This Celebrity Home For Sale Is Only Accessible by Cable Car
Fire up the cable car, because we’re ready to move into Suzanne Somers’ desert oasis. The actress and health entrepreneur just listed the 72-acre hillside retreat she shares with her husband Alan Hamel in Palm Springs, California, and the sprawling estate is the picture of privacy. How private? Well… the compound is reachable on foot, by golf cart via a private road, or by private funicular. That’s right: you need to ride a cable car to get to this hillside enclave.
Listed at $9.5 million by Ron Parks of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty and Scott Lyle of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, there are five buildings on the expansive property, with 7,200 square feet of living space. The buildings include Rock House, designed by iconic Palm Springs architect and desert modernism king Albert Frey. (He also designed the famed Frey House I and II, as well as Palm Springs City Hall, BTW.) Then there’s the a pool house, a two-bedroom caretaker quarters, and a 50-seat outdoor amphitheater carved into a mountain. The stunning property features a pool, spa, waterfall, and hiking trails.
In a statement that’s as Hollywood as can be, Somers reflected on why she and her husband are moving.
“Alan and I have finally decided to let go of our compound,” said Somers. “It’s been our private paradise; our L.A. getaway for so many years; our kids grew up here. We love entertaining on the grounds; our friends fly in from all over for a surprising south of France experience in Palm Springs. We’re changing things up a bit now and have purchased a Steve Chase-designed mid-century modern home on the other side of town. We don’t need 70-plus acres anymore; time for a new journey.”
Somers and Hamel have owned the property since the ’70s, and there have only been three owners in the last 100 years, so it’s safe to say this is a beloved property. We’re guessing those with a fear of heights should sit this one out, however.