A sprawling gated estate in Palm Springs' Old Las Palmas neighborhood has hit the market for $12,675,000, and its biggest selling point isn't just the mountain views or the nearly four acres of land — it's a mid-century pool house built for Hollywood legend Cary Grant. Known as Villa Paradiso, the compound at 457 W Hermosa Place includes four separate structures, roughly 200 mature palm trees and a history that stretches back nearly a century.
Palm Springs' city historic-resource inventory identifies the property as originally built in 1928 by developer and builder Alva H. Hicks, who also served as a member of Palm Springs' first City Council. The listing shared by modernlivingpalmsprings.com describes Villa Paradiso as a legendary gated compound set on nearly four flat acres, complete with unobstructed mountain views and roughly 200 mature palms shading the grounds.
The approximately 7,500-square-foot main residence anchors the property, while a separate report from Yahoo puts the full estate at eight bedrooms and 14 bathrooms across 15,000 square feet. The main house includes a two-story foyer, an Italian rotunda with hand-painted ceilings, and design elements blending Mediterranean and Moorish influences, according to the seed reporting from the Press-Enterprise.
The Pool House Built for a Hollywood Icon
The estate's signature feature is a pool house that, per Mike Patakas, was built for Cary Grant and his then-wife Dyan Cannon in the mid-1960s by Charlie Rich, a one-time owner and co-operator of the Las Vegas Dunes Hotel, as reported by the Press-Enterprise. The structure combines mid-century modern and Hollywood Regency styles, also per Patakas, and features an indoor-outdoor lounge with a bar and floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the pool terrace and main house.
Yahoo's report adds further texture to the pool house's design, describing a four-seat bar, a slide-away wall that opens onto the poolside patio, and walls painted with a jungle-themed mural. Grant reportedly gave the compound its name, according to the listing cited by Yahoo, and he is said to have spent time at the pool house with his family, per the Press-Enterprise's reporting. Dyan Cannon, who was Grant's fourth wife and later acted in Heaven Can Wait, shared in that Palm Springs chapter of his life.
Grant's daughter, Jennifer Grant, wrote about weekend getaways at what she called Uncle Charlie's estate, and in 2011 she published Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant, according to the Press-Enterprise's reporting.
A Winding Ownership History
Villa Paradiso's past owners read like a Palm Springs who's who. Alva H. Hicks built the estate for a Chicago heiress in 1928, according to the city inventory cited in the seed reporting. Donald Duncan, the businessman behind Good Humor Ice Cream who also helped popularize the yo-yo, later lived at the estate — and lore attached to his ownership includes an allegation that Frank Sinatra slugged Duncan's bartender during a 1949 cocktail party, per the Press-Enterprise. Actress and dancer Ann Miller also briefly owned the property.
More recently, Toni Holt Kramer and Robert Kramer purchased the property for $1.3 million in January 1995, according to the Press-Enterprise. Toni Holt Kramer, a former entertainment reporter who authored Unstoppable Me and co-founded Trumpettes USA — a group established in 2015 that supports Donald Trump — once described the Palm Springs home as a mini Mar-a-Lago, per that same report. Robert Kramer worked as an auto dealer.
Historic Status and Listing Details
The property is currently identified as a Class 3 Site, according to the listing at modernlivingpalmsprings.com, and does not hold official Class 1 historic designation, per the Press-Enterprise. A future owner could pursue Class 1 designation and potentially qualify for property tax benefits under the Mills Act, the outlet reports.
Grounds include a formal motor court, a climate-controlled four-car garage, red barrel tile roofs, covered dining loggias, and a central reflecting pond with a bronze sculpture. The listing materials name the Mike and Maria Patakas Team with Desert Sotheby's International Realty as representing the property, with Mike Patakas and Maria Patakas sharing the listing with Ernie Carswell and Spencer Daley of Carswell and Associates, affiliated with Sotheby's International Realty. Yahoo's report, however, names James Gault at Compass as the listing's representative — the two accounts differ on who currently represents the sale.
Villa Paradiso previously listed for $13 million in 2017, according to Yahoo, suggesting the current $12,675,000 asking price sits modestly below where the estate was priced nearly a decade earlier.
