Joshua Tree properties the Rainbow House and Bonita Domes to appear on 'Zillow Gone Wild'

If you're checking out Zillow, you're bound to find some wacky properties for sale, no matter where you're looking. That's the idea behind HGTV's new show "Zillow Gone Wild." On Saturday's episode, they're showcasing "The Rainbow House" in Joshua Tree, previously owned and painted by artist Patrick Hasson.

Hasson, a former filmmaker turned painter, purchased the El Reposo Street property he dubbed "Rancho El Reposo" in 2013 and sold it last year. He was contacted by HGTV producers a few months after the sale.

"The funny thing is when I put it on the market, my real estate agent was like 'It's a rainbow house and not the easiest to sell,'" Hasson said. "When I was in the selling process, one of those TikTok pages with crazy listings saw the house and posted it. Then I sold the house to two lawyers from Long Beach. When I got contacted by HGTV, I put them in touch with the new owners, they plotted to shoot the episode and said 'We'd like to interview you since you created the house.'"

After a back injury during the pandemic and spending much of his time managing The Rainbow House as a short-term rental on AirBnB, Hasson sold the property last year to focus on creating his art.

"I didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to my art and it was tough. After I did my last show (in 2019), I wanted to start a new series and renting on AirBnB took a lot of time and energy," Hasson said. "When I sold it, there was a little sadness in me because people had seen it and I wanted the world to see it, because the Rainbow House is unique and it's my art. When HGTV sent me some excerpts from the episode, it was a nice payoff and there's a part of me saying 'OK, there was a reason for all of this."

A viral Facebook page inspired the 'Zillow Gone Wild' TV show

"Zillow Gone Wild" is a brand-new HGTV series that premiered on May 3. According to an article on HGTV's website by Beth Braden, it all started when Samir Mezrahi, a former accountant who had recently moved to New York City to work at Buzzfeed, had the idea to create the Zillow Gone Wild Facebook page in 2020.

The idea was simple: post wild photos of wacky houses he finds on Zillow (houses with jail cells, potato sheds, you name it), and the concept was immediately beloved. Today, the Zillow Gone Wild Facebook page has 1.5 million followers, the Instagram page has 1.9 million followers, and the TikTok page has 153.5K followers.

Hgtv.com describes the show, adapted from the social media concept, as follows:

"Jack McBrayer tours some of America's wackiest and wildest homes that have recently been on the real estate market, sharing their history while learning more about the sellers and buyers who call these wonderfully quirky abodes home."

How to watch 'Zillow Gone Wild'

The Rainbow House episode of "Zillow Gone Wild" will premiere on HGTV at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and it will also be available to stream for subscribers of Discovery+, Max, Hulu+ Live TV and YouTube TV.

Other Palm Springs-area properties on 'Zillow Gone Wild'

The Rainbow House is not the first local property to be featured on the show. Last week's episode toured former Palm Springs resident Tracy Turco's "Pink Palace" home that once belonged to the actress Magda Gabor, which is currently listed on Zillow for $2.8 million. Turco, a socialite and artist, also purchased three hotels in the city, remodeling them into splashy mid-century modern style spaces (and even attempted to operate a museum dedicated to mid-century modern culture).

Also included in the upcoming episode will be the Bonita Domes in Joshua Tree, a collection of surreal coiled-earth structures based on a design by Iranian-American architect Nader Khalili. The Bonita Domes went on the market in 2023 for $2.1 million. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom space includes all the standard comforts in a terrestrial living space, including a kitchen, a living area, a “communal bath dome,” BBQ area, fire pit, pool and a small non-denominational temple for meditation (or anything else you care to do in a quasi-sacred space).

Hasson painted the house in rainbow colors to dispel unwanted visitors

In a 2019 interview, Hasson told The Desert Sun that when he started renovating the property in 2016, the front window in the living room was covered by plywood and looked like someone had tried to pry it off with a crowbar. When he moved in, several people showed up pounding on the door looking for the previous owner. After he painted the house orange, the unwanted visitors stopped coming.

Then he started painting the house inside and out in the six colors of the rainbow. He purchased another home a few miles away (Rancho De Colores)" where he currently lives, and put both properties on AirBnB while making modifications to The Rainbow House during the pandemic.

"When the pandemic started, I was losing my mind, started feeling stir-crazy and had this voice in my head, 'You should go full rainbow on the house.' I'm a sociopathic artist and once I decided I'm going full rainbow and start painting, I have to go all the way on everything. Then I hurt my back when I was halfway done and was terrified because I didn't know if I was physically able to finish painting the house."

He's almost finished with a new art series

In 2019, Hasson displayed a series of portraits titled "Desert Dudes" at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center of local desert rock musicians Josh Homme, Jesika von Rabbit, Fatso Jetson frontman Mario Lalli, Jessie Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal and more.

He created the portraits by finding images of each artist, changing the photos to black and white in Photoshop, putting them on a projector screen, creating an outline of the facial features and then dripping colored paint from ketchup bottles onto the canvas.

That will be the same for his next series, "1969," focused on rock 'n' roll icons Jimi Hendrix, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Elvis Presley and more. He also plans to convert a building on his Joshua Tree property into an art gallery ahead of the 2024 Highway 62 Open Studio Art Tours.

"It'll be called the Rainbow Gallery. I'll have shows with my work or from the community, these are all dreams I had a long time ago when I moved to the desert. But AirBnB came along, I was making a living, but the more successful I became on AirBnB, the less time I had to paint," Hasson said.

Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 2 Joshua Tree properties to be featured on 'Zillow Gone Wild'