California is home to some seriously stunning vacation rentals, and a new interior design study from Sharps has ranked four California destinations among the world’s top 25 places to stay.
From glass-walled desert retreats to stylish homes, California is particularly well represented in the new ranking.
Sharps analyzed accommodation listings across more than 200 destinations. They looked at the number of luxury and design-led stays, average nightly prices, and guest reputation scores to create its “Beautiful Base” ranking.
One California destination even landed in the global top three.
Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree
The Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree area ranked No. 3 in the world, behind only Bali and Paris. It’s the highest-ranked destination in the United States.
The desert destination earned a Beautiful Base score of 99 out of 100, with 92 luxury homes and an average nightly price of about $490.
The area is known for its distinctive desert modernism, with floor-to-ceiling windows, raw concrete, minimalist interiors and mid-century-inspired furnishings that complement the surrounding landscape.
One of the area’s most recognizable architectural stays is the Invisible House, a massive mirrored-glass home designed to blend into the Joshua Tree desert.
Palm Springs
Palm Springs also made the global list, ranking No. 18 worldwide.
The desert city is known for its design-forward vacation homes, including restored mid-century properties, colorful modernist houses and private pools with mountain views.
Its inclusion reflects Palm Springs’ longstanding reputation for mid-century modern architecture, with some of the country’s best-known examples found throughout the city.
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe ranked No. 20 in the world, adding a mountain destination to California’s showing.
The vacation-home aesthetic here shifts from desert modernism to alpine retreats, with contemporary cabins, expansive windows and homes designed around views of the surrounding forests, mountains and lake.
It offers a different kind of design-focused getaway from Southern California while still placing architecture and the natural landscape at the center of the experience.
Malibu
Rounding out California’s four entries is Malibu at No. 23 worldwide.
The coastal city is known for spectacular homes overlooking the Pacific, with many vacation properties featuring panoramic ocean views, indoor-outdoor living and sleek California design.
Together, the four destinations give California four spots in the study’s global top 25, spanning desert, mountain and coastal landscapes.
