Duroville

Dan Barry: Just a short drive from that spa of a community called Palm Springs, there exists another oasis, a place so exclusive that curious dawdlers need to keep constant watch for the black-and-white security vehicle patrolling the grounds.

You do not have much time, then, to admire the still, gray waters of the septic ponds, or watch the dust kicked up by children playing in the dirt streets, or examine the jungle gym of tires and construction debris piled near the dump — the dump that was closed for health reasons last year, but still burns now and then.

This private community is the Desert Mobile Home Park, better known as Duroville, after its owner, Harvey Duro Sr. Crammed onto these 40 acres are 300 or so old trailers, many of them distressed. One might be painted green, the next one pink, but somehow they all assume the same dun color as the streets, as if by covenant.