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Barclay Butera Purchases Frank Sinatra's “Twin Palms”
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Added: 03/18/2005
Type: Summary
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Barclay Butera Purchases Frank Sinatra's “Twin Palms”
Los Angeles, CA March 18, 2005 -- Twin Palms, Frank Sinatra’s onetime Palm Springs estate, has been purchased by influential lifestyle designer Barclay Butera, as the ultimate expression of his admiration for the Hollywood Regency era, the time of Bette Davis, Cary Grant and the Rat Pack. As a designer he is drawn to the period for obvious reasons: elegance of style, classic tailored lines, luxurious fabrics, glamorous mirrors and reflective surfaces. But what strikes him even more as emanating from that age is how to live well, from proper attire to the all-important cocktail hour. The Chairman of the Board embodied this, as does Twin Palms, built in 1947 for the then-young singer by renowned local architect E. Stewart Williams, and later photographed by Julius Shulman.
Butera acquired the estate from Time & Place World LLC (www.timeandplace.com), a property management company that attracts world-class clientele by offering exquisite homes available for short-term rental. Residents of Twin Palms have included many A-list Hollywood celebrities. This follows Butera’s recent acquisition of another home with Hollywood lore attached: the Beverly Hills residence of entertainer and showman Desi Arnaz, Jr., son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
Twin Palms became Williams’ first residential commission when Sinatra “came in [to the office with a white sailor hat and an ice cream cone and said, 'I want a house,’” according to the architect (The Oregonian, 8/29/04). Sinatra lived here with second wife Ava Gardner, and an exterior bedroom was built for – though never used by – President John F. Kennedy. Its piano-shaped pool, horizontal lines, thin supports and glass walls not only ease the transition between indoors and out, but characterize a regional architectural style known as “desert modern.” Williams’ commissions included many in the Palm Springs area such as the Oasis Office Building, the Coachella Savings and Loan (I and II), the Upper Mountain Station of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and the Palm Springs Desert Museum.
Butera - who plans to make this his principal residence – has extensively researched archives on how the home looked when Sinatra lived there and he’ll be restoring and updating the glamour aspect to the house, While keeping the original tile, he’ll be bringing in shag carpets, period wallpaper and building a private, one-bedroom casita by the pool, with his-and-her bathrooms and its own jacuzzi. He plans to enhance the grandeur of the already lush entrance area by planting all-white flowers. The living room will now sport a high-gloss, black grand piano, and many of his own Barclay Butera Home upholstered pieces – such as the much-published Renee Sofa with its highly-detailed tufting and radius back - will furnish the rooms. Luxurious fabrics will be used throughout.
“Twin Palms is special to me and I’m very respectful of what Mr. Williams and Mr. Sinatra brought to bear in personal, artistic and architectural style,” says Butera. “I am eager to nurture its legacy by doing what has been my signature: maintain the heritage of a project and add a contemporary turn to update the feel to today. Hopefully I am doing just what Mr. Sinatra would have done if he were here now. For me, design is about embracing the intangibles of how people lived well in a different time and re-interpreting that for current elegantly casual living. You can count on some terrific parties here.” Butera was represented by Rosemary Chapman of Coldwell Banker, Palm Desert office, in his purchase.
Barclay Butera, Inc. (BBI), Butera’s 12-year old corporation, is based in Newport Beach, CA, and entails the Barclay Butera retail/to-the-trade collection showrooms in Newport Beach and Los Angeles, CA, and Park City, UT. Barclay Butera Home, Inc. (BBH) is home to both the Barclay Butera Home line, distributed with over 300 retailers nationwide, and to Barclay Butera Home retail and designer showrooms. Butera designs and manufactures his products in Los Angeles, CA.
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