Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1152518
I n the 1950s, as Hollywood's elite famously escaped to the sun- splashed playground of Palm Springs, an under-the-radar celebrity hideaway emerged in the Arizona desert. Mountain Shadows opened just north of Scottsdale in 1959, occupying pretty Paradise Valley real estate between Camelback Mountain and Mummy Mountain. The following year, crews arrived at the property to shoot "The Brothers Brannagan." A young Burt Reynolds appeared in one installment of the television crime drama, which starred Stephen Dunne and Mark Roberts. "Squad Car," another early 1960s show, also used Mountain Shadows as a set. Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees were later on site for an episode of their Primetime Emmy-winning series, and some of the most icon- ic names in stage and screen generated additional buzz for the resort. "We know that Sammy Davis, Jr. stayed here. We know that John Wayne stayed here. We know that Bob Hope stayed here. We've got photos of Lucille Ball getting out of a helicopter and driving around in a golf cart. This was that kind of place, back in its heyday," says Andrew Chippindall, Mountain Shadows vice president and general manager. Today, vintage photos displayed near the property's Arizona-focused art gallery document those famous old-Hollywood guests. The backdrop itself, however, is completely new. Mountain Shadows reopened in 2017, after a 13-year closure and $100-million rebuild that remade the resort from the ground up. Since its reintroduction, led by the Westroc Hospitality team that is also behind Scottsdale's Hotel Valley Ho and the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, the 183-room getaway has earned a four-diamond rating from AAA and numerous national media mentions. MOUNTAIN SHADOWS Pa r a d i s e Va l l e y, A r i z o n a B Y R E N E E B R I N C K S D E S T I N A T I O N S C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 9 241 Photos: Courtesy of Paradise Valley