The Road to Fame and Fortune
Stars and “starchitects” made Palm Springs the grandest of A-list party pads. Follow us for an eye-popping tour of some iconic celebrity houses
Fascination with celebrity never dies. The desire to connect to Hollywood — the excitement, the razzle-dazzle — remains as strong today as it was in the ’50s. And Palm Springs will always be part of that Tinseltown allure. Locals and visitors still marvel at many celebrities’ houses, some for their architectural prowess, others for their curious history. That’s why we hit the road to learn more about them. Think of this as a do-it-yourself celebrity home tour. The houses we visited are easily accessible and beyond architectural mystique. The road trip steers you into some of the most divine neighborhoods in the Coachella Valley, each revealing a fabulous slice of history and many offering some of the most unforgettable views to boot. Buckle up!
470 Vista Chino, Palm Springs
The Lowdown: A star in its own right, this architectural darling is one of the most famous houses in the desert, if not one of the most lauded in the United States. Built in 1946 and designed by master architect Richard Neutra, its handsome, abstract modern design drew attention when Pittsburgh department store titan Edgar J. Kaufmann used it as a vacation hot spot. But it was Grammy winner Barry Manilow who kept the house’s celebrity soaring when he purchased it as his first Palm Springs residence in the early ’70s. Resting on more than 2.5 acres, the house certainly has character: five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a pool, pool house (actually a “viewing pavilion” for the main structure), tennis court, and plenty of architectural eye candy. Architecture lovers Brent and Beth Harris restored the house in the mid-’90s, returning some of its original luster, including a sheet-metal portico. The house’s dollar value in millions when Christie’s auctioned it as a work of art in 2007.
70588 Frank Sinatra Drive, Rancho Mirage
The Lowdown: Big, bold, and lavish. With eight buildings on the property, which sits at the base of Tamarisk Country Club, we expected nothing less. The main house, where Sinatra lived between 1954 and 1995, is said to be nearly 8,000 square feet. Guest quarters chime in at 4,500 square feet. Trains big and small — a fascination of Sinatra’s — appear in and outside of the main house. An orange railway car at the side of the main house — a rectangular Mecca inside — includes a waiting room, barber salon, and sauna. The number of celebrity portraits commissioned by Sinatra that still hang on the walls. Among them: Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Ronald Reagan, Eva Gabor, Jayne Mansfield, Bob and Dolores Hope, and two of Marilyn Monroe.
Marilyn Monroe
1326 Rose Ave., Palm Springs
The Lowdown: This ’50s bungalow-style house is classic old Hollywood and kept the way Marilyn would have had it when she resided there in 1960 and 1961 — abundantly adorned with wildflowers, evergreens, and palms. From its sharp, black-and-white canopies on the patio to the creative layout of the front stairways, wonderfully accented with Spanish tiles, this is the most beautiful house on the block and one of the most famous in the Las Palmas area.
Liberace
226 Alejo Road/501 Belardo Road, Palm Springs
The Lowdown: Dubbed The Cloisters when it was a boutique hotel in the ’60s, this Spanish-Mexican-colonial-style masterpiece deceives the eye. From the front, it appears smaller than it is. It has also lost some of the dazzle that the famed pianist gave it while living here beginning in 1967. (Purchase price: $200,000, plus $130,000 in renovations.) Its five bedrooms had already been converted to guest suites when Liberace arrived, but the flamboyant Grammy winner turned them into theme rooms. The Valentino Room featured a sleigh bed, and there was a Persian tent room off to the side of the pool. Other marvels: a master bedroom so large one tour guide noted that you could fit a small house within it. Beyond that, the house has many crystal chandeliers, numerous antiques, and a small chapel (Liberace was said to have prayed daily in a shrine dedicated to St. Anthony) to fan away any residual boredom. Liberace reportedly died here in February 1987. The eccentric singer was said to have taken to living in the garage at one point.
457 Hermosa Place, Palm Springs
The Lowdown: When you think of a “Hollywood” home, this is what you envision — bold, much like Miller’s personality. The extravagant stomping grounds of the acclaimed actress (Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade, Broadway’s Sugar Babies) sit on one of the biggest lots in the Las Palmas neighborhood. Hard to miss, the salmon-toned, two-story gem with Spanish ceramic roof was built in 1928. Perks include a swimming pool and plenty of green lawn. At the moment, patriotism also factors in — an American flag flies proudly above the house every day. KTLA personality Toni Holt owns the historic estate with her husband, Robert Kramer. This is rumored to be the place where, during a festive cocktail party, Frank Sinatra slugged a bartender for not correctly making him an extra dry martini.
