In contrast to the 25 guest accommodations at L’Horizon, The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn is a Mediterranean villa of just eight rooms within walking distance of downtown Palm Springs. The similarities lie in the exclusivity of the two and their celebrated histories. Cloistered behind mature tropical gardens, The Willows estate can barely be seen from the dead-end street leading to it, and access is available through a guests-only gate. The mansion was built in 1925 as the winter retreat of a Los Angeles millionaire, William Mead, who commissioned architect William J. Dodd. Its guest list over the years included such luminaries as Albert Einstein, Marion Davies and Shirley Temple.