Built in the 1940s, the Palm Canyon Mobile Club was showing its age when the owners approached realtor Paul Kaplan about helping to sell new homes in the park. Kaplan suggested a fresh start: investing in tiny homes instead of traditional mobile homes.

Rather than partnering with a prefab designer or tiny home architect, they chose to work with a traditional mobile home manufacturer because of the scale of the project (100 homes).

Working with manufactured home builder Silvercrest, they pushed for a modern, Midcentury-inspired design more fitting of Palm Springs and avoiding some of the hallmark details of conventional mobile homes like ceiling moldings and six-panel doors.

“There’s also a stigma against mobile home parks,” explains Kaplan. “You know the whole trailer trash kind of thing, and I think people are re-looking at it and seeing it really provides a nice sense of community.” The Palm Canyon Mobile Club has a renovated pool and clubhouse with workout room and community kitchen.

The houses start at $115,000 for the 600 square foot model, with a $650 monthly rental fee for the site.