Overview

The property was originally designed and developed by Herbert Burns as a furnished 8-unit luxury apartment complex in 1954. It was styled to blend harmoniously with the adjacent Hideaway hotel, née Town & Desert apartments, another project by Burns. Originally, the two properties had no separation between the courtyards. The 400 shares many architectural cues with the Hideaway, including a low, linear look accented with masonry composed of thin, regular strips of Arizona Sandstone, masonry planters, and built-in wall clocks. A significant difference between the properties is that all units at the 400 which opened to the courtyard were built with sliding glass doors.

Before selling off most of the units as co-ops, Herbert Burns added one more unit: number 9. This incorporated a second style of stone, similar to another Burns project, 500 West, just down the street. This mix of masonry gives us the facade Palm Springs has known since the late 1960s. Along with the addition of unit 9, unit 8 received a second bathroom as part of the prep for being sold as co-ops. In addition, the window in the courtyard-facing bedroom in unit 8 was relocated to face north instead of east. Finally, a cleverly-hidden utility closet was added to house the water heaters for unit 9 and unit 8's additional bathroom.