This $59 Million Palm Desert Mansion Has a Shark Tank, Secret Office & Views You Won’t Believe

When he and his wife, Lola, were searching for a winter retreat where they could golf—on dry land—they zeroed in on an eight-acre hilltop site in Palm Desert’s exclusive BIGHORN community, one of the world’s top private residential golf developments. Created by local architectural designer Guy Dreier, the Hagadones’ otherworldly, sculptural home was completed in 2007, marked by swooping rooflines, curving rooms, luxe materials, a series of pools, retractable glass walls that capture views of the surrounding Coachella Valley and, last but not least, an overhead shark tank.

The house is now listed for sale at $59 million. “The asking price has set a record for Coachella Valley,” says Broker Associate Lorna Ball of BIGHORN Properties. “When it sells anywhere near that, it will also set a record.”

Dreier was no stranger to BIGHORN, having done numerous contemporary estates in the community before the Hagedone residence, including a spectacular abode for the late Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub. As the son of Swiss-born modernist Eduard Dreier, who spent much of his career designing Miesian-influenced homes in his adopted state of Utah, Dreier’s aesthetic was organic, sculptural, opulent, and often tinged with a sense of futuristic fantasy. Dreier’s projects took him far afield, from beach estates in Hawaii to palaces in Saudi Arabia.

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For Hagadone, who passed away in 2021, Dreier studied the hillside property intently to determine the home’s siting. “Duane put up a weather station on the lot,” Ball points out. “He and Guy tracked the temperature and the breezes, and all that went into the design.” Dreier developed a 20,000-square-foot design for the three-bedroom main house and the four-bedroom guest quarters, all interconnected by a series of patios, water features and a ship-shaped main pool, totaling 32,000 square-feet under roof. Curves, angles and expansive spaces are key features of the design, while the materials include copper and titanium for the roofs, Panther slate walls, wood-clad ceilings and French limestone flooring.

“This house is not an Albert Frey midcentury modern house,” says Ball, referring to the noted Palm Springs modernist. “I would call this a ‘desert contemporary.’ It’s unique, almost as if the earth gave birth to this house.”

As with most of his projects, Dreier handled the interiors, specifying custom carpeting, furnishings and cabinetry—right down to the hardware—and designed the landscape. The shark tank, part of a hallway that includes two vertical fish tanks, is just one of many extraordinary details that Dreier created. The main entrance to the house is via the lower-level auto court, where visitors are greeted by Dale Chihuly-inspired sculptures, and take a glass lift to the main level. The office, a separate structure, is a James Bond-inspired circular space, set into the hillside, with faux rock walls created by the same engineers who created Disney’s Matterhorn. 

Dreier and Hagadone went on to collaborate on other projects, having discovered a shared vision for designs.

“Even though this house is spectacular, the brilliant thing about it is that it is very livable,” Ball notes. “The main level has just the primary suite and one guest suite, while the guest house is separate for privacy. Of course, it’s great for entertaining, with a lower-level catering kitchen and office. I’ve personally been up there for fundraisers and other events, and everything flows smoothly from inside to out.”

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The house is being sold by the current owner, an aficionado of Dreier’s architecture, who purchased it from the Hagadone estate. “The present owner thinks of himself as a steward of the house,” Ball says. “He’s very respectful of everything that Guy did, and has improved upon it by updating some of the systems and replacing fabrics that had worn out. It’s being sold furnished because everything is specific and was created custom for the home. The owner wants to make sure the buyer continues to respect the design legacy.”

Ball’s favorite time of day to see the house is toward sunset, when the inside starts to glow like a lantern on the hill and the sun hits the titanium fascia on the roofline, “It looks like house jewelry,” she describes. “I love bringing people here and seeing the look of awe on their faces when they step inside. It takes a while to absorb it all.”