Our Mission: Tahquitz River Estates Neighborhood Organization (TRENO) is a group organized for the purpose of acting on a broad range of issues that are important to maintain and improve the livability and character of the neighborhood by encouraging neighborhood identity and participation. TRENO facilitates communication with the City of Palm Springs through its active involvement as an officially recognized Neighborhood Organization and member of Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs (ONE-PS). We provide information to help protect and support our neighborhood, bring the community together and give voice to neighborhood issues and concerns in meetings with the City.

We share information specific to the neighborhood and give you the information needed to make the most of your neighborhood experience. Use this website as an orientation to the organization, as well as a place to go to find out what is happening. Celebrate our neighborhood with us. Surf the site. Whether you're looking to attend our next home tour, or thinking of buying a home in the neighborhood, what you find here will give you a taste of Tahquitz (River Estates, that is).

Notable Architectural Influences

A blend of old world Palm Springs charm and mid-century modernism, our neighborhood offers an abundance of character and incredible mountain scenery. Tahquitz River Estates is one of the city’s largest neighborhoods and a museum of Palm Springs architecture spanning almost 90 years. William Gray Purcell, Albert Frey, William Krisel, Hugh M. Kaptur, Herbert W. Burns, Allen Siple, Stan Alan Sackley, and Paul W. Trousdale are among the Who’s Who of notable architects, developers and builders. Architectural styles range from Spanish-Revival and Hollywood Regency to Mid-Century Modern, California Ranch and the Trousdale-style home popularized in the late 1940s and 1950s. 

Spanish Revival

The Tahquitz River Estates Neighborhood is home to one of the few pre-World War II residential developments located in South Palm Springs. Some of these bungalow-size houses were under construction in the early 1930s – well before Palm Springs became incorporated in 1938. These charming Spanish Revival homes are located at the curve where South Palm Canyon Drive and East Palm Canyon Drive meet in an area formerly known as Palos Verdes Estates. The lots were subdivided from the 1928 Palos Verdes tract by Harriet Dowie Cody, a horse trader turned developer and wife of architect Harold Bryant Cody (rumored to be cousin of Wild Bill Cody). 

Mid-Century Modern

Post-World War II development of the neighborhood was driven by Pearl McCallum McManus, one of Palm Springs‘ most important pioneers and owner of the land on either side of Tahquitz Creek. With a flood channel in place to keep waters of notorious Tahquitz Creek in check, Pearl partnered with the famous Los Angeles developer to create Tahquitz River Estates – midcentury modern homes with breezeways, concrete block walls, lanais, and walls of glass to take in the views of the San Jacinto Mountains. The Paul Trousdale Corporation was still in its early days; the homes are less “flashy” than what Trousdale went on to create at Trousdale Estates in Beverly Hills. Even so they were an important addition to development of “Modern” in Palm Springs. 

Tahquitz River Estates Boundaries

LIST OF STREETS

FAME AND FORTUNE - Just a few famous former TRENO Residents!

Hollywood makeup artist/cosmetic giant Max Factor; three-time Olympic champion (1928, 1932, 1936) Norwegian figure skater/Hollywood Film Star Sonja Henie; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Marjorie Main who played Ma Kettle in a series of 10 Ma & Pa Kettle movies; Hollywood Legend William Wyler (“Ben Hur,” “Little Foxes,” and “Jezebel”); famed footwear designer “Dr. Scholl’s; and reclusive Australian pop singer Sia Furler, (“Chandelier” ) who writes frequently for the Beyoncés and Rihannas of the world) are a sampling of the rich and famous who’ve called this “home.”

SHANGRI-LA
Tahquitz Canyon, on the western edge of Palm Springs, is one of America's great desert beauty spots. For the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians it is also a sacred place. Tahquitz Canyon was depicted as Shangri-La, the enchanted paradise where time stood still, in Frank Capra’s lavishly produced 1937 film masterpiece, LOST HORIZON (based on the best-selling novel by James Hilton), starring Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt.