Palm Springs
Invited by a friend to visit Palm Springs, Haber stumbled upon the Ingleside Inn in 1975. The property, located at 200 Ramon Road, was in a state of disrepair thanks to an absentee owner. Haber learned the original owner was the widow of Humphrey Birge, manufacturer of the Pierce-Arrow motorcar. She built the private estate at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains in 1925 and sold it a decade later to Palm Springs Councilwoman Ruth Hardy, who transformed the place into a 20-room hotel. She successfully ran the Inn for the next thirty years as an exclusive private club whose guests came by invitation only. Hardy's clientele included Howard Hughes, John Wayne, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Greer Garson, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Salvador Dalí, Norman Vincent Peale and J.C. Penney.
After Hardy's death in 1965, the stardust from the old days had largely faded away over the next decade. Haber, who knew nothing about operating a resort, made a spontaneous handshake deal to buy the property for $300,000. On April 15, 1975, Haber became the owner of the Ingleside Inn.
Read more about this topic: Mel Haber
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