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- Visit Sunnylands
- Center & GardensOpen Wednesday – Sunday from 7:30am-12:30pm. Gardens only. Free admission.
- Historic EstateTours on the historic estate are currently on hold due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
- EventsCheck back on the availability of public programs later this season.Events
- Retreats
- RetreatsRetreats at Sunnylands seek meaningful solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing society today.
- Mission
- Retreat Strategy Group
- About
- About SunnylandsFor 40 years, Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg welcomed entertainment and world leaders to their winter estate in Rancho Mirage, California.About Sunnylands
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Our gardens reopen
Visit Center & Gardens
Sunnylands Center & Gardens
Sunnylands Center & Gardens was opened to the public in March 2012. Upon entering the 15-acre site, a winding driveway takes visitors through a desert art garden to the glass facade of Sunnylands Center. The spacious, contemporary building houses a rotating art exhibition, café, gift shop, and multimedia offerings that detail the history of Sunnylands and its founders, Walter and Leonore Annenberg.
Currently, Sunnylands Center is closed while improvements are made to help employees and guests adhere to social distancing protocols during the coronavirus pandemic. However, guests are welcome to enjoy the gardens’ walking trails and benches, or take a self-guided audio tour. Admission is free.
A Painting Comes to Life
The landscape at Sunnylands Center & Gardens was designed by The Office of James Burnett, with horticultural consultant Mary Irish. Inspired by the Annenberg collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, the gardens were designed to reflect the importance of these paintings to the Annenbergs, who bequeathed them to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1991.
Burnett’s signature designs are habitable and sensitive, with shade, quiet, and natural elements that appeal to the senses. Twin reflecting pools filled with river stones flank the rear windows of the Center and its patios. To the west, a labyrinth winds through rows of Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata), creating a contemplative and quiet space.
Plein Air in the Gardens
Artists may paint, photograph, and sketch the beauty of the desert landscape and surrounding mountain range. No reservations or tickets required.
Self-Guided Audio Walks
Take a self-guided audio walk through the gardens using your mobile phone. Stroll at your own pace and learn about the design of the Sunnylands gardens, inspired by an Impressionist painting.
Garden Guide
Explore our new Garden Guide for information on the more than 70 species of arid-adapted plants in the Sunnylands gardens.
Plant Diversity
Over 70 species of native and arid-adapted plants from North and South America, Africa, and the Mediterranean are displayed in the 9-acre Gardens.
70
species of native and arid-adapted plants
Sunnylands Center: Referencing Midcentury Modern Architecture
Although Leonore Annenberg did not live to see the Center's completion, it was influenced by her vision. The Los Angeles architectural firm of Frederick Fisher & Partners, which has restored three houses by the estate’s original architect, A. Quincy Jones, references the midcentury modern style of the historic house, with its signature roof, outdoor trellises, exposed wide-flanged columns, and circular driveway. Two 16-foot-high walls faced with lava stone from Utah are an homage to the 11-foot-high walls faced with lava stone from Mexico in the original house. The walls create a grand frame for the Center's interior space.
