Ranch Club Estates
Socializing at the Ranch Club in 1960
In the late 1950's the Ranch Club was the largest and most popular social club in Palm Springs. It had more members and acreage than the Racquet Club or the Tennis Club.
The grounds spread more than a square mile starting at the corner of Sunrise Way and Vista Chino. It was owned by Noel Clarke, who had developed it from a small stable operation to a club with swimming pools for the kids, two night clubs -The Rodeo Room and The Naughty 90's room for the adults, and of course stables with horses for riding.
Ranch Club Estates was envisioned by Clarke to be a sprawling real estate development with eight hundred to one thousand homes, a community center and golf course in a one square mile lot across the road from the Ranch Club bounded by Sunrise, White Water, San Rafael and Vista Chino.
Hugh Kaptur, a member of the Ranch Club, was approached by Tom Sills, a the construction foreman who worked for Clarke, about designing several home plans for the Ranch Construction Company. Kaptur designed five or six models, all low set, with gently sloped roofs and post and beam construction - yet with insulation in the ceilings - for a price point of $13-$14,000. He was paid $150 for each set of drawings - with no repeat fee.
The grounds spread more than a square mile starting at the corner of Sunrise Way and Vista Chino. It was owned by Noel Clarke, who had developed it from a small stable operation to a club with swimming pools for the kids, two night clubs -The Rodeo Room and The Naughty 90's room for the adults, and of course stables with horses for riding.
Ranch Club Estates was envisioned by Clarke to be a sprawling real estate development with eight hundred to one thousand homes, a community center and golf course in a one square mile lot across the road from the Ranch Club bounded by Sunrise, White Water, San Rafael and Vista Chino.
Hugh Kaptur, a member of the Ranch Club, was approached by Tom Sills, a the construction foreman who worked for Clarke, about designing several home plans for the Ranch Construction Company. Kaptur designed five or six models, all low set, with gently sloped roofs and post and beam construction - yet with insulation in the ceilings - for a price point of $13-$14,000. He was paid $150 for each set of drawings - with no repeat fee.
Ranch Club Estates ModelsClick on image for a large version
A May 1961 article of Palm Springs Life Magazine, states that 250 homes had already been built. Lots ranged from $4,500 to $12,000 (for Fairway sites) and ninety percent of the homes with Ranch Club Estates were built by the Ranch Construction Company. In the Palm Springs Life article, it was estimated that by 1966 Ranch Club Estates would have one thousand homes. The Ranch Construction Company went bankrupt and only about 300 homes were built.
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Today, all that is left of the Ranch Club is a wall along Sunrise with a "RANCH CLUB" sign and a two story building that houses a pharmacy. The only other Noel Clarke legacy is the more than 200 Ranch Club Estates homes designed by Hugh Kaptur and built by Ranch Construction Company along roads named for his wife Joyce, Nikkie - Nicola, Sandy - Sandra, and Debbie - Deborah.
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Many proud Kaptur homeowners in the area have looked at the plans at the Palm Springs building department surprised to find that the Architect's name is blank on the drawings. Kaptur did not have an AIA license at that time and was a "building designer", hence his name is not listed.
Learn more about Hugh Kaptur and the Ranch Club Estates homes in the film Quiet Elegance: The Architecture of Hugh M. Kaptur available from This 'n That Films.
Learn more about Hugh Kaptur and the Ranch Club Estates homes in the film Quiet Elegance: The Architecture of Hugh M. Kaptur available from This 'n That Films.
