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Image: Listing courtesy Brady Sandahl and Steven Pawlik, Keller Williams Luxury Homes

Casa de Liberace

Garden-side exterior of Casa de Liberace with a Spanish tile roof, arched loggia, stone-and-brick walls, and palms.

Palm Springs house history · Walking stop 1

An Alvah Hicks family property became a small hotel, then Liberace’s desert retreat. Extensive alterations separate the house from its original Spanish Colonial Revival design.

Built
1930S01
Style
Spanish Colonial RevivalS01
Recorded remodel
Duane George, 1969–70S01
Record note
Extensively alteredS01S02

Celebrity history

Liberace at Casa de Liberace.

Liberace bought The Cloisters in 1967, initially using it as a guest house while he lived at Piazza di Liberace. It later became his home, and he died here in 1987.S02S03

Architecture

Design, materials, and historic status.

The City inventory dates the Alvah Hicks property at 501 N Belardo to 1930, classifies it as Spanish Colonial Revival, and records a 1969–70 “Liberace Remodel” by designer Duane George.S01

Preservation research traces The Cloisters to an Alvah Hicks family property from the 1920s and describes its small-hotel phase as monastery-like, with high walls and secluded gardens.S02

Architectural details

  • Early Old Las Palmas fabric

    The property begins with Alvah Hicks’s prewar development rather than with its later celebrity owner.S01S02

  • The Liberace remodel layer

    The 1969–70 remodel is a documented later chapter, and the City inventory records extensive alteration.S01S02

The wider story

The house in context.

The reviewed records use two street references for this corner property: preservation research identifies The Cloisters at 226 W Alejo Road, while the City inventory and Visit Palm Springs route use 501 N Belardo Road. This guide marks the public-street frontage on the northern section of Belardo beside Alejo, not a verified entrance or parking space.S02S03

House chronology

Key dates in the house’s history.

Dates come from the records cited below.

  1. City inventory date for the Alvah Hicks propertyS01
  2. Liberace purchases The CloistersS02S03
  3. Duane George “Liberace Remodel”S01
  4. Liberace dies at The CloistersS02S03
  5. Most recent documented saleS05
  6. Most recent listing in the reviewed recordS05

Research notes

Sources for Casa de Liberace.

Claims on this page are tied to the records below. Research was checked .

  1. Citywide Historic Resources Inventory — 501 N Belardo Road entryCity of Palm Springs · checked
  2. Piazza di Liberace Class 1 nomination — The Cloisters historyPalm Springs Preservation Foundation · checked
  3. Old Las Palmas self-guided walking tourVisit Palm Springs · checked
  4. Open Source Routing Machine service informationFOSSGIS and OpenStreetMap contributors · checked
  5. 501 N Belardo Road sale and listing historyRedfin · checked