Sparrows Lodge

**Sparrows Lodge**

Look for the roadside sign with the two sparrows, and you’ve found Sparrows Lodge — a restored 1950s retreat tucked among olive and lemon trees on East Palm Canyon Drive.

It began in 1951 as Castle’s Red Barn, built by Hollywood Golden Age actor Don Castle — a Paramount leading man of the 1940s often likened to Clark Gable — and his wife, Zetta, as a celebrity hideaway and boarding house for their studio-era friends. It really was a working red barn: the two long rows of stables that framed it were later rehabbed into the guest rooms...

**Sparrows Lodge**

Look for the roadside sign with the two sparrows, and you’ve found Sparrows Lodge — a restored 1950s retreat tucked among olive and lemon trees on East Palm Canyon Drive.

It began in 1951 as Castle’s Red Barn, built by Hollywood Golden Age actor Don Castle — a Paramount leading man of the 1940s often likened to Clark Gable — and his wife, Zetta, as a celebrity hideaway and boarding house for their studio-era friends. It really was a working red barn: the two long rows of stables that framed it were later rehabbed into the guest rooms in use today. Over the years the property took other names — Catalina Palms, then El Rancho Lodge — and, as local lore has it, hosted the first marriage of actress Elizabeth Montgomery. Its transformation into Sparrows came in 2013, when hotelier and architect Doug Smith — the designer behind Palm Springs’ Korakia Pensione — and his wife, Josie, gut-renovated the old lodge and reopened it, keeping the original board-and-batten buildings and unpolished charm while modernizing everything else. Current owners Richard Crisman and Jeff Brock acquired Sparrows in early 2014.

Sparrows Lodge is designed for slowing down. The adults-only retreat has 20 rooms, deliberately without televisions or telephones. Exposed-beam ceilings, pebble-inlaid concrete floors, horse-trough soaking tubs, rain showers, and Italian linens reflect its rustic origins. Guests gather around the communal barn, outdoor fire pit, and swimming pool, or enjoy the vegetable garden, bicycles, horseshoes, and massage tent. Throughout the property, works from Crisman and Brock’s personal art collection include pieces by Ed Ruscha, Ellsworth Kelly, John Baldessari, and Sol LeWitt.

Food is an important part of the experience. Sparrows Lodge holds One MICHELIN Key, while its restaurant, The Barn Kitchen, is recommended in the MICHELIN Guide. A European-style breakfast is included, with lunch and light bites available throughout the afternoon. Twice weekly, Chicken Wednesdays and Steak Saturdays bring guests and a limited number of outside diners together around a communal table beneath the stars.

The communal dinners began with Crisman and Brock’s tradition of serving roast chicken to friends at their Napa home. Former executive chef Gabriel Woo developed the lodge’s signature supper format and seasonal menus. Today, executive and partner chef Jon Butler, whose experience includes Arzak and noma, continues that approach, drawing on local growers and the Coachella Valley’s changing seasons. His cooking combines familiar comfort with thoughtful technique, making dinner at The Barn Kitchen as much about gathering as the food itself.