A La Quinta hacienda-style home built as the West Coast retreat of golfing legend Arnold Palmer is on the market for $5 million.
The listing claims Palmer, who died in September 2016 at age 87, handpicked the third-acre-plus lot near the clubhouse at the famed Tradition Golf Club as the site of his 2,617-square-foot house. Completed in 1999, it has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and an open-concept living space.
Current owner Louise Bellisimo recently told Bloomberg, the first to report on the listing, that she bought the property directly from her friend, Arnold’s widow Kathleen “Kit” Gawthrop, in 2022.
Records put that sale price at $2.1 million.
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Bellisimo has since transformed the home’s interior by replacing the wooden floors with heated Arto Saltillo pavers. She opened up the back wall and installed large glass sliding doors, creating a transition from the great room to the back patio with an outdoor fireplace surrounded by lawn.
This area abuts the golf course and offers views of the Santa Rosa Mountains in the distance.
Other fixes included relocating the fireplace to better anchor the great room with its soaring 16-foot-high beamed ceiling. There’s a newly renovated kitchen with Dewils shaker cabinetry, Caesarstone countertops and Fisher and Paykel appliances.
Palmer’s former office now serves as the primary suite. It features a fireplace alcove, fully remodeled bathroom and custom walk-in closet.
Tamara Baron of Desert Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing.
Golf fans remember Palmer as one of the sport’s greatest and most charismatic players. Known as “The King,” he launched his professional career in 1955, during the rise of televised golf. Palmer played a crucial role in transforming golf from a sport of the wealthy into one accessible to the working and middle-class.
Over his career, which spanned more than six decades, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions and earned induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He owned golf clubs, car dealerships and also designed more than 300 golf courses, including the Tradition Golf Club.
