NEXT GEN 29: Ashton Ramsey
From Hollywood to the High Desert: How a Los Angeles producer became one of Twentynine Palms' most visible champions
How does one mark the generational change in a community?
For many years, Twentynine Palms has been governed by a mix of an “old boys club” consisting of descendants of the City’s founders and early residents and Marines who fell in love with the town in which they were stationed and stayed. But within the last year a shift has taken place as evidenced on the City bodies in which members are appointed by City Council. We thought our readers might want to meet this next generation of leadership, so this fall we’re publishing profiles of them under the heading Next Gen 29: Planning Commission Vice Chair Alex Garcia, PAAC Chair Paul Razo, PAAC Vice Chair Sara Lyons, TBID Vice Chair Ashton Ramsey and Planning Commission Chair Jessica Cure.
Change is here.
Published profiles:
Planning Commission Vice Chair Alex Garcia
PAAC Chair Paul Razo
PAAC Vice Chair Sara Lyons
Ashton Ramsey didn’t plan to leave Los Angeles. For 20 years, the 48 year-old worked in film and television, producing and casting reality shows like Survivor and Fear Factor, and working on feature films including The Lone Ranger and Guy Ritchie’s The Man from UNCLE. But a childhood dream kept nagging at him.
“I always had a passion to be in real estate,” Ramsey explains. “As a kid, my mom was showing me beautiful houses, and I fell in love with design and architecture. I always had the dream of being able to invest in houses and fix them up and make them nicer, fix up the neighborhood.”
That passion was nurtured growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Ramsey was the youngest of three brothers. He graduated from Metro Christian High School before heading to the University of Arkansas to earn a degree in Business. “The perfect place to grow up where you could be outside, be in nature, just big enough to be around creative people—a very supportive and loving community, being kind to neighbors,” he recalls of his Tulsa childhood.
But it was studying abroad in Italy during his junior year of college that proved transformative, sparking his interest in hospitality and international business. The experience taught him to “find out how to incorporate experiences,” he explains. After college, he joined his brother Tyler Ramsey, who was writing for film in Hollywood, launching a career that would eventually take Ashton around the world—including a press tour for The Lone Ranger that brought him to Moscow, London, and Paris.
His enthusiasm for real estate eventually led him to extract himself out of the entertainment industry and into vacation rental management in Los Angeles with his friend Nick Delli Santi, forming Best Nest Living in 2014. Starting with just one property owner willing to give them a shot, they grew the business to about 40 houses, including multi-million dollar oceanfront properties and charming guest houses.
Then came 2018 and passage of the City of Los Angeles Home-Sharing Ordinance. The new law impacted short-term rental management as a viable business in Los Angeles for Best Nest Living, so Ramsey looked to other opportunities.
Finding the Desert
Having invested in desert properties with partners starting in 2015, Ramsey decided to further commit to Twentynine Palms. In 2018 he found and purchased what’s now known as Tin Town, a 10-unit property on Mesquite Avenue. The following year the old Sunset Motel just south of this, at the corner of Mesquite Avenue and Hwy 62, came up for sale, and Ramsey bought that too.
The timing turned out to be fortuitous. “Luckily that renovation started happening during COVID,” he notes. “It felt nice, because nobody could get out for a minute, and I could take time to renovate and wasn’t too pressured on time.”
Gradually he transformed both properties — Tin Town into a mixed use development incorporating both retail and one of the best restaurants in town, Kitchen in the Desert, and the adjacent property into a true destination hotel.
During the pandemic, Ramsey moved to Twentynine Palms full-time and renamed the renovated hotel Ramsey 29—not after himself, but after his great-grandfather, who wrote the New York Times bestseller Time Out for Adventure in the 1930s. “My great-grandfather and my grandparents inspired the adventure and the travel,” Ramsey explains. “That has been a real focus in my life—to travel, to get out of the box, and to create something here for people that are getting out to experience something.”
