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State of California -- The Resources Agency PRIMARY RECORD Primary # HRI # NRHP Status Code Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date Page 1 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by Recorder) Casa

1 State of California -- The Resources Agency PRIMARY RECORD Primary # HRI # NRHP Status Code Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date Page 1 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by Recorder) Casa Magnolia P1. Other Identifier: La Casa *P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Riverside and (P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5' Quad Date T ; R ; 1/4 of 1/4 of Sec ; c. Address Eisenhower Dr. City La Quinta Zip d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone, me/ mn e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries) Casa Magnolia is located at the southwest corner of the resort, just south of Avenida Obregon. The original garage with the desert rooftop observatory/terrace remains intact at the northwest corner of the site. A restroom has been added to the east side of the garage. The original low site walls at the west side of the house remain, enclosing a vast, vacant concrete-paved forecourt that was once an above-grade pool. A low wall on the east side encloses the courtyard and connects the north and south wings. A fireplace and screened openings are set in this wall. Casa Magnolia is a multi-level building comprised of two structures, a north wing and south wing, and a central courtyard that separates them. It has load-bearing adobe block perimeter walls with a whitewashed stucco finish and gabled, clay tile roofs. The eaves are typically shallow, although deep overhangs with exposed rafter tails are present at some of the elevations. The various elevations are comprised of vast expanses of flat, stuccoed wall surfaces; wood and glass doors; and wood windows with wood shutters, tile grillework, metal grillework, or projecting conopial bays. The main entry to the house occurs through a gate in a site wall in the southeast corner of the site and through a large studded wood door set in a decorative surround at the east end of the south elevation. The central courtyard was intended as living space and is outfitted with a fireplace, window seats at the screened openings in the east side wall, a nonoriginal fountain, and a nonoriginal built-in table. As most of the circulation between the rooms in the north and south wings occurs on the exterior of the building, four staircases of differing designs are prominent exterior features. (Please see Continuation Sheet, p. 3) 3S *P3b. Resource Attributes: *P4. Resources Present: P5a. Photograph (List attributes and codes) HP2. Single family property Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other (Isolates, etc.) P5b. Description of Photo: View southeast of entrance to courtyard *P6. Date Constructed/Age and Source: Historic Prehistoric Both 1927 *P7. Owner and Address: Pyramid Hotel Group, LLC One Post Office Square, Ste.3100, Boston, MA *P8. Recorded by: Jennifer Trotoux Architectural Resources Group, Inc. 65 N. Raymond Avenue, No. 220 Pasadena, California *P9. Date Recorded: 3/23/2009; corr. 8/31/12 *P10. Survey Type: Intensive *P11. Report Citation: La Quinta EIR *Attachments: NONE Location Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (List): DPR 523A (1/95) *Required Information

2 BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD Page 2 of 6 NRHP Status Code 3S B1. Historic Name: Casa Magnolia B2. Common Name: La Casa; Thompson House B3. Original Use: Single Family Residence B4. Present Use: event space for La Quinta Hotel B5. Architectural Style: Spanish Colonial Revival B6. Construction History: Built in 1927 B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date: Original Location: B8. Related Features: garage B9a. Architect: Gordon B. Kaufmann b. Builder: unknown B10. Significance: Theme: Architecture; Community Planning & Development, Area: Coachella Valley, CA Period of Significance: 1927 Property Type: Single Family Residence Applicable Criteria: National Register Criteria A and C The house known as the Casa Magnolia was designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann, as were the buildings of the adjacent La Quinta Hotel, of which the house is now a part. It was built privately close to the south edge of the original hotel grounds, on the street west of the original precinct of the hotel, Avenida Obregon. The house was featured in Home and Field in February, The Casa Magnolia is eligible for the National Register at the local level of significance in the area of architecture and community development in the Coachella Valley. The residence has high integrity, and it is a significant work of Gordon Kaufmann, whose best-known buildings and complexes are among the notable buildings of Southern California in the 1920s. Due to its association with the period of original development of La Quinta and its architectural significance, it meets National Register Criteria A and C. (see Continuation Sheet p. 3) B11. Additional Resource Attributes (List attributes and codes): B12. References: At the Very Edge of the Desert, Home and Field, February 1932, pp , 77. B13. Remarks: B14. Evaluator: Jennifer Trotoux, Architectural Resources Group, 65 N. Raymond Ave., Suite 220, Pasadena, CA Date of Evaluation: March 23, 2009 Sketch map (This space reserved for official comments.)

