Although she has been one of the world’s greatest stars as a singer, comedian and actress, Cher might have had an even more successful career as a real estate developer.
From Florida to California and Hawaii, Cher has had her hand in designing and decorating a number of homes including on the Big Island in Hawaii at the exclusive gated Hualālai Resort where she and her architect-partner, William Long, designed a stunning ocean-view, Bali-style house - a result best described as contemporary meets exotic. The current owner, billionaire businessman Bob Parsons, who founded GoDaddy in 1997 and the founder of PXG/Parsons Xtreme Golf has put the home on the market fully furnished for $10.955 million.
Since 1970 when Cher and Sonny Bono bought their first serious home, Cher has been fully engaged in managing the decor, first in conjunction with decorator Ron Wilson. She would tell him what she wanted, he would say it was impossible, and she said, “just do it.” He always did and worked with Cher on her next five home acquisitions through 1991. In 1996, she bought a property in Miami Beach when she took over the decorating herself and also launched Sanctuary, her mail order catalog.
By now, her style was permanently grounded using large pieces and varied textures, simply without clutter. After selling the Miami Beach mansion in 2002 she bought and decorated another grand mansion in Malibu, then advanced from decorating to designing the actual home in Hawaii with the assistance of Mr Long in 2008.
Taking full advantage of Hawaii’s perfect weather and gentle tradewinds, Cher’s design maximized these climate elements by emulating the Balinese open-pod architectural style with great expanses of movable glass walls that create a vanishing threshold for indoor-outdoor living. Since air conditioning is rarely necessary and overhangs prevent rain showers from coming in, it’s not only refreshing but also a practical approach to year-round living.
Spread across just over three quarters of an acre, the 9,446-square-foot house is made up of a series of pods that are arranged with the owner occupying the central pod which contains the main living and dining rooms, kitchen, casual dining on the lānai, and master suite. Guests have separate individual pods at the courtyard entrance so they don’t have to traverse the main living area when coming and going. Overall, the home includes six bedrooms, six full and two half baths. Some of the baths open to private gardens for outdoor showering.
The master suite faces the ocean, has an office and private deck with wrap-around water feature. The master bath has custom-stone sinks and a free-standing soaking tub open to its own private garden. Outside there is an infinity-edge pool and spa with wide panoramic views of the ocean and the members-only Ke’olu Golf Course. The buyers will also have access to the resort’s shared amenities, which include tennis, golf, a swimming pool, private beach club, six restaurants and access to the Four Seasons Resort Hualālai.
Cher designed and decorated Bali-style house inside the gated Hualālai Resort is now for sale, priced at $10.995 million.
The listing agent is Rob Kildow, director of residential sales at Hualālai Realty, Kona-Kohala Coast.
