Michael Davis
Tracy Turco
Decked out in royal blue for the occasion, Tracy Turco is headed to a Women’s Entrepreneur Club meeting (an organization she founded) where crime will be a topic, with representatives from the Police Department in attendance. A natural entertainer, hostess, serial entrepreneur, author and lifestyle brand guru, Tracy first made a name for herself on the social circuit in NYC. Our meeting was scheduled in her childcare time window, which now occupies 90% of her focus. Tracy has two twenty-something kids and a new baby (Marchesa turned one year old April 30) with her real estate developer husband Jerry Turco. Marchesa is an Italian word for landowner or noblewoman — and also an American brand specializing in women's wear, famously worn by celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Penélope Cruz.
Marchesa was a very wanted baby. Tracy and Jerry have been together for seven years, many of those spent trying for a baby, so when Marchesa came along they wanted plenty of time to enjoy her. Tracy’s older son lives with them, works at one of her hotels and loves to babysit, and her older daughter is doing her own thing. Having a child later in life means perspective, and both she and Jerry have the time to connect with little Marchesa. I asked her what’s different being a mom the second time around? Tracy says she feels like maybe she became a mom too early with her older children, and now she is able to take her baby everywhere and tends to spoil her. The biggest difference is having Marchesa with “the love of her life” and being able to organize her days to devote the needed energy to her many projects while relishing every moment with her new daughter. Tracy says she is a good sleeper and sleeps from 7-7; I’m jealous.
Tracy, a self-described artist, designer, author, hotelier, entrepreneur and style icon, says she has been called a young Martha Stewart, but it is often difficult to pigeonhole her. “Multitasking is innate for me; the more I have to do, the more organized I become. When I see a project I see it done.”
Born in Tampa, Florida, and having lived in NYC for 20 years, she and Jerry have been residents of Palm Springs for five years. They moved to the desert after coming to the area for their honeymoon. When she mentioned renovating one of the Gabor sisters' homes, it struck me that she was perhaps more of a 21st Century Zsa Zsa, but maybe it was her perfect platinum hair. Martha Stewart or Zsa Zsa, Tracy is her own person, and having studied design in her early years, she was always decorating other peoples’ rooms. She started two companies, has written two books about tea culture, designed shoes and has been featured on TV shows including Retro Renovation with Tracy Turco on HDTV. Today, she owns the Cheetah Hotel, a 1962 mid-century hotel with 12 rooms; she reinvented the property with Jerry in 2021. He was reluctant to get into hospitality or brand marketing, but Tracy says their “circuitry keeps flowing” and their skills complement each other. Tracy is a busy lady, and her portfolio is growing, with her hand in a number of projects. Her latest creation is the Modernism Museum, designed to be a totally interactive and immersive experience. The Modernism Museum is a passion project that Tracy and Jerry are bringing to Palm Springs. A 12,000 ft. homage to the retro, vintage, MCM chic, vignettes or exhibits will include a 50s kitchen, a ’69 Jaguar, a roller rink and a 70s baroque room; all immersive and Instagrammable, ready for a soft opening this summer and a hard opening this fall.
But back to her real baby. Tracy says that even though she works a lot, she loves to walk with Marchesa and brings her everywhere she goes, including job sites and meetings. In her pure mommy moments, it’s all about bath time, pool time, playing music and reading books; she just loves being a mom of a little one again. “She is such a gift and I’m building it all for her!”
You can check out everything in Tracy Turco’s orbit, from the Deco Palm Hotel to Disco Pizza and the Tiki Hotel, where you’ll find a boutique personally curated by the “Design Diva of the Desert” herself. For more, go to tracyturco.com.