3 Page 3 of 6 P3a. Description, continued Some of materials used in the construction of Casa Magnolia were of local manufacture, specifically adobe bricks. Other materials used in the construction included concrete foundations, plastered adobe walls, red clay tile roof, floors of wood, tile, concrete and mosaic, wood doors and windows, and salvaged architectural elements at the interior. Outbuildings and Site Features Casa Magnolia is located at the southwest corner of the resort, on the east side of Avenida Obregon. The original garage with the desert rooftop observatory/terrace remains intact at the northwest corner of the site. A restroom has been added to the east side of the garage. The original low site walls at the west side of the house remain; between these walls and the garage was, historically, a swimming pool. South of this area, a vast concrete-paved forecourt is used for staging events connected to the hotel. Exterior Description Casa Magnolia is a multi-level building comprised of two structures, a north wing and south wing, and a central courtyard that separates them. It has load-bearing adobe block perimeter walls with a whitewashed stucco finish and gabled, clay tile roofs. The eaves are typically shallow, although deep overhangs with exposed rafter tails are present at some of the elevations. The various elevations are comprised of vast expanses of flat, stuccoed wall surfaces; wood and glass doors; and wood windows with wood shutters, tile grillework, metal grillework, or projecting conopial bays. The main entry to the house occurs through a gate in a site wall in the southeast corner of the site and through a large studded wood door set in a decorative surround at the east end of the south elevation. The central courtyard was intended as living space and is outfitted with a fireplace, window seats at the screened openings in the east side wall, a nonoriginal fountain, and a nonoriginal built-in table replacing a similar original feature. As most of the circulation between the rooms in the north and south wings occurs on the exterior of the building, several staircases of differing designs are prominent exterior features. Interior Description The south wing of Casa Magnolia consists of two grand spaces, the drawing room (La Sala), and the Cactus Room, with soaring ceilings with exposed wood framing. A dressing room and bathroom are accessed from the drawing room. A small bachelors sleeping room and two bathrooms are accessible from the Cactus Room. The north wing consists of another grand space, the dining room, a kitchen, and small bedroom and bathroom. A workshop / servants area is located in the northwest corner of this wing, and a full height basement is located below the bedroom at the east end of the wing. The painted and silver leaf murals in the cactus room feature stylized images of desert plants and landscapes. DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information

4 Page 4 of 6 B10. Significance, continued Built circa 1927 to the designs of architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, Casa Magnolia was one of six privately owned dwellings on the grounds of La Quinta Hotel. The house was the residence of Mrs. Lee Eleanor Graham, a Southern California socialite and wife of one of California s wealthiest oil barons at the time, William Miller Graham. After her divorce she practiced as an interior designer, a relevant fact given the intact finishes and furnishings installed by her, which remain in the property. She also collaborated on some aspects of the design. The house is significant at the local level under Criterion A as a marker in the development of the community. It is one of a significant, original cluster of private residences that surrounded La Quinta Hotel, which included the Cyrus Pierce House and the house of resort founder Walter Morgan, both also extant. The construction of the hotel and these houses, along Avenida Obregon, was the first significant non-agricultural settlement of the immediate area, and set the stage for the further development of La Quinta, which still continues. The house was described in 1932 as by far the most important and individual house at La Quinta (Stow-Fithian 44) and as such was presumably a benchmark that the developer, Walter Morgan, was pleased to have added to the resort settlement. The house is significant at the local level under Criterion C for its architecture as well. The Spanish Colonial Revival was the defining architectural style in the early years of La Quinta s development as a town. The hotel that first defined the greater resort settlement was designed in the style, and the significant residences surrounding it, including Casa Magnolia, were as well. As La Quinta Cove was subdivided and sparsely infilled throughout the 1930s, most of the houses conformed to the same style. Larger remaining examples of the style from the historic period are significant landmarks in the City; Casa Magnolia is the most substantial among the residences in this context, and merits listing for its architectural qualities. The house is an excellent example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and has many of the character-defining features of the style. These include the house s tile-covered shed and gable roofs with very little overhang, planar stucco wall surfaces with ornamentation concentrated around entrance portals, adobe construction, multilight casement windows with wood shutters, ornamental iron work (in this case, some salvaged from an earlier house in New Orleans and some in a high Art Deco style), polychrome tile, orientation around a wall- and building-enclosed courtyard with a fountain, exterior staircases, and exposed-beam ceilings. The interiors are also significant, with original mural paintings in a downstairs room, a cast stone fireplace and recessed bookshelves in the living room, and many features of a Morrocan-Algerian-Mexican (as it was described in 1932) style kitchen still intact. Although the isolated quality of its historic setting is no longer intact due to the further development of the resort around it, the critical views of the surrounding mountains are still striking at the house. The house s integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship are high; its integrity of setting, association, and feeling are fair. From 1927, the date of construction, until its purchase by Landmark Land Company c. 1980, Casa Magnolia was a privately owned residence. In the transition from residence to office use in the early 1980s, it was very lightly modified. Prior to 1977, Casa Magnolia remained a privately held residence on the edge of the desert. The residence was last known as the Thompson House prior to its purchase by Landmark Land Co. and incorporation into the hotel. The house was used as Landmark's corporate offices from circa 1980 through circa The name La Casa was given to the building circa 1985 when the use changed from office to public meeting room use. According to people who worked there and consistent with field observations, the house was never altered. Only minor alterations were carried out during its use as offices and subsequent use as event space. It remains highly intact in terms of original building envelope, volume, massing, materials and design intent.

5 Page 5 of 6 View northwest of south façade and setting. View north of main entrance (south façade) DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information

6 Page 6 of 6 View southeast of courtyard with railing from New Orleans (right) and wall with fireplace (left). Doors lead to living room. View northeast of courtyard; exterior staircase on north wing. DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information

State of California The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION PRIMARY RECORD

State of California The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION PRIMARY RECORD Primary # HRI # Trinomial NRHP Status Code Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date Page _1_ of _3_ *Resource