His film industry connections have followed him to the desert. Actor and director James Franco’s fiancée Isabel Pakzad shot a movie in the area, and Franco himself directed, wrote and acted in a play at Theatre 29 in Twentynine Palms produced by Ramsey. More recently, Ramsey served as producer on Find Your Friends, shot in Twentynine Palms in 2024, and the 2020 short film Query, which was shot in Los Angeles. “There’s tons of overlap,” Ramsey says of the entertainment and hospitality industries. “It’s really exciting to still be a part of it.”
A Vision for Thoughtful Development
Ramsey’s optimism is tempered by strong opinions about how Twentynine Palms should grow. At city meetings he’s been an outspoken advocate for architectural standards and thoughtful design—views that stem directly from his real estate background and passion for architecture. Ramsey spoke at a June 2024 town hall meeting sponsored by the Desert Trumpet on creating an affordable and sustainable city:
The one thing that’s hurting the town the most in a weird way is the architecture and the design of the houses. Sometimes we just put up these tract housing developments. And when we do, they last 100 years. So suddenly you have a nice neighborhood that suddenly is just filled in with these things.
He also proposed an architectural review process that would encourage better design:
If we can just have the garage in a different spot, if we could have windows facing views, if we can have a house that’s sustainable—that means that people appreciate it, to buy it, to rent it, to live next door to it forever and ever. That’s an awesome neighborhood.
Speaking at the April 5 City of Twentynine Palms strategic planning session, his concerns extended beyond residential development to the commercial core of Twentynine Palms:
We’re lucky that we’re on this peninsula where we’ll always have to have the desert around us. But what do we look like? Do we look like just a junk store that sold out? Or do we look like we have very special places—special places to shop, eat, go out, that are unique, that make the place special forever. How does Carmel, California do it? How do these special places do it—they’ve done it.
For Ramsey, the desert experience should mean less pavement, not more: “Do we want to be a Walmart parking lot? Or do we want something special?”
The Golden Age Is Now
Ramsey has become one of Twentynine Palms’ most vocal boosters, serving as Vice Chair of the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID). He brings an infectious optimism to the role, comparing the current moment to a pivotal period in desert history.
I look at Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree and our high desert area as the Golden Age is happening right now.
The artists are really moving out right now and creating what it is. And the buzz is happening right now. I compare that to Palm Springs during the Rat Pack’s time. It was all about movie stars coming out to shoot things, or to just get away, or to have a kind of playground and an arts village. So it’s cool seeing that happen right now.
What prompted you to apply to sit on the TBID and then move into a leadership position?
“I found out about TBID from [former City Manager] Frank Luckino, he said there’s this organization, they collect the TOT [Transit Occupancy Tax], and they have a budget, and they can do something. I just thought, oh my gosh, there’s nothing really like what I’m doing on there. I wanted to be a part of it and see if I can help.”
As for moving into leadership, Ramsey’s reasoning is straightforward: “The more that I could influence good decisions, I thought it was a positive thing. I guess, you call it selfless or selfish, but I feel like I have a good head for what’s best for the community versus what’s best for me mentality. Because ironically, what’s best for the community is what’s best for me.”
What do you see as the role of the TBID?
“They always use the expression we have to get heads in beds. In the simplest form, it’s the bottom line. If we invest this, then we get that.
But in reality, it’s more organic than that. If we could create a music festival — and all of TBID’s money went to just a music festival that drove heads in beds — it may not be that they put a head in bed that day, but it may be moving the ball forward, and people see some value in our town and some excitement. You can’t focus on the bottom line, and it’s hard to quantify. I think it’s really about, how do we light a spotlight on this town, and how do we make the town shine bright?”
What do you hope to achieve through being Vice Chair?
For Ramsey, the answer ties directly to his broader vision for the community—helping create a sustainable, thriving town where collaboration trumps competition. When new hotels like Reset and Wren opened, Ramsey celebrated them publicly. “I cheer them on and brag and share their posts, because now more people are getting a different offering of our city, and there’s more clientele, and they’re excited about our city, and they may want to also influence and be a part of the positive things that come to our city.”
Setting aside your Commission or Committee role, what’s your long-term vision for Twentynine Palms?
“The long term vision is helping create a self sustaining community. Help support other people moving here and other businesses, champion them on, and seeing that we have positive growth. That we can have a thriving community of creators and artists and people, that kids can grow up here.
