Mollie Chen

From the West Coast:
Palm Springs, California

Why: Design buffs come here to witness the fruits of the midcentury modernist movement, that particularly American architectural zeitgeist which inspired thousands of homes in Palm Springs between 1945 and 1965. Today, the area's been given new life by artists such as Andrea Zittel and Jack Pierson, who are turning the small towns off Route 62 into a sort of groovy post-punk Marfa, Texas, and dotting the desert landscape with sculptures and other public art.

What You'll Need: Palm Springs is perpetually sunny and daytime temperatures rarely dip below the 60s, even in winter, but the surrounding mountains can be up to 30 degrees colder. To be on the safe side, pack both sandals and rugged walking shoes, along with a lightweight jacket.

How to Get There: From Los Angeles, leave early for the 120-mile drive east, stopping five minutes outside Palm Springs on Interstate 10 to admire an icon of eco-energy, the windmills of the San Gorgonio Pass. Each of the hundreds of turbines can produce 300 kilowatt-hours every hour, the amount of energy used by a typical household in a month. From Phoenix, hour-long flights leave daily on America West. From Portland, Alaska Airlines' flights take two and a half hours.

Where to Stay: Check into the Parker Palm Springs, designer Jonathan Adler's paean to happy chic decor amid rolling grounds of cactuses, flowers, and swimming pools. Have a massage at the PSYC spa (760-770-5000; doubles, $275–$395). Other choice places to rest your head are the romantic Moorish-style Korakia Pensione hotel (760-864-6411; doubles, $169–$259) and the sunny and sleek Viceroy Palm Springs (866-891-0948; doubles, $249–$309).

What to Do: Schedule an early morning tour of the area's modernist houses with native daughter Melody Winston. She'll take you to homes designed by Albert Frey and Richard Neutra and will show you examples of Alexander houses, the sleek-lined tract properties once owned by Dinah Shore and Dean Martin (760-329-2204; two-and-a-half-hour tours, $59). Midday, get out of the sun with a stop at the Palm Springs Art Museum, currently hosting a retrospective of the photographs of Julius Shulman, whose 70-year career shooting buildings rendered the iconic imagery of the chic set having cocktails in sleek buildings (760-325-7186; psmuseum.org; through May 4). If you miss the show, get a copy of the comprehensive three-volume Julius Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered (Taschen, $300) or Palm Springs Weekend: The Architecture and Design of a Midcentury Oasis, by Alan Hess and Andrew Danish (Chronicle Books, $40), sold at the Trina Turk boutique housed in a 1960s Albert Frey building on North Palm Canyon Drive. In the afternoon, go on a shopping spree on the town's main street. Sort through the well-priced merch at stores including Room Service (625 N. Palm Canyon Dr.; 760-318-9331), Palm Springs Consignment (2100 N. Palm Canyon Dr., No. B10; 760-416-0704), and, most charming of all, the 111 Antique Mall, right in the center of town (2500 N. Palm Canyon Dr., No. B1; 760-864-9390).