Cary Grant’s Former Palm Springs Weekend Retreat Lists for $12.7 Million
Villa Paradiso features four separate houses across four acres and is part of the iconic Old Las Palmas enclave
A sprawling Palm Springs estate where Hollywood legend Cary Grant was known to vacation is on the market. Listed for $12.68 million, Villa Paradiso is a four-acre gated estate with eight bedrooms and nine full baths. Grant favored the pool house as a weekend retreat in an era when he starred in classics such as 1963’s Stanley Donen-directed Charade. While the Hollywood legend never officially owned the property, he was a longstanding guest of hotelier Charlie “Kewpie” Rich.
Located at 475 West Hermosa Place, this historic property is part of Old Las Palmas, an iconic residential enclave in Palm Springs. For the past century, this area has been known as a premier playground for Hollywood’s elite. Past and current residents of Old Las Palmas include Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Liberace, Goldie Hawn, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Grant coined the name Villa Paradiso for the circa-1928 enclave. It boasts four separate quarters and is one of the largest private lots in Palm Springs. Design features include hand-painted ceilings, five partial baths, a two-story foyer, and a sculptured outdoor water fountain.
“Villa Paradiso is an original estate compound built in the 1920s by the visionary developer of the Old Las Palmas neighborhood, which evolved into a favored hideaway and entertaining community for Hollywood elite,” listing agent Ernie Carswell of Sotheby’s International Realty tells Galerie.
“At the time, Palm Springs was a destination for wealthy Los Angeles society when they built large compounds, not year-round homes,” Carswell explains. “These were built to entertain, and house guests, and those guests increasingly became Hollywood movie stars who were required to abide by the studio’s two-hour rule for escape; actors needed to stay within two hours of LA during filming.”
In addition to Cary Grant, adds Carswell, this particular estate also has ties to Anne Miller, who briefly owned the property during the mid-century era, and Howard Hughes, who, as a guest, began drafting his plan for the Spruce Goose airplane while lounging around the expansive pool.
“There is no other large estate [of this stature] remaining, other than the historic Annenberg estate, Sunnylands, now preserved for the public to enjoy,” says Carswell. “Villa Paradiso is a one-of-a-kind offering, available for private purchase and enjoyment.”
