More than 9 million U.S. firms are now owned by women. In the Coachella Valley, there have long been entrepreneurial women who were building great companies, breaking through barriers, and cultivating economic good for them and their community. They pursue their venture with passion and purpose. In this section, we honor just a few of these women.
A Palm Springs Icon
By Renee Brown
Admired by some and feared by others, Pearl McCallum McManus dominated and inspired the evolution of her beloved "village" of Palm Springs. After her mother's death in 1914, Pearl assumed control of the McCallum holdings, which included between 5,000 and 6,000 acres of land. Her father, Judge John McCallum, had purchased the land from the railroad in 1884 at $2.50 per acre. By the time Pearl inherited it, what remained of the original holdings allegedly was not worth more than $6,500. During her lifetime, she capitalized on the land her father had purchased and completed the legacy he had envisioned.
At age 30, Pearl met and married Austin McManus, a realtor from Pasadena. They moved into the McCallum's adobe built in 1884 and still standing today in the Village Green in downtown Palm Springs. Together they opened Pioneer Realty with Pearl as president and Austin as secretary of the company. They were opposites in their business dealings. She was inflexible and stern in negotiations, and he was jovial with his upbeat Irish charisma. He brought in the customers, and she negotiated the deals. Together they created a real estate dynasty. She insisted on making the deeds to her properties reversible for architectural reasons, putting restrictive covenants on the use of the land she sold.
In 1924, Pearl and Austin McManus decided that the need for another hotel in Palm Springs was sufficient to warrant their building one. They hired the architect Lloyd Wright, estranged son of Frank Lloyd Wright, to design an art deco tower that would set a new standard for architectural quality in the downtown area. She broke with the traditional Spanish Colonial style and introduced a fresh look to the village while incorporating the past, using her father's old ranch house as the dining room.
McManus took great pride in all the things she created, but most of all, she was proud of the Tennis Club. The idea began when she decided to build tennis courts for some of her English visitors. The project was started on a modest scale but as soon as the courts were finished, she thought it would be pleasant for her friends to cool off in a swimming pool. She estimated the entire project at about $12,000 but soon realized it would be much more.
She designed an oval pool with two graceful palms overhanging the water. The design was so dramatic that it was used by the State Chamber of Commerce in their promotional literature. Just as the design of the pool was prized, her tennis courts are still considered to be among the finest in the world. She also enlarged the old irrigation ditch and stocked it with trout. She created a rippling stream under the shade of mesquite trees and allowed guests to catch their own dinners. The Tennis Club officially opened in February of 1937 and remains intact, now still operating as a tennis club and as Spencer's Restaurant.
After the incorporation of the city in 1938, Austin McManus was elected to the first city council. This gave Pearl access to the backdoor discussions and organization of the new city. She regularly attended all meetings of importance and frequently her mere presence gave the sessions importance.
At the beginning of American involvement in World War II, Pearl sold 320 acres for $102,500 so the Army Air Corps and the Corps of Engineers could build an airport that would be used as a "jumping off point for planes manufactured on the West Coast and routed to the East Coast. The north-south runway was originally 4000 feet long and the diagonal runway was 5000 feet. Each runway was extended 2000 feet and taxiways and turns were widened.
During World War II, Pearl knew that many of the soldiers who were being treated at Torney General or who were in training with Patton would someday return to Palm Springs and bring their families. She doubled her efforts in trying to influence the city officials, sometimes cajoling them into doing what she thought was best for the city.
For many years, Pearl worried over the land that had been abandoned by some of her father's original syndicate partners. She began tracing the heirs to the property and at considerable effort found them and spent great sums of money buying back the land and clearing the titles. It was not until the end of World War II when the Federal Government declared certain lands as war surplus that she was able to complete these transactions. She purchased approximately 210 acres for $111,510, paying approximately $532 per acre for the land which had originally been purchased from the railroad for $2.50 per acre. To Pearl's delight, John McCallum's lands were finally back in her hands.
