A Palm Desert estate built by “White Christmas” crooner Bing Crosby in 1955 recently hit the market for $13.5 million.
The 6,100-square-foot, Spanish ranch-style retreat sits behind gates on a 2.5-acre-plus lot in the gated Ironwood Country Club neighborhood. It has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms between the main house and three casitas and comes fully furnished.
Records show the property traded hands in December 2012 for $2.8 million.
The Wall Street Journal , which first reported the listing, identified the current owners as retired healthcare executive Randall Burt, 69, and his wife, lawyer Julia Burt, 60.
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According to marketing materials, the couple gutted and rebuilt the interior to “honor its legacy and heritage” and address prior subpar remodels that failed to reflect the quality of the home or its grounds.
The main house features an open floor plan. There’s a large kitchen equipped with twin islands with bar seating that seamlessly flows into the dining and living rooms.
Folding glass doors extend the interior living space outdoors.
Other highlights include, a wet bar with a glassed-in, temperature-controlled wine cellar. A fireplace warms the primary suite, which connects to a spacious bathroom offering ample cabinet space, a walk-in shower and a separate soaking tub. Glass doors in both the shower and tub areas open to a walled-off patio.
Outdoor amenities include a swimming pool, spa, lighted tennis court and bocce ball court. There is a poolside living and dining patio with a fireplace, as well as an outdoor kitchen and bar.
The property is also equipped with solar panels.
Susan Canavan and Deirdre Coit of Canavan Coit & Associates at Compass have the listing.
Crosby, who died while golfing in Spain in 1977 at age 73, was one of the 20th century’s biggest stars in radio and film. He was known for the “Road” comedies with Bob Hope and won a Best Actor Academy Award for playing a young priest in the 1944 film “Going My Way,” in which he sang the Oscar-winning best song “Swinging on a Star. “
And his indelible recording of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” for the 1942 musical “Holiday Inn” was recently ranked fifth on a Billboard list of the 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time . The duet of “Little Drummer Boy – Peace on Earth” with David Bowie recorded for Crosby’s 1977 special, “Merrie Olde Christmas,” was No. 36.
While the property is notable for its original owner, it’s also significant for the widely held belief that it was the site of a 1962 rendezvous between President John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. More recently, in the biography “Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept Secrets,” author James Spada recounts how the actor drove Monroe to Crosby’s Palm Springs house to spend the weekend with Kennedy.
Crosby’s mid-century modern home in Rancho Mirage was also rumored to have been the site of the romantic weekend. When it hit the market in 2022 for $4.5 million, the attached two-bedroom casita with a private entrance named for Kennedy was among its highlights.