Staycation: Borrego Springs' La Casa Del Zorro

Our bartender shows off an original painting from the 1930s.  Yes, foxes are making their own wine.

There are a couple great places to stay at Borrego Springs.  I would like to argue we stayed at the coolest one.  At least the one with the coolest name, La Casa Del Zorro (house of the fox).  This resort opened as two rooms in an adobe ranch house in 1937 and was simply called Desert Lodge back then. The adobe wall is still visible in today's lobby.  Over the years, the lodge was expanded to handle 18 guests (though up to 40 guests were housed there during WWII when Borrego Springs became a training outpost for the Army and Marines).

Lobby of La Casa Del Zorro

Then in 1960, James Copley, the publishing magnate, purchased the property and renamed it La Casa del Zorro and began to expand it.  The property now has multiple buildings with garden rooms, and separate casitas, all surrounded by koi ponds, fountains, and plenty of cacti.   The Copleys ran the hotel for over four decades before it was sold to a real estate speculator that had visions of turning the hotel into an exclusive adults-only hideaway.  That didn't pan out, and the hotel was shuttered for three years.

Steven walks past feathery Palo Verde ("green stick") tree on the grounds of La Casa Del Zorro 

Lucky for us, local developers bought the property in 2013, bringing the old name back and the original spirit as well.