I remember when I first saw the House of Tomorrow (HOT). It was in my Uncle Bill’s bedroom. It was the 1960s, and he was a bachelor and professional photographer with a carefree lifestyle that I thought was impossibly exotic. He had a bed with a turquoise satin bedspread and a cabinet headboard; it was locked, but he kept the key in a bowl of change on his dresser. What was so precious in that headboard that I might break into it? Playboy magazines. I was nine years old.
I recall once seeing a dog-eared copy of Look magazine among the forbidden Playboys. An article in Look featured a cool modern house. One of the photos showed a guy in shorts and open shirt striding toward his Jaguar sports car. Decades later, I learned that the guy was Palm Springs developer Bob Alexander, and the magazine story was about his swinging lifestyle in the town. When I saw that Look article as an adult, I realized why it had a place of honor in my uncle’s cabinet. Alexander’s house was every bachelor’s fantasy – more than the Playmates of the Month.
The article, titled “The Way-Out Way of Life,” was published in June 1962. Its author coined the phrase “House of Tomorrow” to describe the dream house that Alexander commissioned architect Bill Krisel to create for himself and his wife in 1960. This house is one of the holy grails of Palm Springs architecture for mid-century modernism aficionados; the list includes nearby homes such as the Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra and the Dinah Shore house by Donald Wexler. Faced with challenges in designing a home that would fit on the half-acre elevated lot in Vista Las Palmas, Krisel deviated from his considerable bag of modernist elements and created a winged home that appears ready to blast off into space. Viewed at eye level, it could be the prototype for the Stealth Bomber … if aircraft had expansive floor-to-ceiling windows.
The house is known as the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway to Elvis Presley fans. After he and Priscilla got married in Las Vegas in 1967, they honeymooned in the former Alexander residence. Reportedly, Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s manager, lived in Palm Springs and leased the house for the couple. They occasionally stayed in the home during visits to the area. Presley bought a fairly unremarkable Spanish Colonial-style house on West Chino Canyon Road in 1970; he owned it until his death in 1977.
The House of Tomorrow came back on the market for $9,275,000 in January. This raised a few eyebrows – not necessarily because of the price but because it’s only been off the market for a little more than two years. The home was listed for sale for $9,500,000 in 2014, according to the property history on Realtor.com. There were no takers. It was on and off the market for the next six years, and the asking price steadily decreased (with the occasional inexplicable, incremental increase) until it was sold in December 2020 for $2,600,000. In some ways, it was the bargain of the decade, though the new owners reportedly spent a not-so-small fortune restoring and updating the house.
The HOT went back on the market less than two years later in November 2022 for $5,650,000. It was on the market for just 10 days. The buyer was Nancy Cirillo, “the founder of an active-wear line and ex-wife of a former pro baseball player,” according to a January article in The Desert Sun. The buyer’s agent told the Sun that she planned to use the property as a “seasonal home.” Designated a historic site by the city of Palm Springs, the HOT reportedly underwent additional updating by the new owner. The owner told the Robb Report that she planned to “move back to the other side of the Coachella Valley to be closer to family and work,” The Desert Sun noted.
The home’s price is not that outrageous when its two new neighbors are taken into account. The new construction flanking 1350 Ladera Circle is by Finn Kappe (son of Ray Kappe, a famed mid-century architect) and Sean Lockyer of Studio AR&D, respectively, according to agent Marc Sanders. (His own mid-century masterpiece collection is considerable; it includes Wexler’s last commission and E. Stewart Williams’ Frank Sinatra House.) Sanders believes both houses will be finished in approximately six months and promises the homes will be exceptional. The Kappe house will cost around $8 million to build, while the Lockyer house will be between $12 and $13 million. “This will be the most expensive cul-de-sac in Vista Las Palmas,” Sanders says confidently.
The owners cannot be faulted if, after two years of living in one of the most conspicuous and selfie-accessible mid-century masterpieces in the Valley, they grow weary of living in a fishbowl. Of course, for Bob and Helene Alexander, that might have been exactly the point. When the Alexander Construction Company embarked on creating modern, affordable subdivisions in the desert, Palm Springs was still largely a sleepy, exclusive enclave where the wealthy and/or celebrity part-time residents hid behind the walls of their Spanish Colonial homes.
The Alexanders singlehandedly changed both the look and social dynamic of Palm Springs. The 2,200 homes they built were bought up as soon as the last lick of paint went on the walls. The Alexanders also were leaders of their social set. Alexander was the president of the annual Desert Circus festival and Helene was active in a number of local charities. They entertained regularly at their Ladera Circle home. The HOT was literally made for entertaining. Admittedly, this is pure conjecture, but at least part of Alexander’s goal in commissioning Krisel might have been to create a potent symbol of the Alexander Construction Company. Though the company’s owners began in the Valley by building homes in South Palm Springs, they were increasingly a presence at the other end of town. Alexander bought the Racquet Club in 1965 with plans to revitalize it. In short, Bob and Helene were the “It” couple of 1965, and the house reflected the avidity of their socializing.
Despite a close proximity to the street, the pathway leading to the tall, extraordinary front door is seductive and engaging. Upon entering the house, a quick left puts guests immediately into party town with dramatic views over the Valley, a curved lava-rock wall, and a 65-foot banquette. The party flows from the living room into the huge, but private, backyard, where Krisel designed the largest swimming pool of any Alexander home. (All Alexander houses came with a pool.) The master bedroom, with views rivaling the living room, is breathtaking. The master bathroom features a soaking tub in the center of the room. The other three bedrooms are more modest, but en-suite, like the primary bedroom.
Though Alexander built this home for his family, it is not a cozy house. This is not a house for introverted, antisocial, bookish types. The HOT is a house for entertaining. It is the ultimate home for cocktails and appetizers, outdoor dance parties, al fresco dining, swim parties, cutthroat croquet tournaments, hanging out with 12 of your closest friends along the banquette, and blasting Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” as you gaze out the expanse of glass with Manhattan in hand as sunset turns scattered clouds into pink cotton candy against the darkening blue sky.
