Designer Michelle Boudreau has bright memories of this home, as many others in Palm Springs do. When she was a little girl, her grandmother would take her on vacation from Oklahoma to this storied California city, where its unusual angles and reflective panes were viewed as an oasis in more ways than one.
“Palm Springs was a great escape for my grandmother and I,” Boudreau says. “We had so much fun, and of course, she was a big Elvis fan.”
As the story goes, Elvis Presley and his new bride Priscilla had originally planned on getting married in what was known then as the House of Tomorrow in the spring of 1967. It was built on four circles that granted unobstructed views of the towering San Jacinto Mountains behind it and the Las Palmas neighborhood in front, which were framed in curved windows that made the home appear like a spacecraft hovering above the sand. At the time, the House of Tomorrow was synonymous with the glittering lifestyle of the decade, where scores of partygoers could revel comfortably in a living room punctuated by a rock wall and a backyard beckoning with a large pool. “People have been coming here to enjoy themselves for a long time,” Boudreau says with a laugh.
The Alexander Construction Company, a father-son development duo who built thousands of homes in the area, was responsible for commissioning its groundbreaking—and unabashedly midcentury—aesthetic from famed architect William Krisel in 1960. The style appealed to Presley. But when the press found out about the impending wedding, Elvis and Priscilla got hitched in Las Vegas instead and saved this residence for their first days as husband and wife. That’s why the address is also nicknamed the Honeymoon Hideaway.
“The current owners were also newlyweds when they decided to settle in Palm Springs,” Boudreau says. “They were very interested in midcentury architecture and wanted to find a home to start their married lives.”