1123 Via Monte Vista, Palm Springs
The Lowdown: Martin was said to be one of the last to have purchased a midcentury modern jewel from the father-and-son architecture pioneers George and Robert Alexander, who died with other family members in a plane crash in 1965. Martin purchased the house for $56,000 and luxuriated there with his second wife, Jeanne, in the ’60s and ’70s. (She is still sighted here on occasion.) The tan-and-white motif, coupled with several lush palms and boulders, add to the stellar and memorable modern design. Number of Martin’s grandchildren who were often seen at their lemonade stand, offering refreshments to onlookers fascinated with the home’s celebrity history.
Loretta Young
1075 Manzanita Ave., Palm Springs
The Lowdown: The star of classic films The Bishop’s Wife, Call of the Wild, The Farmer’s Daughter, Come to the Stable, and TV’s The Loretta Young Show, Young moved into this pristine dwelling in 1993. Standouts here included a stunning, circular, white living room; 14-foot ceilings; and a suspended fireplace. Young died in 2000, and the property sold in 2001 for more than $630,000, easily double what she had paid for it. Note the beautifully trimmed hedges, which Young is said to have attended to personally with a pair of scissors. At Christmastime, Young purportedly filled the house with angel figurines and heavily decorated the exterior of the property with them as well.
Barbara Steisand and James Brolin
555 Patencio Road, Palm Springs
The Lowdown: Oscar- and Tony-winner Streisand and Brolin must enjoy plenty of marital conversation in this striking mid-century modern standout, perched on its own mini-mountain. The famous couple also enjoys breathtaking valley vistas from the main house, situated behind a much larger-appearing guest mansion. A long, gated driveway is every bit of 20 degrees and decorated with tall palms on each side. The guest mansion’s patio sports a classic Hollywood canopy. Meanwhile, the main quarters have plenty of windows for the views.
This article appears in the September 2010 issue of Palm Springs Life
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Cary Grant’s Former Home in Palm Springs
by hookedonhouses on May 12, 2011
Okay, so I have what could be called a small obsession with Cary Grant. He’s one of my all-time favorite movie stars, and when I’m having a bad day, there’s nothing like watching one of his comedies to cheer me up. So when I saw that his former home in Palm Springs, California, was on the market, I had to check it out!
It’s a 1927 Spanish house that sits on 1.54 acres and was Grant’s Hollywood hideaway for 20 years.
The Great Room features a 40-ft vaulted ceiling:
The Guest Wing was designed by Wallace Neff, who was also responsible for Reese Witherspoon’s country house in Ojai and Amanda’s house in The Holiday, among many others.
The house doesn’t look very big, but there are 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, and 5 fireplaces.
Another great feature of the house are these gorgeous blue shutters:
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Bing Crosby’s Estate Thunderbird Estates Palm
Springs
by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Dec 7th 2010 at 1:01PM
The home is on more than an acre of land in the Thunderbird Heights community. The five-bedroom home combines an Asian theme with a dose of with Hollywood memorabilia. Legend has it that President John Kennedy met with Marilyn Monroe here back in 1962 and one two-bedroom suite in the house is named the Kennedy Suite and decorated with images of the young president and Marilyn Monroe. The Kennedy suite has a full-sized living area and a private entrance. The master suite has a fireplace and a spa. Much of the home opens to an outdoor swimming pool and spa with fireplaces and a custom-designed putting green.
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BOB HOPE HOUSE
2466 Southridge Drive, Palm Springs Ca.
The largest house in Palm Springs, at 17,531 square feet, 6 bedrooms, on over 3 acres of the most incredible piece of real estate in the entire desert, This is also the most recognizable–and most gawked at–building in Palm Springs. The only way to get a really good look is to either get a ride up with a Realtor under the pretense of seeing a house for sale in Southridge, or to hike around the home using the trail that starts at the corner of East Palm Canyon Drive and Southridge. This is a private home in a gated community so interior shots are hard to find.
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The Lucy House Palm Springs
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The William Holden Estate
2433 Southridge Dr, Palm Springs, CA
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Steve Mcqueen
The King of Cool
2203 Southridge Dr, Palm Springs
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Frank Sinatra
Twin Palms Estate Palm Springs
Sinatra House was originally designed by E. Stewart Williams in 1947 for Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy Barbato. The Twin Palms Estate is a spectacular example of mid-century architecture in the heart of Palm Springs. The estate boasts mid-century style luxury and historical significance with modern amenities. This Palm Springs architectural gem features period furnishings and the famous piano-shaped swimming pool.
The legendary residence was host to some of the valley’s most glamorous parties with Hollywood’s brightest stars of the day. The estate was named after the twin palm trees, located poolside; at the time they were the tallest trees in the valley.
