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Piazza di Liberace

White-walled entrance court of Piazza di Liberace with a metal gate, statues, a fountain, trimmed lawn, and the mountain behind.

Palm Springs house history · Driving stop 5

The surviving exterior records how Liberace remodeled a 1951 house to reflect the theatrical image he presented onstage.

Built
1951S01
Builder
Jack SlatenS01
Design story
Contemporary + Hollywood Regency alterationsS01
Historic status
Nomination withdrawnS01

Celebrity history

Liberace at Piazza di Liberace.

Liberace bought the house in 1966 and used it as his primary Palm Springs residence until 1974.S01

Architecture

Design, materials, and historic status.

Contractor Jack Slaten built the contemporary house in 1951; its architect is unknown. Liberace later reshaped it with theatrical Hollywood Regency details.S01

Liberace’s remodel turned a simple frame-and-stucco residence into a formal composition of Corinthian columns, statuary, a double-height entry, a circular drive, a cherub fountain, and a piano-shaped mailbox.S01

Historic status

A Class 1 nomination was prepared, but the owners withdrew it in 2019. The residence is not presented here as a designated historic site.S01

Architectural details

  • Before Liberace

    Jack Slaten built the contemporary house in 1951, fifteen years before Liberace bought it.S01

  • Liberace’s alterations

    Corinthian columns, a cherub fountain, and a piano-shaped mailbox brought his stage persona into the design.S01

The wider story

The house in context.

The original address was 320 Camino Norte. The 1966 work redirected the primary façade toward Kaweah Road, and the address changed to 1441 N Kaweah to match that new arrival sequence.S01

Of the three Palm Springs houses Liberace owned and occupied, preservation research identifies Piazza di Liberace as the one that most closely retains its appearance from his ownership period.S01

House chronology

Key dates in the house’s history.

Dates come from the records cited below.

  1. Jack Slaten builds the contemporary houseS01
  2. Liberace buys the propertyS01
  3. Primary Palm Springs residenceS01
  4. Most recent documented saleS03
  5. Class 1 nomination withdrawnS01
  6. Most recent Modernism Week event in the recordS04

Research notes

Sources for Piazza di Liberace.

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

  1. Piazza di LiberacePalm Springs Preservation Foundation · checked
  2. Open Source Routing Machine service informationFOSSGIS and OpenStreetMap contributors · checked
  3. 1441 N Kaweah Road property and ownership historyHomes.com · checked
  4. A Night of Sparkle: Cocktails at Piazza di LiberaceModernism Week · checked