Disney's new residential community doesn’t scream Disney. On purpose.

What is the cost of Artisan Club membership at Cotino?

What demographic drives Cotino residents?

What architectural style defines Cotino homes?

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Hardly anything about Disney’s new residential communityoutside Palm Springs screams Disney. 

And if you know about Walt Disney's love for the region, that makes sense. 

“This was a place that he came to get away from the kind of stress of the studio and everything,” said Becky Cline, director of the Walt Disney Archives. 

So don’t expect images of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse welcoming you at the front gate, like at Walt Disney World. No fairytale castles either.

Unlike theme parks designed to transport guests to fantasy lands, the first Storyliving by Disney community embraces its unique place with earth-toned, mid-century modern-inspired homes and desert landscaping that blend seamlessly with the Coachella Valley, while adding a touch of Disney.

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Here’s what USA TODAY found at Cotino. 

A little bit of Disney 

Much of Cotino is still undeveloped, with construction equipment dotting leveled lots, but prospective residents can tour model homes by Shea Homes, Woodbridge Pacific Group and Davidson Communities. The three we visited felt connected even though each homebuilder leaned into a different era of the Coachella Valley, from its agricultural roots through the present day. 

“We want to celebrate the history and the culture of the region,” said Caroline Boone, executive creative director with Walt Disney Imagineering. 

Each model was stunning and more open and expansive than floor plans or photos can capture. Wide-open windows and pocket doors tucked into walls added to the sense of grandeur by bridging indoor and outdoor living spaces. Shiny show kitchens and optional private courtyards further primed the homes for relaxing and entertaining, much like Walt Disney did in nearby Palm Springs. 

“He would do things like lawn bowling. He would ride horses. He would bring his family down, and he had a lot of friends down here,” Cline said.  

But these homes don’t feel particularly Disney. That’s on purpose.  

Claire Bilby, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Signature Experiences Emerging Businesses, told USA TODAY residents “want a little bit of Disney. They don't want a lot of Disney because this is their home.” 

Disney adults: What you don't know about this community

Disney details 

Residents who want more Disney can find it in the newly opened Artisan Club, an optional club designed by Imagineers and staffed by Disney cast members, exclusively for Cotino residents and their families. Household membership starts at $11,000 a year per with a one-time $20,000 initiation fee. 

Boone said Imagineers have their fingerprints on the entire community, but they obsessed over every detail here, from the color and texture of the sand on the beach bordering Cotino Bay – a 24-acre sustainable manmade Crystal Lagoon – to the attraction blueprints lining the walls of the club’s restaurant Architects Fork to the framing of a big picture window in the club lobby. 

“Where Walt was inspired by the desert, called it his Living Desert, we wanted to create living paintings throughout the club footprint as well,” she said, with a nod to Disney’s Oscar-winning 1953 documentary, “The Living Desert” which Cline noted was partially filmed in Coachella Valley. “You look out the frame and it's always changing outside.” 

Many of the details are subtle, but there is one over-the-top showpiece: the Parr House, which members can rent for events or overnight stays. It looks right out of “Incredibles 2.”  

“This is really like a full circle moment for us because a team of Pixar artists actually came out to the Palm Springs area for the making of ‘Incredibles 2’ to get inspiration for what the home would look like,” said Caleb Wild, a senior architect with Walt Disney Imagineering. “So when we were thinking about what would fit in here and be like the jewel of Cotino, I was like, ‘Oh, we have to do the Parr House.'” 

A creative oasis 

Artisan Club members can find additional Disney-inspired offerings in club activities. 

“Examples of those things are going to be a painting class with a Disney fine artist, a photography lesson with a National Geographic expert, a character-themed wellness class, and then even excursions and guest speakers, like our friend Becky from the Walt Disney Archives,” said Krista Jones, senior manager of Experiences. “We could bring her in here ... as well as take the members on an excursion to Burbank and into the Walt Disney Studios lot and into the Archives.” 

That’s just for starters. Bilby said they ultimately want to help residents pursue their own interests. 

“The real bias for this location is creative oasis, and that's because Walt would come over here and he would call it his happy place, but more importantly, it's where he would get a lot of creative inspiration,” she said. 

“Our focus with Storyliving is not creating just a beautiful place with great design, but somewhere that really inspires you to live your best life and the best chapter of your life,” Boone echoed. 

Who lives here? 

The first Cotino residents moved in earlier this year. Their homes are part of the first phase of development, which will eventually include 300 properties. More than 1,900 are planned in all, including single-family homes and later, condominiums.  

Construction for a town center with shops, dining and paid public beach access is also underway, across Cotino Bay. Plans for a hotel are also in the works. 

Homes start in the mid-$1-million range. Bill Davidson, president of Davidson Communities, said so far the buyers have all been Disney fans, largely from out West. The homes are a mix of primary residences and vacation homes, with some buyers planning to make the secondary homes their forever homes upon retirement.  

“One of the things that we really saw among the Gen X and Baby Boomers, who have high Disney affinity, is they're really enjoying these branded living lifestyle communities. And part of it is they're all getting to the point of either they want to downsize, some want to upsize. Some want to be near the kids, some near the grandkids, but they want to go to a community where they can make friends and do things and explore their passions,” Bilby said. “We're going to where the residents want to live.” 

Davidson joked that all the grandkids will want to come visit, too.