Elvis’ honeymoon hideaway struggles to find buyer

A Palm Springs house where Elvis Presley honeymooned — and that Look Magazine once called the “House of the Future” — has struggled to find a buyer in recent years.

But with a major price reduction, agent Scott Histed is confident that it will finally sell.

The owner of 1350 Ladera Circle recently raised the price from $2.7 to $2.98 million after receiving two offers over the asking price, said Histed, who has his own real estate firm in Palm Springs.

That was a massive drop from the $9.5 million the owner, listed in property records as Boston-based Tri Villa Trust, originally listed the home for in 2014. Histed called that price “a stretch,” since most homes in the area typically sell for significantly less.

Presley leased the five-bedroom house in 1966 for a year. He and his wife Priscilla settled there after marrying in 1967, according to a website for the house, which offers tours daily for $35.

The real value of the house is in its mid-century modern architecture, said Histed, noting that the house consists of four circle-like pods and that the master bedroom, living room, and guest room are all round.

Designed by architect William Krisel, it also includes a freestanding circular hearth, a 64-foot banquette in the living room, and a V-shaped pool.

“It was very futuristic for the time it was built,” Histed said.

The house hasn’t been updated since the 1960s, however, and will likely need a renovation, according to Histed. He also imagines that it will most likely function as a buyer’s second home. The owner’s desire to sell motivated the price drop, he said.

Developer Robert Alexander, who built 350 homes in the surrounding area, built the house for himself and his wife Helene in 1960. Look Magazine featured it as in 1962, showcasing the couple’s “Way Out Way of Life,” according to the house’s website.

The house has been owned by a trust since the 1980s, according to Histed. It originally included two adjacent sites, which have been broken up for the purpose of the sale.

While the Palm Springs digs were a nice getaway for the King, his main L.A. residence was a mansion in Beverly Hills. Peter Morton, the Hard Rock Cafe founder, sold the five-bedroom Presley home in 2014 for $14.5 million, a hefty profit from the $9.8 million he paid to buy it in late 2012. That sale paled in comparison to the beachfront pad in Malibu’s Carbon Beach that Morton unloaded earlier this year for $110 million, the highest sale in L.A. County history.