Renovated California ‘House of Tomorrow’ where Elvis slept seeks $5.7 million

2022-10-16 08:46:32 By : Mr. Andy Yang

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The towering wood-carved entry doors. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The living room. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The dining platform. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The kitchen was duplicated down to the circular center island and equipped with modern cabinets, counters and appliances. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The family room. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

Inside the large combination bathroom and dressing room are original built-in wardrobe closets and a circular tub. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The built-in wardrobe closets. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The private balcony off the primary suite. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The pool. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

The restored carport. (Photo by Chris Miller/One Point Media Group)

A Palm Springs midcentury-modern home inextricably tied to newlyweds Elvis and Priscilla Presley as their “Honeymoon Hideaway” is on the market in all its 1960s glory.

The asking price is $5.65 million.

Architect William Krisel designed the four-bedroom, five-bathroom, 4,695-square-foot home for developer Robert Alexander of Alexander Construction Co. fame and his family. Completed in 1960, it sits on a nearly half-acre lot in the Villa Las Palmas neighborhood alongside other well-maintained Alexanders of the era.

Alexander and his father, George, founded the residential development company instrumental in transforming Palm Springs into a modern architecture enclave. The company ended abruptly in 1965 when a chartered plane carrying the Alexander men and their wives crashed in the San Jacinto Mountains shortly after takeoff, killing all eight people, including the pilot on board.

One of the most-publicized Alexander homes was the one Robert Alexander shared with his wife, Helene, and their young daughter, Jill (who was not on board the plane). Look magazine declared it the “House of Tomorrow” in an eight-page spread in 1962. But it was the King of Rock and Roll and his bride who put the home on the map.

They honeymooned there in 1967, earning it the nickname “Honeymoon Hideaway.”

Past listings show the Elvis theme lived on. Movie posters, novelty furnishings and a pink canopy bed graced the house until it  traded hands in December 2020 for $2.6 million.

The new owners’ interest lay in the architecture.

According to listing agent Marc Sanders of Compass, they set out “to keep the house in its original form, but make it comfortable to today’s standards, with updated bathrooms and kitchen and mechanicals.”

Though primarily a home renovation, they restored several original features. That included tearing out a fifth-bedroom addition and reopening the garage, returning it to a carport. The kitchen, which opens to the family room, was duplicated down to the circular center island and equipped with modern cabinets, counters and appliances.

Terrazzo floors, fireplaces and the swimming pool also got a refresh.

As Sanders put it, “When somebody walks in the house, we want the focus to be on the architecture.”

The Alexander residence features a wide-winged roofline over four circular pods. Beyond the towering wood-carved entry doors, the house reveals floor-to-ceiling glass, clerestory windows and a low-slung upholstered sofa that hugs the living room’s curved stone wall.

A ceiling-mounted fireplace with a floating hearth anchors the space.

Glass walls separate the dining platform from the terrace’s large swimming pool.

A curved glass wall wraps the upstairs primary suite. Inside the large combination bathroom and dressing room are original built-in wardrobe closets and a circular tub. A private balcony allows for “a discrete observation deck,” the listing reads.

All bedrooms are ensuite, and two share an outdoor terrace.

Want to see more? Modernism Week-goers can be the first to see the newly renovated Alexander house on the $65 “House of Tomorrow Home Tour,” through Oct. 16. Tickets are available at go.modtix.com.

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