Bob Hope’s desert retreat sells to billionaire Ron Burkle for $13 million

The Bob and Dolores Hope estate in Palm Springs, designed by renowned Modernist architect John Lautner, has sold to billionaire Ron Burkle for $13 million.

That’s just more than half the most recent asking price of $24.999 million and considerably less than the original list price of $50 million, but still among the priciest home sales ever in the Coachella Valley community known for architecture, warm climate and Old Hollywood stars.

Sitting on 6.2 acres overlooking the valley floor, the dramatic residence was built for the Hopes in 1979. At 23,366 square feet, the concrete, steel and glass house is the largest private residence designed by Lautner.

Topped by a curving copper roof, the futuristic house includes 10 bedrooms and 13 full or partial bathrooms. There are fireplaces in the great room and master bedroom.

Murals on the main floor and the pool area were done by Malibu Getty muralist Garth Benton. Curving walls of windows allow for unobstructed city, mountain and valley views.

Outside, there’s a swimming pool, as well as a tennis court and a large pavilion with an outdoor fireplace. A pond, a waterfall, lawns and desert landscaping complete the setting.

Bob Hope, who died in 2003 at 100, appeared in scores of films, including the famous “Road” series with Bing Crosby. His career spanned vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television and film. He is also remembered for his live shows for U.S. troops overseas. Dolores Hope died in 2011 at 102.

Patrick Jordan and Stewart Smith of Bennion & Deville Homes were the listing agents. Ron de Salvo of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage represented the buyer.

Burkle has familiarity with the area and the architect, having previously owned the Elrod House. The Lautner-designed home made famous in the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever” sold earlier this year to fashion designer Jeremy Scott for $7.7 million.

Other notable sales in Palm Springs this year include the Pond Estate, which changed hands for $7.5 million; designer Marc Ware’s home, which fetched $5.75 million; and Cary Grant’s onetime Movie Colony retreat, which changed hands in May for $3.4 million.

The model for a Malibu retreat

In Malibu, $60 million can buy a beachfront retreat on two different scales.

Over in the Encinal Bluffs area, supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband, former model and businessman Rande Gerber, seek that price for a compound they purchased a year ago for $50.5 million.

Set on a bluff of roughly 3.2 acres, the gated estate has a tennis court, park-like grounds and a footpath to the beach below.

The Mediterranean-style main house, built in 1944 and newly renovated, is designed for indoor-outdoor living and has walls of glass that open to ocean-facing, wraparound decks. Living and dining rooms, a media room and a chef’s kitchen with a large island, four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms are within nearly 5,300 square feet of living space.

A swimming pool and spa, an outdoor pavilion, lawns and mature landscaping fill out the setting, listed by Chris Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker and Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency.

Or, for the individual who wants to create his or her own compound, there’s the Crummer Estate, an undeveloped 24-acre property now for sale in the heart of Malibu.

Surrounded by 360-degree mountain and ocean views, the property has been approved for five lots measuring four acres apiece. Architect Richard Landry, whose projects include some of L.A.’s largest modern mansions, designed layouts for each of the individual houses as well as the viewing corridors.

Its location, above Malibu Colony and on the ocean side of the Pacific Coast Highway, puts it among the most desirable spots in Malibu, said Rick Hilton, co-founder of Hilton & Hyland, who holds the listing with Rodrigo Iglesias. And coupled with a short supply of buildable land, it’s a rare offering.

“This may [prove to] be the last guard-gated community developed on the coast,” said Hilton. “It’s a real Picasso.”

Passing the island rose

Here’s one match that won’t play out on “The Bachelor” next season. Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts has sold her estate on the North Shore of Kauai, Hawaii, to Mike Fleiss, creator of the reality TV dating show, for $16.2 million.

Named the Faye Residence for former owner Hans Peter Faye, a prominent sugar plantation manager, the home sits on more than 200 feet of beach frontage on Kauai’s Hanalei Bay. The two-plus-acre estate includes a main house and a detached guesthouse totaling seven bedrooms and four bathrooms with nearly 3,800 square feet of living space.

The red-painted main house, built in the early 1900s, has beamed ceilings, a galley-style kitchen and walls of windows. Each structure has a covered porch that faces the ocean.

The 49-year-old Roberts won an Oscar in 2000 for her lead role in “Erin Brockovich” and garnered nominations for the films “August: Osage County” (2013), “Pretty Woman” (1990) and “Steel Magnolias” (1989).

This year she appeared in the films “Mother’s Day” and “Money Monster.”

Fleiss, 52, also created “The Bachelorette” and the “High School Reunion” reality series. His film credits include “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and “Hostel” (2005).

Neal Norman of Hawaii Life had the listing.

Purple reign of real estate

A trio of properties owned by late singer-songwriter Prince have come to market in Chanhassen, a suburb of Minneapolis.

The largest of the properties, at 1.82 acres, includes new construction of a Gonyea Homes-designed house of about 3,600 square feet. Described as a rambler with an open floor plan, the house will have a vaulted great room, a game room, four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

A stream runs through the lot, which carries an asking price of $925,000. Prince bought the property more than a decade ago for $230,000, public records show.

Listed at $1.675 million is a wooded 1.5-acre lot on Lake Riley. The property also touts new construction, including a 5,654-square-foot main house with an indoor sports court, a game room and a theater room. Five bedrooms and five bathrooms are within the proposed design.

The smallest of the properties, on slightly more than a quarter of an acre, is a 1960s ranch house of about 2,500 square feet.

Offered for about $300,000, the renovated home has an open-plan living room, a dining area and an updated kitchen and three bedrooms in more than 2,500 square feet of space. There are two fireplaces, including one in a purple-hued family/rec room.

Stephen Norton of Norton Realty holds the listings for all three properties.

Prince, who died in April at 57, was among the best-selling pop artists of all time. He won seven Grammys and an Oscar for original score for the film “Purple Rain” (1984). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

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