One of the things coming here that I was hoping to do—when I arrived, everyone said 29 was the least desirable destination for people in the military, and I was hoping to change that perception. My father was a Marine in Vietnam and I’ve always been proud of that. It broke my heart that the Marines were not proud of the town they were stationed in. Because of that, I wanted to add something special to 29 Palms.
The community didn’t have a lot of things where the kids in the community could work in the summer, or work after school, and kind of be inspired.
When they can go to the businesses in town, whether it’s Grnd Sqrl or Kitchen in the Desert [for the 29 Palms Music Series Committee kick off event at Tin Town], they can see, wow, these entrepreneurs have put something out there. They’ve created something. They’ve maybe taken ideas from outside of town and brought them inside of town. It doesn’t have to just be one way.”
Video supporting the successful campaign by the 29 Palms Music Series Committee to fund concerts at Freedom Plaza. (Video: Ted Meyer)
Again, setting aside your Commission or Committee role, what steps are you taking to realize that vision?
Ramsey’s approach is fundamentally about collaboration and maintaining a positive outlook. “I’m loving just seeing how much has taken off since I’ve been here. At first, I thought that I would have to do everything myself. And then quickly, I found out that nobody cares about me, and there’s so many better ideas than what I have, so many more people collaborating outside of my zone, that it’s just such a beautiful thing seeing the fabric of this town happen.”
He emphasizes the importance of attitude: “We’re either growing and we’re going to become a city that’s just not worth anything — that’s filled with strip malls and fast food — or we’re going to have artists come in and business people that are creative, that are living here, doing something. The more creative types and unique businesses that can take up our boarded up buildings and shops and make them special, the more we have a town that we can hold on to that is worth anything.”
There are factions within the Twentynine Palms community, especially the accommodations and business community, who feel their needs and businesses are not receiving the attention they deserve. How do you feel the City can better work toward unifying those factions and ensuring that all businesses feel supported?
Ramsey doesn’t shy away from this sensitive topic. “I think that question goes back to two things. One, positive attitude—we got to keep positive attitudes, because the second you go into complaining, that brings everything down. The other thing is, the TBID can’t help every business. They can’t. It’s not even their mission statement to necessarily help the businesses. They’re not able to do everything. But what you can do is get involved and be a part of it, and try to come up with some positive ideas.”
He continues: “I do think the TBID tries to do a really good job of supporting the community, supporting the businesses, and highlighting the businesses. We put up billboards in Los Angeles or on the highway to the desert, and it’s impossible to quantify what that actually does. Sometimes they [potential tourists or residents] may decide to come here two years later. They may buy a house three years later. You don’t know what that actually does. So you really have to focus on your business and what you’re doing, and if you’re wanting any help, get involved.”
What have you learned about yourself through serving on a city body and being in a leadership position?
Ramsey laughs at this question before answering with characteristic humility: “You actually have to listen to other people’s opinions and ideas more than you thought you might. Other people’s ideas and opinions are sometimes better than your ideas and opinions—shockingly. That was shocking, how often that might happen.”
It’s this combination of enthusiasm, self-awareness, and genuine belief in community collaboration that makes Ramsey an effective advocate for Twentynine Palms. As he puts it: “That positive energy is what moves the ball forward. Because we all know how hard it is in the summer…we don’t have as much foot traffic as Joshua Tree, but all those excuses just kill you.”
Name one thing residents can do to work towards change in their community.
His answer is simple and direct: “Support small businesses. Share it with your friends. Bring your friends in. Just show up for events. Help your neighbor. That’s it. Help your neighbor.”
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I'm a resident of 29 Palms, a writer and editor who has owned a place here since 2017 but started living here full-time (more or less) a year ago. I completely agree with Ramsey on the need for construction standards. I also think that if the town wants to attract the kind of people he's talking about (that would be great) we need basic amenities. Not just the Luckie Park outdoor pool that's only open in the summer and super crowded with kids, but a community center, YMCA type place with dance classes (desperately needed!), an indoor pool, tennis courts, racquetball, gym - although Total Fitness isn't bad, actually. A coffeehouse/cafe that's big and grungy/alternative with good internet....OK, I'm dreaming.