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$7,850,000
Old Las Palmas SubDv. 5 Beds 7 Baths 8,012 SqFt. ACTIVE Status PS-26832483 MLS
Hidden behind walls and gates in Old Las Palmas, The Cloisters, known to many as Casa de Liberace, stands among the most celebrated residential estates in Palm Springs. Built in 1930 by Alvah Hicks, whose work helped shape the city during its formative years, this extraordinary Spanish Colonial Revival residence spans more than 8,000 square feet and unfolds through a series of courtyards, gardens, fountains, and architectural spaces rich with character and history. Extensively renovated and carefully stewarded over the years, the estate preserves the craftsmanship and authenticity that define its legacy while embracing the expectations of modern luxury living. Public rooms are extraordinary in both scale and craftsmanship, with original details carefully preserved throughout the estate, including Hispano-Moresque tilework, vintage mirrors, decorative ironwork, and architectural elements rarely found today. The formal living room features vaulted truss and beamed ceilings, Spanish tile flooring, a fireplace, and steel-framed glass doors that open to expansive brick terraces. The formal dining room continues the home's rich architectural character and provides an elegant setting for entertaining. The family room showcases massive hand-hewn beams, a second fireplace, and direct access to the surrounding grounds. A gracious loggia overlooks the gardens, outdoor fireplace, and gathering spaces beyond. The gourmet kitchen honors the home's architectural heritage with soapstone counters, rich mahogany finishes, and a handsome butler's pantry. A dramatic gallery lined with ensuite guest rooms creates both architectural interest and exceptional privacy throughout the estate. Among the home's most memorable spaces is the billiard room, distinguished by a dramatic barrel-vaulted ceiling, clerestory windows, a fireplace adorned with a cast sandstone frieze, and direct access to the namesake cloister courtyard framed by magnificent mountain views. Nearby, a richly detailed den provides a quiet retreat. Privately situated within its own wing, the primary suite is reached through a dedicated vestibule and features ornate wood ceilings, generous proportions, and baths that continue the home's remarkable collection of period tilework and original details. Additional guest accommodations open directly to the pool courtyard. The resort-style pool and spa enjoy a spectacular orientation and dramatic mountain backdrop. Entertaining is effortless with a poolside kitchen, bar seating, pass-through service window, and a substantial outdoor fireplace anchoring the gathering spaces. Adding to the home's lore is a hidden bar reminiscent of a 1920s speakeasy. An exterior stairway leads to a second-story viewing deck offering sweeping 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains and desert landscape. The estate also enjoys a remarkable setting adjacent to O'Donnell Golf Club and just one block west of Palm Canyon Drive. Rich in history and impossible to replicate, The Cloisters represents a rare opportunity to become the next steward of one of Palm Springs' most significant residential estates.

501 North Belardo Road, Palm Springs

$19,500,000
Old Las Palmas SubDv. 12 Beds 16 Baths 15,975 SqFt. ACTIVE Status 00-26843953 MLS
The Harold Matzner Estate occupies a private promontory above Old Las Palmas where the San Jacinto range rises directly behind the compound and the full sweep of the Coachella Valley opens below a position no other residential address in the desert shares, on nearly an acre and a half of assembled ground comprising three structures, nearly 16,000 square feet, eleven bedrooms, sixteen bathrooms, and multiple pools and spas across two fully realized estates and a guesthouse.The main residence at 555 North Patencio Road was originally designed in 1982 by renowned brutalist architect Laszlo Sandor, (A.I.A.). The interiors by Steve Chase result in a timeless combination of architecture and design regularly celebrated whose work defined the aesthetic and vernacular of desert luxury for a generation. The homes have a fortress-like experience with a focus on function, honesty in materials and sculptural quality. Its architecture is uncluttered and horizontal, built around a single organizing principle: Light. Hallmark Chase details like raked plaster walls and natural stone flooring move through the interior, their texture alive at every hour as the desert sun crosses the compound catching at dawn along the entrance hall, settling into warmth across the great room by afternoon, receding at dusk to something quieter and more considered. Architectural Digest devoted a full feature to the property in May 1983, the first owner having commissioned a second layer of interiors by Jack E. Lowrance for the occasion testament to a house already considered among the most significant residential works in the desert. For all its scale, the residence lives with a remarkable intimacy soaring volumes that draw inward rather than expand outward, each room organizing itself around a human moment rather than an architectural statement. The great room opens entirely to the terrace through a retractable wall of glass, dissolving the boundary between interior and desert. A sunken conversation space anchors the living room gathered below the principal floor, oriented toward the wide opening to the mountain beyond a room that manages to feel both intimate and boundless. Stone floors carry throughout, a Steinway anchoring the living room alongside Asian art and antiquities accumulated over four decades with a collector's deliberateness giving the residence the quality of a place continuously deepened rather than ever simply finished.The second residence at 575 North Patencio is a fully resolved estate in its own right, its architectural language distinct but its conviction equal. The entrance hall rises to a sweeping curved staircase, a grand piano centered on a raised circular platform below a rain chandelier. The great room reaches double height, the valley visible through glass on three sides. The master bath curved black stone, a suspended rain shower open to a skylight above, a slit window framing the palm canopy and valley beyond carries the same architectural seriousness as everything around it. One room is carved into the boulder face of the mountain itself, a stone fireplace set into the rock, the terrace visible through a full width of glass beyond.The guesthouse, finished to the standard of both residences, offers a world entirely its own private, self-contained, and quietly removed from the life of the compound. It was here that the film festival's most celebrated guests found their desert. Sale includes the following APNs 505-312-011 and 505-312-014 (555 N Patencio Rd and 575 N Patencio Rd)

555 North Patencio Road, Palm Springs