Gucci Heiress’s California Desert Home Hits the Rental Market for $28,000 a Month
The granddaughter of Guccio Gucci has owned the Palm Desert home for more than 30 years.
2 min
A Southern California desert compound built by a Gucci heiress is now available to rent for $28,000 a month.
Located in Palm Desert, about 25 miles south of Palm Springs, the home was bought and renovated in the 1990s by Patricia Gucci, the only daughter of Aldo Gucci and granddaughter of Guccio Gucci, who founded the luxury Italian fashion house, according to The Wall Street Journal . It has been on and off both the sales and rental markets since 2012, once asking as much as $9 million, the listing history shows.
On a map the 4-acre property’s location appears totally remote, but it’s just 11 minutes from the main strip in Palm Desert, which has grocery stores, restaurants, art galleries and high-end shopping. Driving up to the property, though, it “feels like you’re going through Mars,” said listing agent Michelle Schwartz of the Agency.
“It’s a total retreat,” she said. “You have peace, remoteness, security, safety, but it’s a lot closer [to town] than people give it credit for.”
Schwartz and her colleague Adrienne Herkes brought the property to the rental market at the end of February. Schwartz couldn’t comment on the seller’s identity.
Located within a gated community in the Santa Rosa Mountains, the compound comprises a main house and two guest houses, which in total offer 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and about 10,800 square feet of living space. Each guest house has its own kitchen.
Its style takes inspiration from a variety of cultures, with details including Moroccan-style wall niches, plaster walls, and a Greek-inspired built-in bed in the primary bedroom.
The seller “is a world traveler, and she’s collected energy and vibes from all different parts of the world and put them together into this property that she’s been part-time living in for all these years,” Schwartz said.
Both the compound’s tennis court and pool overlook views of the Coachella Valley, as the property sits high up on Bighorn Mountain.
“It’s almost like you’re on top of the world,” Schwartz said. “And oftentimes, you can see bighorn animals. It’s a very natural setting.”
Schwartz added that because of the property’s high altitude, it remains about 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the base of the mountain, making it more bearable, even in the summer.
The property, which can be rented for short terms, hits the market in anticipation of the area’s slew of spring festivals, including Coachella and Stagecoach. Schwartz also thinks the property would be “perfect” for someone seeking inspiration, or even an artist in need of a backdrop for a photo shoot.
MORE: Boathouses Go Next Level at These Five Mansions
“It’s somewhere you can think. You don’t hear anything—there’s no cars, there’s no noise,” Schwartz said. “You’re close enough to everything [in town], so you can have the nuances of everyday life and modern living, but you’re completely removed once you’re here, and you can breathe.”
Patricia Gucci, who founded the luxury travel bag brand Aviteur, couldn’t be reached for comment.
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The 2026 McGrath Report warns that without urgent reforms to planning, infrastructure and construction, housing affordability will continue to slip beyond reach for most Australians.
3 min
Australia’s housing market has reached a critical juncture, with home ownership and rental affordability deteriorating to their worst levels in decades, according to the McGrath Report 2026.
The annual analysis from real estate entrepreneur John McGrath paints a sobering picture of a nation where even the “lucky country” has run out of luck — or at least, out of homes.
New borrowers are now spending half their household income servicing loans, while renters are devoting one-third of their earnings to rent.
The time needed to save a 20 per cent deposit has stretched beyond ten years, and the home price-to-income ratio has climbed to eight times. “These aren’t just statistics,” McGrath writes. “They represent real people and real pain.”
McGrath argues that the root cause of Australia’s housing crisis is not a shortage of land, but a shortage of accessibility and deliverable stock.
“Over half our population has squeezed into just three cities, creating price pressure and rising density in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane while vast developable land sits disconnected from essential infrastructure,” he says.
The report identifies three faltering pillars — supply, affordability and construction viability — as the drivers of instability in the current market.
Developers across the country, McGrath notes, are “unable to make the numbers work” due to labour shortages and soaring construction costs.
In many trades, shortages have doubled or tripled, and build costs have surged by more than 30 per cent, stalling thousands of projects.
Need for systemic reform
McGrath’s prescription is clear: the only real solution lies in increasing supply through systemic reform. “We need to streamline development processes, reduce approval timeframes and provide better infrastructure to free up the options and provide more choice for everyone on where they live,” he says.
The 2026 edition of the report also points to promising trends in policy and innovation. Across several states, governments are prioritising higher-density development near transport hubs and repurposing government-owned land with existing infrastructure.
Build-to-rent models are expanding, and planning reforms are gaining traction. McGrath notes that while these steps are encouraging, they must be accelerated and supported by new construction methods if Australia is to meet demand.
One of the report’s key opportunities lies in prefabrication and modular design. “Prefabricated homes can be completed in 10–12 weeks compared to 18 months for a traditional house, saving time and money for everyone involved,” McGrath says.
The report suggests that modular and 3D-printed housing could play a significant role in addressing shortages while setting a new global benchmark for speed, cost and quality in residential construction.
Intelligent homes
In a section titled Weathering the Future: The Power of Smart Design, the report emphasises that sustainable and intelligent home design is no longer aspirational but essential.
It highlights new technologies that reduce energy use, improve thermal efficiency, and make homes more resilient to climate risks.
“There’s no reason why Australia shouldn’t be a world leader in innovative design and construction — and many reasons why we should be,” McGrath writes.
Despite the challenges, the tone of the 2026 McGrath Report is one of cautious optimism. Demand is expected to stabilise at around 175,000 households per year from 2026, and construction cost growth is finally slowing. Governments are also showing a greater willingness to reform outdated planning frameworks.
McGrath concludes that the path forward requires bold decisions and collaboration between all levels of government and industry.
“Australia has the land, demand and capability,” he says. “What we need now is the will to implement supply-focused solutions that address root causes rather than symptoms.”
“Only then,” he adds, “can we turn the dream of home ownership back into something more than a dream.”
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