Follow the planting
Pick a small stretch and study it from a few angles. A garden like this changes completely once you stop looking straight ahead.
Reservations
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Desert Luxury Estates · Things to Do
Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage
Sculptural gardens, a remarkable modernist estate and a slower kind of desert morning.
A beautiful pause in the day
Come for the gardens. Stay curious.
Blue agaves, golden cactus and sunlight caught in the palo verdes. A garden walk, a little history and time for coffee before the rest of the day begins.
For forty years Walter and Leonore Annenberg welcomed presidents, royalty and stars of stage and screen to their winter estate in Rancho Mirage, and it still hosts meetings of world leaders today. Beside it, the public Center & Gardens tells the story and opens nine acres of desert gardens to anyone who walks in.
The one thing to know before you plan: the Center & Gardens are free, with no ticket needed. Getting behind the pink wall onto the historic estate takes a guided tour, booked separately.
The useful details first
Sunnylands tickets, prices & hours
Choose the experience you want, then build the day around it.
Admission & tours
| Experience | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Center & Gardens | Your pace | Free |
| Historic House Tour | 90 min | $58.19 |
| Open-Air Experience | 45 min | $30.11 |
| Historic Walk | 60 min | $28.03 |
| Birding on the Estate | 90 min | $41.55 |
Only the Historic House Tour goes inside. Each tour has its own season: the house tour runs September to early June, the Open-Air Experience September to April, and the Historic Walk November to April.
Tours & availabilityOpening hours
- Wednesday – Sunday
- 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Monday & Tuesday
- Closed
- Summer break
- Early June – mid-September
Also closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Sunnylands posts any other closure in a yellow bar at the top of its website, so take a look before you drive over.
No ticket or reservation is needed for the Center & Gardens. Groups of 20 or more are asked to register (free) before visiting.
Visitor informationSource: Sunnylands’ tours & tickets and plan your visit pages. Prices and schedules can change.
A landscape designed to be noticed
What to see in the gardens
The nine acres of gardens were designed by the Office of James Burnett with horticultural consultant Mary Irish, and they take their cue from the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings the Annenbergs collected: color in drifts, shapes repeated, light doing the rest.
More than 70 species of native and arid-adapted plants from the Americas, Africa and the Mediterranean, reflecting pools and a labyrinth. Look for the rounded cactus against the pointed agave, and the way shade changes a path. Let a shape or a color lead you rather than trying to cover every path.
Bring earbuds for the free audio walks: five recordings, one for each section of the gardens, on the plants, the wildlife and the design. They play on your phone; no tour or booking needed.
Meet the Annenbergs
The Center has a changing exhibition and a 20-minute film, A Place Called Sunnylands, in its theater. Watch it first if the estate’s story is new to you.
Find a quiet seat
Leave a few minutes with no destination at all. Watch the light, compare favorite plants, and let the garden set the pace.
Source: Sunnylands Center & Gardens.
Behind the pink wall
The historic house & the Annenberg story
The house was completed in 1966: 25,000 square feet of midcentury modern by A. Quincy Jones, with interiors by William Haines and Ted Graber. Jones left the structure on show and used deep overhangs against the sun, and gave it a statement roof, the pink pyramid, colored to echo the mountains at sunrise and sunset.
It sits on 200 acres with its own golf course, 11 lakes and outdoor sculpture. For four decades the Annenbergs hosted presidents, royalty and friends here, and Sunnylands still holds high-level meetings, which is why visits to the estate run on a tour calendar and can very occasionally be cancelled at short notice (with a prompt refund).
To see inside, choose the Historic House Tour: the grand atrium, the Room of Memories and more, on foot with a guide. The other tours stay outdoors.
Open-Air Experience
45 minutes behind the pink wall by shuttle, around the grounds, golf course and outdoor sculpture. No walking needed, and no house interior.
Historic Walk
An unhurried mile in an hour onto the estate and around the house, with stories of the Annenbergs and their guests and the building’s architecture. Outside only.
Birding on the Estate
90 minutes by shuttle with a local birder from 8:45 a.m. Vermilion flycatchers live here year round, and spring and fall migrations bring many more. Bring binoculars.
Sources: Sunnylands architecture, Historic House Tour, Open-Air Experience and Birding on the Estate.
A little planning goes a long way
How to book a tour
Reserve the visit you most want, then leave room around it.
Watch the 15th
Next month’s tours go on sale at 9 a.m. Pacific on the 15th, online only at sunnylands.org: not by phone, email or at the door. If the house tour is the reason you’re going, book it before you fix the rest of your plans. You can sign up for a reminder.
Check the details for your group
Everyone on a tour must be 10 or older, and there are no group tickets. If someone uses a wheelchair or walker, say so when you book the house tour (there’s a box for it).
Sold out? Try on the day
There’s no waitlist, but same-day tickets are sometimes sold at the Center, first come, first served. Ask at reception, and enjoy the free gardens either way.
Book through the official tours & tickets page. Desert Luxury Estates does not sell Sunnylands tickets.
