new programming, and expanding upon its “Camp David of the West” role, the estate functions as a retreat for political, educational, and cultural dignitaries from the United States and abroad, and is open to the public on a by-reservation basis. The Trust hired Los Angeles-based architecture firm Frederick Fisher and Partners and landscape architecture firm The Office of James
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