Gordon Coutts

1868 - 1937

Coutts met the English artist, Alice Grey whom he married. In 1902 they moved to San Francisco where he became a member and frequent exhibitor at the Bohemian Club. Always an inveterate traveller he spent time in Paris, Spain and Tangier, where he had a studio for many years. He received a gold medal at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in 1909 and at the Paris Salon in1913. Over the years he exhibtied regularly at the Royal Academy, the Paris salons and many American International Exhibitions.

Suffering from tuberculosis he moved to Palm Springs in 1924. He built a Moroccan style villa to recreate a favourite place in Tangier. Dar Marroc is still a well known local landmark and is now part of the Korakia boutique hotel. Winston Churchill and Sir John Lavery were among the many celebrities to visit Dar Marroc.  Gordon Coutts died in Palm Springs in 1937