Lucille Ball’s Palm Springs Home Was Built on a Lot That Desi Arnaz Won in a Poker Game By a Man Who Wouldn’t Be Allowed in the Neighborhood

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• The I Love Lucy stars fell in love with the Palm Springs area of California.
• Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s Palm Springs home was designed by Paul R. Williams.
• Arnaz and Williams both found success despite discrimination.

Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz got both the documentary treatment and the biopic treatment in recent years. The documentary is Lucy and Desi, and Being The Ricardos stars Nicole Kidman as Ball and Javier Bardem as Arnaz, the real-life married couple behind the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy. The duo was a powerhouse in the entertainment industry because of their talent and creative ideas. But it was their business acumen that helped them build their wealth.

Arnaz was also a big-time gambler who — according to legend — won a piece of land in a poker game and then built a weekend home on top of it. The man they hired to design their Palm Springs oasis was someone who wasn’t allowed in the neighborhood.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz convinced CBS to let them play a married couple on TV

After appearing in dozens of B movies early in her career, Ball and her Cuban-born bandleader husband became household names when they created and starred in I Love Lucy together. For six seasons, the duo played Ricky and Lucy Ricardo — a middle-class New York City housewife who wanted to be in show business, and her singer/bandleader husband who performed in nightclubs.

For four of its six seasons, I Love Lucy was the number one TV show in America. And, it was the first series to end its run while still at the top of the ratings. The series was groundbreaking, as Ball insisted that Arnaz play her husband despite the objection from CBS. The network execs were convinced that audiences wouldn’t buy an All-American girl married to a Latin man.

The ‘I Love Lucy’ stars fell in love with the Palm Springs area of California

Ball and Arnaz proved CBS wrong, and they did it by putting their own money on the line. The couple agreed to take a $1,000 per week pay cut in order to shoot their series from Hollywood and produce it on film. In return, they demanded — and were given — 80 percent ownership in the I Love Lucy films. This turned out to be a genius financial move.

As they earned their fortune via their Desilu Studios, the couple fell in love with the Palm Springs area of California and decided to build a home and make it their weekend getaway. According to Outsider, legend has it that Arnaz won the land they built the home on in a poker game.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s Palm Springs home was designed by a man who wasn’t allowed in the neighborhood

The Palm Springs lot that Arnaz won was located near the 17th fairway of the Thunderbird Country Club. The home that he and Ball built was the first residence completed in the club’s development.

To design their home, the couple turned to architect Paul R. Williams. With his signature “California Style,” Williams designed “a 4,400 square foot house with six bedrooms, a swimming pool, and a lanai-type signature Williams’ space that combined and expanded the use of interior and exterior areas.”

While Ball and Arnaz were some of his more famous clients, Williams designed at least 1,000 houses and commercial buildings around the world.

He was the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects. And because he was a minority, he wasn’t allowed in the nearby Thunderbird Country Club. Because he was Cuban, Desi Arnaz was actually denied admission to the club despite his celebrity status.

Desi Arnaz and Paul R. Williams succeeded despite the discrimination

In response to the prejudice, Arnaz bought property nearby and opened the Indian Wells Resort Hotel, which did not discriminate against minorities and Jewish people. He also did just fine in his Hollywood career and made a fortune.

Williams was also incredibly successful during his career, and architect Evan Galen admits that’s surprising given the time period he practiced in. Galen is actually amazed that Williams designed homes for the wealthy in the 1950s.

“In that era, for rich white people to trust a black orphan to determine their social status through his work — well, obviously, Paul Williams must have been very, very special,” Galen told The Sun Sentinel.

The man who designed Lucille Ball’s weekend home taught himself a unique skill

According to Williams’ granddaughter Karen Hudson, the architect “taught himself to draw upside down.” And she believes that was one of the keys to her grandfather’s success.

“Back then, it was unheard of for a black man to lean over white clients, even if he was showing them plans for their future home,” Hudson explained. “At the time, some people might have found that offensive.”

She says that Williams’ ability to draw upside down became a marketing gimmick. “Once they found out he could do it, everybody wanted him to draw upside-down for them, too.”

The home that Williams designed for Ball and Arnaz was extensively remodeled in 2002. But the gorgeous mid-century design is still standing. The lot that Arnaz won in the poker game has since been divided into smaller parcels, and seven one-story homes were built on the property.

Being The Ricardos premiered on Prime Video on Dec. 21.