The Diamonds Are Forever Home Sells For $8 Million

By on July 17, 2016 in ArticlesCelebrity Homes

Want to live like your favorite action hero? It'll cost you $8 million – and that's just for the house!

A home famous for its ties to the James Bond movie franchise is off the market just as quickly as it was added to it. The legendary Elrod House, located in Palm Springs, California, is sitting in escrow and about to be sold, according to property listings.

The 8,901-square-foot home, described in listings as a "residential sculpture," is set to be sold at its asking price of $8 million to Los Angeles-based fashion designer Jeremy Scott.

Famously featured in the 1971 James Bond adventure Diamonds Are Forever, the Elrod House is nothing less than a piece of Hollywood real estate history. While known for its uniquely futuristic design, open floor plan and stunning view, the home wasn't always a million-dollar listing.

Despite its claim to fame, the exotic home was bought for a mere $390,000 in 1995 by billionaire investor Ron Burkle. The Elrod House sold again in 2003 for $5.5 million to a real estate investor who attempted unsuccessfully to market the home as an invitation-only private club.

After sitting on the market for years with a price tag that ranged from $13.9 million down to $10.5 million, the home was handed over to insurance market company Lloyd's of London, the primary mortgage holder. Fortunately, the home's new $8 million price tag created quite the buzz in the real estate world – and why wouldn't it?

The architecturally extravagant home was designed by the well-known innovative architect John Lautner and built for interior designer Arthur Elrod in 1968. With its astonishingly modernist character traits, it was a clear pick for the 1971 Bond venture, Diamonds are Forever.

The center of the home is quite literally a circle, as the structure is based and built out of the 60-foot wide circular living room. The main living space expands out into five bedrooms, five and half bathrooms and a large gym.

Even more unique is the home's conically vaulted dome ceiling, which is covered with icon concrete petals and nine wedge-shaped clerestory windows designed to provide just the right ambient lighting.

Perhaps the most unique amenity that makes this home a Bond franchise staple is the unique indoor/outdoor pool. The living room's retractable glass wall allows for the pool to become a sectioned off for an indoor dip, or a large, singular swim that expands the living space into the yard.

The home was only recently re-listed at the selling price – and just as soon as news broke about its availability, the home was almost immediately placed in escrow. Rumors swirled over who might be the next owner of the famous Palm Springs home up until it was all but confirmed that the buyer was the subject of the 2015 documentary, Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer.

Scott, valued at a net worth of $2 million, is well known for his many ventures in the world of fashion, including a popular collaboration collection of footwear with Adidas and fashions donned by the likes of Rihanna, Britney Spears and mostly recently Katy Perry.

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