From Elvis to Frank Sinatra, these celebrities once called Palm Springs home
For decades, famous actors, musicians and dignitaries have called the Coachella Valley home.
Liberace, the superstar pianist, once owned four homes in Palm Springs. Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, rented the Honeymoon Hideaway before purchasing a home nearby in Little Tuscany.
While it isn't necessarily a celebrity home, Sunnylands, the former Annenberg estate, has hosted U.S. presidents and foreign leaders.
As more celebrities, like the Kardashian-Jenner family, continue to buy property in the valley, here's a look at some of the desert's most famous residents and their homes.
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Elvis Presley
The most iconic Presley estate is often referred to as the "Honeymoon Hideaway," "Alexander Estate" or "House of Tomorrow."
Located at 1350 Ladera Circle, a few blocks west of Palm Canyon Drive, the home was built in 1962 by developer Robert Alexander.
The home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and is more than 5,000 square feet. It is designed from four circles, which float on three different levels.
Presley leased the home for one year from 1966 to 1967, according to the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. It was there where he and Priscilla Presley began their honeymoon.
The Vista Las Palmas neighborhood home sold in November 2022 for $5.65 million. It was on the market for only 10 days before accepting an offer for its full asking price, according to its listing agent.
A few years after leasing his first Palm Springs home, Presley bought one nearby at 845 W. Chino Canyon in 1970.
The four-bedroom, seven-bathroom home was built in 1946 and is more than 5,000 square feet. Designed by Albert Frey, the Chino Canyon home was one of Spanish colonial design.
Following Presley's death in 1977, musician Frankie Valli purchased the home for $500,000.
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Lucille Ball
"I Love Lucy" star Lucille Ball frequented the desert as a visitor — often as a guest at the Racquet Club — for several years before eventually purchasing property here.
In 1954, she and husband/costar Desi Arnaz commissioned architect Paul R. Williams, who designed their ranch home in Chatsworth, to create a mid-century modern home for the pair and their two children, Lucie and Desi Jr., in Frank Bogert’s latest project: Thunderbird Country Club. They were among the new development's first residents, helping cement its legacy.
Although we've yet to find a reputable source prove this, legend has it that Arnaz won the piece of land near the 17th fairway of Thunderbird where they built their home in a poker game.
Lucie Arnaz, who moved back to the Coachella Valley in 2015, has commented on the choice of neighborhood as surprising for her parents, who were at the height of their career when they built a home even farther from Hollywood in Rancho Mirage.
Liberace
The famous pianist and entertainer owned several homes throughout Southern California, including four in Palm Springs.
His most iconic residence was The Cloisters, located on Alejo and Belardo roads. The home, built in the 1920s across the street from Our Lady of Solitude Church, was originally named Villa Theresa for the builder's wife.
The home was purchased in 1936 by Muriel Fulton and expanded before becoming a bed and breakfast called The Cloisters. Liberace later bought it.
He also owned a home off North Kaweah Road in the Las Palmas neighborhood. The home, which he lived in during the late 1950s and early 1960s, was open to the public during Modernism Week in 2015.
More: Liberace fans congregate in Palm Springs for late entertainer's 100th birthday
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra was first introduced to the Coachella Valley by Jimmy Van Heusen in the 1940s.
In his middle and later years, Sinatra lived in Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert.
One of his former residences, the "Twin Palms" home in Palm Springs by famed architect E. Stewart Williams that he lived in for five years, can be rented for photo shoots and events. But others, such as the Rancho Mirage compound he lived in from 1954 to 1995, are private residences.
For the first time in Modernism Week's 17-year history, the February 2023 event featured a tour of Frank Sinatra's private retreat "Villa Maggio," tucked away in the mountains of Highway 74 in Pinyon Crest.
The seven-acre property was built for Sinatra in 1970. Each of the three houses was built with locally sourced materials featuring natural stone and hardwoods to blend in with the natural environment. With a total of eight bedrooms, 12? bathrooms and nine fireplaces, Sinatra had no trouble entertaining at his mountain retreat.
More: Modernism Week 2023: A peek inside Sinatra’s ‘Villa Maggio’ mountain retreat
Dinah Shore
The 1964 Wexler at 432 W. Hermosa Place sits on 1.3 acres and includes 6 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. In addition to the main house, there's a guest house overlooking the pool and a tennis court casita.
It's now owned by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who primarily uses it as a vacation rental and allows people to use it for special events, charging $4,500 a night with a two-night minimum.
Three of the home's bedrooms are part of the "guest quarters" wing. The main bedroom near the entrance is tucked away behind a door without a doorknob.
The home also has floor-to-ceiling windows.
More: Modernists gather at Leonardo DiCaprio's Dinah Shore estate
Bob Hope
The most gargantuan celebrity home in the Coachella Valley previously belonged to Bob Hope.
Built in 1980 for the Hope family, the John Lautner-designed house sits at the top of Southridge Drive, with a sweeping view of the San Jacinto Mountains and Palm Springs. The house's concrete frame and turtle-shell-shaped roof includes 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms around a central atrium. The 6.18-acre property features a pool, waterfall and private tennis court.
The iconic Palm Springs house was purchased in the fall of 2016 by Ron Burkle, an investor who has amassed a collection of notable homes. Burkle purchased the property through a limited liability company for $13 million, just over a quarter of the house's original asking price of $50 million.
More: Bob Hope house, Pond estate sales cap off hot Palm Springs summer
More: Bob Hope house sold to investor Ron Burkle for $13M
Walter and Leonore Annenberg
Sunnylands is the 200-acre former winter estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg. In the mid-1960s, the pair hired interior designer William Haines and Los Angeles-based architect A. Quincy Jones to create a mid-century modern residence on the property, and the result was a 25,000-square-foot acclaimed structure that people still tour to this day.
The couple, publishers of TV Guide and other periodicals, gave more than $3 billion in grants and gifts to universities, medical centers and other cultural and civic organizations.
They were also known for hosting both American and international politicians at the property. In 2013, President Barack Obama met with China's President Xi Jinping at the storied property. In 2001, the couple established The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands to ensure the estate remained a place where world leaders could meet to discuss issues of national and international importance.
Sunnylands currently offers guests free access to its garden and visitor center. Visitors can view the residence by reserving their spot on the Historic House Tour for $55, take a guided, open-air shuttle ride throughout the grounds for $28, take a guided 60-minute walking tour of the property for $26 or experience a 90-minute guided birding tour of the property for $39.
More: Sunnylands Center & Gardens to feature exhibition on its famed designer William Haines
Shane Newell previously covered breaking news and the western Coachella Valley cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs. Desert Sun features editor Niki Kottmann updated this story in September 2023. Those updates pulled from previous reporting from various Desert Sun staffers and freelancers including Tracy Conrad, Bruce Fessier, James B. Cutchin and Brian Blueskye.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: From Elvis to Sinatra: These celebrities once called Palm Springs home
