On the Market: Bing Crosby's Onetime Home in the Desert

A Palm Desert, Calif., estate once owned by Bing Crosby—and widely known as the site of a rumored tryst between President John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe—is hitting the market for $13.5 million.

- Katherine Clarke

The “White Christmas” crooner had the large hacienda-style home built around 1955, according to the current owners, retired healthcare executive Randall Burt, 69 and his wife, lawyer Julia Burt, 60. The couple paid around $3 million in 2012 for the roughly 2.5-acre estate, which is located about 15 miles from Palm Springs.

Kennedy and Monroe are said to have rendezvoused at the desert hideaway in March 1962, while the first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, was in India and Pakistan on an ambassadorial holiday, according to the book “The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe,” by Keith Badman. Fellow singer Frank Sinatra was enraged that Kennedy stayed at Crosby’s home instead of his, but the visit had been vetoed by U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy because of Sinatra’s alleged mafia ties, Badman wrote.

“Unfortunately, there is no ghost of Marilyn living in the house,” Julia said with a laugh. “My husband keeps looking for it.”