The first Steve McQueen house in Palm Springs was located in Racquet Club Estates.
HOME PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BUTCHART
A modern, minimalist bungalow was Steve McQueen’s first Palm Springs pad, before he retreated up the Southridge mountainside. It was small, but not too small, and just close enough to the open desert that he could go shoot his gun there without any flack.
Set in Racquet Club Estates, the home was designed by architects Dan Palmer and William Krisel and built in 1960 by the Alexander Construction Company, the same year McQueen filmed The Magnificent Seven. It has been said that he made the purchase using income from his first major roles.
The south-facing pool with a diving board and two sunken conversation areas was McQueen’s own design. Mere feet from the water, a punching bag hangs from a stand that is set permanently into the concrete.
The home, listed by TTK Represents, closed escrow this spring. “Stepping into the backyard, you couldn’t help but feel like you’re a part of Americana folklore,” says Scott Ankersen of TTK Represents. “The punching bag, the pool, and the original patio furniture were in so many photographs of Steve McQueen and his first wife, Neile Adams,” who enjoyed years in the desert from this home base. “The home evokes a notion of a simpler, more relaxed time of life, because McQueen owned the home before he became a cultural icon.”
