Douglas Urbanski and Diane Wilk Buy Joseph Cotten’s ‘White Gables’ in Palm Springs
The Hollywood historic Palm Springs residence known as White Gables, created in the mid-1930s by stage, radio, film and television star Joseph Cotten, has been sold for $1.5 million to theater and film producer/talent manager Douglas Urbanski and writer/producer Diane Wilk. The single-story Spanish-style residence sits on about two-thirds of an acre in the prestigious Mesa neighborhood in the less wind-tossed southern end of the desert resort community and measures in at 4,144-square-feet with six bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms.
A towering line of palm trees line the perimeter of the corner property and an electronic driveway gate between lantern adorned adobe pillars slides open to a figure eight-shaped driveway and motor court bordered by lush lawns. The house retains some of is authentic Spanish architectural details and at least several of the bathrooms appear to have been updated in recent years — one is finished in marble with French doors to a private patio, but there are ordinary and definitely not original cream-colored ceramic floor tiles throughout much of the living and entertaining spaces including the living room that features a vaulted, exposed beam ceiling, a minimalist travertine fireplace and a walk-in wet bar. The dining room will comfortably seat twenty and a well maintained but outdated kitchen has humble white ceramic tile counter tops and a commercial-grade range. Off the there’s a tree-shaded terrace for al fresco dining and a long, window-lined gallery with antique terra-cotta floor tiles opens out to a walled courtyard garden with over-sized swimming pool and sunbathing terraces from which there’s an over-the-rooftop view of the craggy mountains that dominate the landscape in Palm Springs.
Wilk and Urbanski are certainly no strangers to celeb-pedigreed homes. Since late 1995, when it was purchased for $830,000, the couple have owned a four-bedroom and seven-bathroom residence in the Coldwater Canyon area of Beverly Hills that was once occupied by a slew of Golden Age silver screen icons including Olivia de Havilland, John Huston, Dorothy Parker and, perhaps most notably, Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh who lived in the house when they were married in 1940.
Urbanski, who produced a couple handfuls of Broadway plays in the 1980s and whose film producing credits include “Tinker Tailor Solder Spy” and “The Contender,” is the long time manager and business partner of Gary Oldman and Wilk was a writer and producer on two Fran Drescher-starring series, first “The Nanny” in the 1990s and more recently the short-lived “Happily Divorced.”
Listing photos: Richard Guelich (via Redfin)
Launch Gallery: Douglas Urbanski and Diane Wilk Pick Up Palms Springs Hideaway
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Douglas Urbanski and Diane Wilk Buy Joseph Cotten's 'White Gables' in Palm Springs
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