A Palm Springs property formerly owned by Howard Hughes has come up for sale. Located near Bob Hope’s famous ‘UFO,’ which recently sold for $37 million less than its initial asking, the Hughes house is being listed at a reasonable $1.2 million.
The modernist home has quite a Hollywood pedigree; previous owners include Eva Gabor and writer Paul Keyes. Smokey Robinson owned it as a vacation getaway, and producer Robert Evans—who worked with auteurs Polanski and Coppola, as well as on the cursed 1984 film project ‘The Cotton Club’—enjoyed his honeymoon amid its whitewashed walls and sculpted desert-luxury landscape. Hughes, for his part, also owned it for occasional forays.
The 2,400 square foot, 3 bedroom, 3-bath house features an open floor plan, and an abundance of reflective white and off-white for a sun-drenched effect in daylight. Vaulted ceilings add to the sense of open space belying the square footage. There are 3 suites, and connected decks arranged for privacy; the master features a fireplace. The design champions a balance between solitude and socializing.
The grounds feature pool and spa, succulent-heavy desert-flora gardens, and spectacular mountain views. An abundance of glass shows off the natural landscape from most areas of the house. Howard must’ve enjoyed it when he breezed through for a weekend now and then.
Howard Hughes was a brilliant filmmaker, pilot, and aircraft designer whose ideas of aerodynamics helped usher America into the jet age; he was also one of the most financially successful Americans of the 20th century. Martin Scorsese’s 2004 biopic ‘The Aviator,’ in which Leonardo DiCaprio played the creative businessman, discussed notions of genius and eccentricity, and naturalistic capitalist innovation, in the context of the tycoon’s personal and professional life.
