Italian style in a golfers’ paradise

Coachella Valley extends from the cities of Indian Wells and Indio as far as the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges. Home to Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta, this oasis on the edge of the Californian desert was immortalised by the imagination of Chuck Jones, the film director and producer who in the late 1940s created the story of Wile E. Coyote and Beep Beep the roadrunner, the fast long-legged bird Geococcyx californianus which still today lives wild in the valley. In this cartoon series the two protagonists play out the eternal struggle between predator and prey, the roadrunner constantly outwitting the coyote to the delight of children and adults over the decades.
La Quinta, a resort city in Riverside County just outside Greater Los Angeles, is a three-hour drive from San Diego and close to the legendary Route 66, a 3900 km route running from Chicago to Los Angeles across 8 states and 3 time zones.
As in the rest of the valley, the desert here is entirely domesticated. Back in 1926, the La Quinta Resort and Club (owned by the Walford Astoria group) began transforming the city and its surroundings into a golfers’ paradise and today offers more than 70 courses equipped with the very best facilities. It was the appeal of this club, a carefully manicured village set amongst palm trees, flowers and lawns, along with the equally famous PGA West Club, that brought the city to the attention of the world of Hollywood, sparking an eternal love affair. Frank Capra, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley all became enthusiastic residents of La Quinta.
The location is also home to the McClure residence, a newly-built villa which looks out onto a golf course. With its traditional forms – grey, lightly-sloping roofs, large chimneys and technical volumes, the prevalence of glazed surfaces over white plastered concrete – it stands out for its massing and the relationship between solids and voids, which add a surprising sense of dynamism to the overall complex. The quality of the spaces is enhanced by the rhythmic design of the long infinity pool, which merges on one side with the large outdoor living space and on the other with the natural world, redesigned down to the smallest detail.
The quest for a highly fluid relationship between interior and exterior led to the choice of large windows, which allow the surrounding landscape to flood into the home and, thanks to the building’s raised position, offer stunning views of the lush vegetation of the golf courses and the rocks of the distant mountains.
The decision to use Italian ceramic tiles for the entire interior floor covering lends character to the entire home. In particular, the Pietre Naturali collection from the Fincibec brand Monocibec helps blur the distinction between inside and out, drawing inspiration from minerals of various origin and featuring heterogeneous patterns and colours described by evocative names. The chosen colours of grey and white generate a sense of tranquillity and relaxation, their calm and elegance balancing the exuberance of the surrounding landscape, the blue of the sky and swimming pool, the green of the trees and lawns, and the colours of the rocks that change with the angle of the sun’s rays.
The furnishings, likewise chosen in white and grey, together with the interior and outdoor artworks accentuated by the palm trees which are themselves arranged as in an installation, help create the sensation of a single seamless space.