Category: Glitz and Glam

1240 PASATIEMPO ROAD
PALM SPRINGS

Cameron Crowe called this Movie Colony East residence home during his early years before relocating with his family, first to nearby Indio and then ultimately to San Diego, where the Hollywood multihyphenate spent his teens (as was famously depicted in his hit semi-autobiographical film “Almost Famous.”) Gorgeously renovated, the property now serves as a fashionable vacation rental known as “Fleetwood of the Desert.” Available via Airbnb, where it has become a “guest favorite,” rates start at around $700 a night.

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432 HERMOSA PLACE
PALM SPRINGS

Another Donald Wexler creation, this dwelling was crafted in 1964 for legendary singer and actress Dinah Shore. It is now perhaps even more famously pedigreed, thanks to current owner Leonardo DiCaprio, who purchased it in 2014. Don’t go looking for the “Titanic” heartthrob anywhere on the premises, though, as the property is utilized full-time as a vacation rental/event venue, meaning you, too, can book it for an extended stay and find yourself walking in the footsteps of Hollywood royalty!

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515 WEST VIA LOLA
PALM SPRINGS

Designed by Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison, this Desert Modern residence was commissioned by actress Andrea Leeds and her husband, Robert Howard, owner of the nearby Colony Palms Hotel, in 1954. Kirk Douglas snapped it up just three years later and continued to hold onto it for the next four decades, welcoming such guests as Natalie Wood, Gregory Peck and Billy Wilder during his long tenure. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn even leased the house from Douglas for two summer getaways, and Vincente Minnelli and his fourth wife, Lee Anderson, held their wedding reception there. The pad boasts yet another claim to fame, as well – it cameoed as Jill St. John’s home in the 1971 James Bond movie “Diamonds Are Forever.”

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1050 EAST RACQUET CLUB ROAD
PALM SPRINGS

Moviedom’s first child star, Jackie Coogan, who later became known for his portrayal of Uncle Fester in the original “The Addams Family” TV show, relocated to the desert in his later years, purchasing this Racquet Club Estates dwelling with his fourth wife, Dorothea, in 1966. The butterfly-roofed, William Krisel-designed pad was the actor’s last home. Dorothea sold it shortly following his passing at the age of 69 in 1984. Remodeled in the years since, it still maintains many of its original MCM elements.