Once home to a James Bond and a legendary playboy
This extraordinary mid-century home in Palm Springs is now one of the area’s most famous architectural properties. I designed the home with a “swinging 60s rat pack” vibe that captures the essence of the period in which the house was built. It works perfectly as an inviting weekend getaway that wows and welcomes its guests with the full Palm Springs experience.
I undertook an 18-month renovation that incorporated a new kitchen, screening room and guest suite. The master bathroom had to be reconfigured as it had been a movie star-scaled closet with a fur closet and vault that we certainly did not need. That was all reworked to make a new master ensuite with dressing room.
The mid-century Palm Springs home was built in 1962 by famed architect James McNaughton (a longtime Hollywood set decorator-turned-designer to the stars) for a Hollywood producer and his family. It then came into the possession of rather more famous (and infamous) inhabitants including Roger Moore and Hugh Hefner, who used it as the “Playboy in the desert” house in the 1970s.
The house is a magnificent example of mid-century meets Hollywood regency architecture. The colonnade flows both indoors and out, creating a magical ambience that blurs the lines between both. All of this work, however, was done under careful guidelines as the home is now a listed historical, cultural monument — and as such, had the be reworked like a renovation rather than a remodel.
