The Springs Country Club is a member-owned private club at 1 Duke Drive in the middle of Rancho Mirage, named for the Hollywood habit of calling the whole desert "the Springs." Edwin Johnsen, a California land developer, struck a handshake deal for the land in the early 1970s. First houses went up in 1974. The club itself dates to October 7, 1975. In 2025 the membership marked fifty years, still with original members on the roster. Desmond Muirhead designed the course. A 48,000-square-foot clubhouse was built to hold the social calendar that is still the club's second product after golf.
Muirhead's 18 holes sit against the San Jacinto wall. The club recently completed a $16 million golf-course and irrigation renovation designed by Cary Bickler: new greens and bunkers, and a Rain Bird IC irrigation system. That figure is a completed capital project published by the club, not an initiation fee. Tennis, fitness, and dining round out the campus. Membership and real estate inquiries go through published club contacts on thespringsrm.com. The club remains private and member-owned. Confirm current categories, waitlists, and whether a seller's membership moves. Do not copy a third-party dues table into an offer.
Broker materials cite a range of named base plans across condominium and single-family product inside the gates. A complete official public PDF drawing library was not confirmed. Verify plan name, remodel history, and association rules for each listing. Club history names residents such as Willie Mays and Mary Martin; treat celebrity occupancy as color unless title supports a specific house. The location is central Rancho Mirage, a short drive from Highway 111, The River, Eisenhower Medical Center, and Palm Springs International Airport (the club has described the airport drive as about twenty minutes). Neighboring private clubs include Desert Island, Morningside, and Sunrise. The Springs is the 1975 member-owned Muirhead club in that cluster, not the Nicklaus Signature down the street and not Bone's condo experiment at Sunrise.
Is the house the product you think it is, and is the membership the category you need? The 2025 anniversary year included capital work already in the ground. Ask what that $16 million did to assessments and what, if anything, is left. Member-owned is a governance fact. It is also a budget fact.
Johnsen's handshake origin story is charming. The documents are not. Member-owned clubs live and die in the minutes: capital calls, golf deficits, and whether the social calendar is subsidizing the course or the other way around. Fifty years in, The Springs still sells itself as welcoming rather than frosty, which is a culture you can test on a Tuesday lunch more accurately than on a Saturday open house. Sit in the dining room. Then decide.
Walk Muirhead's holes after Bickler's greens. Then read the last reserve study. Norman Williams and Jacqulyn Stanton of The Stanton Williams Group at Compass work with buyers and sellers at The Springs Country Club. Reach Norman at 760.464.2190 or Jacqulyn at 760.702.2557.
