Glitzy Hollywood Regency Lair Up for Grabs in Palm Springs’ Most Over-the-Top Enclave

Located in the San Jacinto Hills overlooking the Coachella valley, the gated community known as Southridge is Palm Springs’ most exclusive neighborhood. Within this tract are two world-renowned homes by John Lautner — the Arthur Elrod Residence, made famous from its appearance in the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever,” and the awe-inspiring Bob and Dolores Hope House — as well as two residences designed by acclaimed Desert Modernist Hugh Kaptur, one of which was owned by Steve McQueen and the other by William Holden.

Another of the tiny enclave’s notable abodes is one produced in 1971 by architect Charles Du Bois. Born in the hamlet of Mexico, New York, in 1903, Du Bois began his career as a draftsman in the prestigious firms of Walker and Eisen and Horatio W. Bishop before opening his own office on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1938. He also spent a few years working as a senior set designer for MGM during World War II, an experience that undoubtedly informed the theatrical bent of his residential designs, which include the exaggerated A-frames known as “Swiss Misses” found in Palm Springs’ Vista Las Palmas development.

In contrast to the exemplars of organic modernism produced by Lautner and Kaptur, which mimic and merge with their rugged surroundings, the Hollywood Regency-style residence Du Bois produced in Southridge sees no need to hide its light under the proverbial bushel. That goes double for the home’s interior, which underwent a makeover in 2005 by prolific interior decorator Carleton Varney, a Dorothy Draper protegé whose flamboyant stylings earned him the moniker “Mr. Color.”

As detailed in a 2008 feature in Architectural Digest, Varney’s overhaul of the approximately 5,000-square-foot house included converting a bedroom and an office into an expanded kitchen and butler’s pantry. Other alterations and embellishments included covering the walls of the entry hall in an emerald-green banana-leaf print mural and — no surprise since Varney and Draper were both adamant that vertical stripes make any room appear taller! — reimagining the breakfast room as a tented cabana. Additional melodramatic touches include a dazzling assortment of oversize crystal chandeliers and terrazzo tile floors.

While the two-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home’s extravagant and bespoke design choices may not be everyone’s cup of oolong, certainly no one would be able to find fault with the spectacular views and colorful sunsets that are more than a match for the house’s eye-catching interior.

Last sold in 2003 for $1.9 million, the .39-acre property is now on the market with an asking price of $4.45 million. Keith Markovitz of TTK Represents at Compass holds the listing.