When we heard that Annie Selke, the talented owner and designer behind the colorful Dash and Albert rugs and Pine Cone Hill linens, had bought a home in the Marrakesh Country Club community in Palm Springs, we knew it would be fabulous. Here, we share Annie’s story with you.
What made you decide to purchase a second home?
“After we had a horrible winter a few years back, I decided I wanted a second home someplace warm! I looked in Southern Florida, but nothing felt right. When I decided to buy the home in Marrakesh, it was kind of like my birthday present to myself. I really wasn’t even looking to buy anything.” But then, her friend John Gilmer sent her real estate listings, she saw pink and green everywhere, and she was sold.
Why Palm Springs? What drew you to Marrakesh?
“My friend Stephen Drucker (former editor-in-chief of House Beautiful and Town & Country), who is a total real estate maven, bought a home in Marrakesh after looking at over 100 properties, so I trusted his judgment and ended up buying the property that is right next to his!”
She continues: “Marrakesh is absolutely gorgeous. The community was built by John Elgin Woolf, the king of Hollywood Regency architecture, which is a subset of mid-century modern style. It’s set on a golf course, and I love all of the green space.”
“I love so many things about Palm Springs but I especially love the great shopping! The consignment stores are just fabulous. You can find things with such character.
In my living room, I launched the whole scheme around these blue Moroccan lanterns I found at Cargo Consignments. They’re really too big for the space, totally over scale, but I saw them in the window and I knew right away I wanted them! They really were my inspiration for that space.”
What do you love most about Palm Springs?
“Since Palm Springs is in a valley, you can see the Santa Rosa Mountains and the San Jacinto Mountains almost all around you, anywhere you go.”
“In the winter, you get off the plane and you can see the snowcapped mountains and then you have the green palm trees and vibrant bougainvillea — it’s just this incredible juxtaposition of color and terrain … Because it was founded as essentially an outpost for Hollywood actors, the whole area has this rich history. It’s just this haven of midcentury modern architecture, it’s almost like a time capsule and people come from all over the world to see it.
What was it about Palm Springs that inspired the collection?
The whole area is this mix of very brown desert-y colors and these bright, vivid colors of plants and flowers—bright yellow, bright pink, lush green—it’s delightfully colorful and contrast-y in a cool way. I wanted to try to capture that in my designs.
OK. We love the idea of Palm Springs. Can you show us your new collections?
If you want to pink it up …
… or go green …
… or love true blue …
And if you want to come home to color, here’s what my bedroom in Palm Springs looks like:
To read more about Marrakesh’s iconic style, click here for the feature in The New York Times.