After World War II, land developers and construction companies all over the state were building new homes and businesses just as fast as they could. Palm Springs was no exception. Pearl decided that the time was right to build on her property that stretched between Sunny Dunes Road north of the Tahquitz wash to Mesquite Avenue on the south side. She made several attempts to develop the property but was deterred by flooding. On September 22, 1947, the first earthmovers arrived and began to carve a 200-foot ditch that would direct the flow of water from Tahquitz Creek. Boulders were placed on each side of the large flood channel to keep the waters within its banks. That day Pearl and Austin McManus climbed aboard an earthmover as the digging began and a photograph of the couple appeared on the front page of the next day's Desert Sun. She teamed up with Los Angeles developer, Paul Trousdale, to create a housing development that was built around the river she created. Tahquitz River Estates was the most ambitious housing development that had ever been attempted in Palm Springs. Over 200 California Ranch homes were designed and built by Paul Trousdale in partnership with Pearl in the Tahquitz River Estates.
Another project that she spearheaded was the makeover of the Palm Springs Tennis Club. In 1947, Pearl hired Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones to design additions to the original version of her Tennis Club. They incorporated California Modernism into the design, emphasizing the natural wood and stone of the surrounding environment. They transformed Pearl's ideas into blueprints and created a wall of rugged stone over which splashed a waterfall.
Williams' and Jones' initial plans for the makeover of the club were expected to cost $60,000. By the time construction was completed the costs were well over $250,000. Besides expanding and renovating the kitchen, swimming and tennis areas, the plans grew to include a new main dining room, the Bougainvillea Room, a snack bar, cocktail lounge with a terrace for outdoor dining, and a lawn terrace for lounging and sunbathing.
As time went on and Pearl sold more and more of her land, always placing restrictions upon its future use, her wealth and influence increased. She entertained lavishly many of the world's leading social and financial figures. There were many who feared, and a few who genuinely loved Pearl McManus, but there was none who secretly did not admire and respect the fierce lady sitting in her pink mansion upon the hillside.
As her vision began to fail and her heart began to wear out despite the pacemaker that regulated her heartbeats, Pearl McCallum McManus gradually withdrew from her participation in the political and social life of Palm Springs and spent more time looking down on the cottages of her former Tennis Club from the windows of her pink mansion. She told those who took care of her that what she missed most was riding her horse across the desert and up into the canyons where she could look over the land that had once been filled with her father's orchards. She died on July 24,1966.
Pearl McCallum McManus was generous both in her lifetime and after she died. Her considerable estate was organized into the McCallum Foundation which gave millions of dollars to city projects, including but not limited to the airport fountain, the Village Green, the Palm Springs Historical Society, the Living Desert, numerous horseback riding trails and hiking trails and the McCallum Theatre. Her generosity was legendary, but she did not want her name identified with any of these projects insisting that the honor go to her father, John Guthrie McCallum.
The Periscope, a series available on Amazon:
The Periscope includes a series of engaging publications that detail the rich history of the Coachella Valley. From life as a pioneer, the growth of the date industry, all the way to the Salton Sea saga, and much more, the stories bring to life the desert region of Southern California. Written under the umbrella of the Coachella Valley Historical Society (dba Coachella Valley History Museum), books in the series tell the stories of the innovators who helped to make the vibrant region what it is today.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr. Priscilla Porter is the Co-Director of the Porter History-Social Science Resource Center at the Palm Desert Campus of California State University San Bernardino and a volunteer at the Coachella Valley History Museum. A former elementary school teacher, she is the author of many popular curriculum guides for teachers.
Professional gratitude is extended to the contributing authors: Patricia Korzec, Renee Brown, Diana P. Kitagawa, Rod Hendry, Julia Sizek, and Patricia Laflin. Credit is extended to Eduardo Contreras for the cover design.
This is the first book in The Periscope series from the Coachella Valley Historical Society (dba Coachella Valley History Museum). Additional books in the series will be available SOON. To hear about the latest books, sign up for the exclusive New Release Mailing List by sending an email to prisporter@aol.com. You’ll be glad you did!
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