Harriet Cody, a relative of Buffalo Bill, built her winter hideaway in the shadow of the San Jacinto Mountains sometime in the 1920s, and the compound she left behind — low-slung adobe casitas with terracotta tile roofs, rough-plastered white walls, and hand-laid flagstone terraces shaded by mature citrus and fig trees — remains one of the most quietly persuasive examples of early California Spanish Colonial vernacular in Palm Springs. Casa Cody, now operating as a 29-room boutique hotel in the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood, has survived largely by resisting the urge to modernize beyond reason: the kidney-shaped pool ringed with scallop-fringed canvas umbrellas and teak loungers, the stone fountain anchoring a private garden courtyard, and the bougainvillea cascading across whitewashed walls all carry the unhurried atmosphere of a private estate rather than a managed property. Inside, the interiors balance the casitas' Spanish mission bones against a warmer, more eclectic sensibility. Exposed timber ceiling beams with decorative sawtooth valances frame rooms furnished with dark four-poster beds, carved wooden sofas upholstered in forest-green velvet, and kilim rugs layered over polished concrete floors — while other rooms shift toward terracotta tile underfoot, cobalt linen drapery, and burnt-orange velvet seating against olive-green headboards, the whole palette drawing from the desert landscape visible through every French door. The art program leans toward contemporary portraiture, an understated counterpoint to the deep historical register of the architecture surrounding it.

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Nestled against the spectacular San Jacinto Mountains in the heart of Palm Springs, Casa Cody is the oldest operating hotel in town, founded in the 1920s by female pioneer Harriet Cody, cousin to the legendary Buffalo Bill. In the early 1900s, Harriet and her husband, Harold Bryant Cody, traveled by wagon from Hollywood to Palm Springs. They settled on the land to become Casa Cody and built a home. By the 1920s, Harriet established the property as a hotel, and it became the stomping grounds for legends of the Los Angeles arts community visiting the desert. Charlie Chaplin, American Opera Singer Lawrence Tibbett, and AnaÏs Nin spent time on property, particularly in the Adobe House, where a stage was built. Tibbett’s piano was kept below the House for performances and parties. Casa Cody’s history is kept alive through a thoughtful collection of historic family photographs, desert-inspired artwork, and historical tale-telling with our guests. We love telling our story.