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Designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s Palm Springs house is stylishly vivid

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Calling all fans of conversation pits

Courtesy of Architectural Digest

Designer-to-the-stars Martyn Lawrence Bullard has helped decorate the homes of Elton John, Ellen Pompeo, and Kourtney Kardashian. He is famous for his fearless approach to patterns and love of “mad colors,” so it’s no surprise that Bullard’s Palm Springs retreat is all those things in one unforgettable home.

The house dates to 1963 and was designed by James McNaughton, “a Hollywood set designer who found the ultimate canvas for his flights of fancy in the desert sands of the Coachella Valley,” Bullard says in Architectural Digest, which toured the home.

The place has the star-studded background one would expect from a midcentury house in Palm Springs. In the 1970s, the house was supposedly owned by Hugh Hefner and then by actor Roger Moore, who had the house decorated “in James Bond finery,” Bullard says.

“It’s all a bit mad but divine,” Bullard says, describing the residence he shares with his partner, property developer Michael Green.

The master suite’s sitting room.

Bullard describes the home’s decor as “a mix of swinging ’60s,” including the fantastic conversation pit in the living room, “with a touch of disco ’70s,” such as the silver mylar employed like wallpaper on the kitchen ceiling.

For all the decorative updates he’s made, Bullard’s kept the house’s floor plan largely as it was, even turning back the clock in some parts. Bullard restored sections of the house that had been updated or redone over the years. One of the changes he did make to the house: transforming the library into a home theater.

More photos inside Bullard’s Palm Springs oasis are available at Architectural Digest.

The zebra rugs once adorned Andy Warhol’s Factory. They were a gift to Bullard from former model Cheryl Tiegs.