Reasons to come back
Exhibitions, yoga & family visits
A changing program adds another layer to the landscape.
Curating Canopy
Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands tells the story of the thousands of trees on the estate. Exhibitions at the Center are always free.
ExhibitionsYoga in the Gardens
Free, once a month: the third Friday from November to April, 9 to 10 a.m., starting November 20, 2026. It went monthly because sessions drew 400-plus people, so carpool and come early.
Yoga scheduleA shared discovery
Children of any age are welcome in the gardens (the age-10 rule is for estate tours). Borrow a free Tech-Free Tote of activities, books and a blanket, and look out for seasonal Family Days.
Events & family programsPrograms checked October 26, 2026.
The pleasant part of having no rush
Coffee, lunch & the shop
The café inside the Center does coffee and tea, salads and sandwiches, and afternoon snacks, with seats inside and on a patio with some of the best views in the valley.
No reservations: tables are first come, first served, for café customers, and can’t be pushed together for a big group. For a long lunch afterward, our restaurant guide covers Rancho Mirage and the rest of the valley.
Before you leave, the Center’s shop has books on the gardens, the house and the Annenbergs, and garden-inspired gifts.
Arrive at the right entrance
Directions, parking & accessibility
Head for 37977 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage, half a mile from Gerald Ford Drive, and look for the flagpole and the pink monument. Coming south on Bob Hope, you pass a service entrance first; the public one is just beyond it. Sunnylands says its own directions are more accurate than most map apps.
Parking is free, with EV charging, and tours leave from the Center, so there’s nowhere else to drive to. Free lockers are available, first come, first served.
Accessibility
The garden paths are wheelchair accessible, and wheelchairs and walkers can be borrowed at the Center, first come, first served. On the house tour, guests with mobility devices can have them secured on the shuttle, use one provided at the house, or ride a separate wheelchair-accessible shuttle. Accessibility details · 760-202-2222
Good to know
- Comfortable shoes, water and sun protection: most of the visit is outside.
- Photos for personal use are welcome in the gardens and on the estate grounds, but not inside the house.
- No staged shoots (weddings, engagements, graduations), and drones need permission.
- No pets. Staying in a pet-friendly home? Leave your dog at the house, not in the car. Trained service dogs are welcome.
- Picnics are fine; large coolers, grills and alcohol are not.
Full rules on the visitor page; the forecast in our weather guide.
Build the day around what you enjoy
Three ways to make it yours.
Our ideas, not Sunnylands packages.
Gardens, coffee, home
Arrive at 8:30 while it’s cool, walk a few garden paths with an audio walk in your ears, catch the film, then coffee on the patio. Back at the pool before lunch with the whole day ahead.
The house, then the galleries
Book the Historic House Tour for the morning, lunch in Rancho Mirage, then drive to El Paseo in Palm Desert for an afternoon in the galleries.
Sunnylands and the museum
One day here, another at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Both open Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday, so a long weekend covers them nicely.
Making a design trip of it? Our arts and architecture guide strings Sunnylands together with the museums, El Paseo and the midcentury neighborhoods. In town in February? Add Modernism Week 2027.
Sunnylands FAQs
Is Sunnylands free?
The Center & Gardens and parking are always free, with no ticket needed. Tours of the historic estate are paid and booked separately.
When is Sunnylands open?
Wednesday to Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., from mid-September to early June. It closes for the summer, and on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Do we need a reservation?
Not for the gardens. Estate tours are booked online in advance; groups of 20 or more visiting the gardens are asked to register first.
Which tour goes inside the house?
Only the Historic House Tour (90 minutes, $58.19). The Open-Air Experience, Historic Walk and Birding on the Estate stay outdoors.
When do tour tickets go on sale?
At 9 a.m. Pacific on the 15th of each month, for the following month, online only. There’s no waitlist, but same-day tickets are sometimes sold at the Center.
Can children visit?
Yes, in the gardens and the Center, at any age. Estate tours are for ages 10 and up.
How long should we allow?
We suggest one to two hours for the gardens, the film and a coffee. With the 90-minute house tour, plan on most of the morning.
Is Sunnylands wheelchair accessible?
The garden paths are, and wheelchairs and walkers can be borrowed. For the house tour, mention it when you book; there are accessible shuttle options.
Can we bring a dog or take photos?
No pets, though trained service dogs are welcome. Personal photos are fine outdoors, but not inside the house, and staged shoots aren’t allowed.
Is Sunnylands in Palm Springs?
It’s in Rancho Mirage, about 20 minutes down valley from downtown Palm Springs, on Bob Hope Drive.
An unhurried morning deserves a beautiful home base
Make Rancho Mirage your desert address.
A shaded breakfast, a garden walk, and the afternoon by your own pool. Explore our Rancho Mirage homes, minutes from Sunnylands, or keep the midcentury mood going with our Architectural Homes collection.
Planning source: Sunnylands. Prices, hours and programs checked October 26, 2026; confirm current details before your visit. Desert Luxury Estates is not affiliated with Sunnylands and does not sell its tickets.
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