Rancho Mirage, a small city of about 17,000 residents in the Coachella Valley, has earned the nickname "Playground of the Presidents" due to its long history of hosting U.S. leaders and world dignitaries.
Every president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama visited the city, with several holding important summits there. President Gerald Ford made Rancho Mirage his home after leaving the White House in 1977, living at the Thunderbird Country Club until his death in 2006.
The city is also known as the "Golf Capital of the World," having hosted tournaments like the Davis Cup, Ryder Cup, and Desert Classic, and now boasts 17 golf courses. The area was originally inhabited by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.
In 1862, entrepreneur William Bradshaw developed a stage route through the valley, followed by the railroad in 1876. In 1912, Everett Knox DaVall planted date palms at Wonder Palms Ranch.
Development accelerated in the 1920s and 1930s, with investors like R.P. Davie and E.E.
McIntyre buying land, and Louis McLaughlin "Mac" Blankenhorn naming the area "Rancho Mirage"—a combination suggested by his wife, who thought it looked like a mirage, with "Rancho" added for sales appeal. Hollywood celebrities soon followed, including actor Frank Morgan, who built one of the first homes in 1937.
The Thunderbird Country Club, opened in 1951, became a haven for celebrities and the site of the desert's first 18-hole golf course. It attracted investors like Bob Hope, Randolph Scott, and Desi Arnaz.
The club's exclusivity led to the founding of Tamarisk Country Club in 1952 for Jewish members, with stars like Jack Benny and Frank Sinatra. Sunnylands, the 200-acre estate of Ambassador Walter Annenberg, hosted presidents and dignitaries from the 1960s onward and is now open to the public.
Eisenhower Medical Center, founded with a land donation from Bob and Dolores Hope, opened in 1971 and is now a 437-bed hospital. The city was incorporated in 1973 and continues to grow, with Disney's first residential community, Cotino, welcoming residents in 2025.