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A quintessential midcentury modern home with its original furniture, located in Palm Springs, California, has hit the market for the first time at $8.75 million, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The property was constructed in 1958, designed by architect Hugh Kaptur and later renovated in about 1986 by architect Albert Frey. Known as “Bougain Villa,” the home was first owned by William Burgess, chairman of an LA-based electronics firm, who stayed in the property on weekends.
In the ’80s, Burgess commissioned Frey, who had gained a reputation for his influence on Desert Modernism and had built a house next door, to renovate the property. Those renovations included expanding the home’s footprint from about 1,000 square feet to 3,000, and adding a mirrored guest house.
The home sits at the foot of the San Jacinto mountains | Credit: Ricky Lesser
It was in 1999 that the late Harold Meyerman and his wife, Dorothy Meyerman, visited Palm Springs while living in Pasadena and the home caught their eye, although it was not on the market. Harold Meyerman was formerly the chairman of First Interstate Bank and Dorothy Meyerman had worked at the British Consulate General.
The couple fell for the property and offered Burgess about $1 million for it, according to David M. Wilson, the Meyermans’ estate trustee and friend. Burgess accepted the offer, and the couple began using the home on weekends, then eventually moved into it full-time.
Bougain Villa sits nestled within Palm Springs’ desert landscape, between mountains, boulders, palm trees and plenty of bougainvillea plants. The property is located at the foot of the San Jacinto mountains in a gated community overlooking downtown Palm Springs. Floor-to-ceiling windows are located throughout the home, even the bathroom, which fortunately features strategically placed boulders just outside the windows for privacy. The property sits on about 1.35 acres of land.
Some of the home’s original furnishings include Moroccan and Turkish rugs, collectibles from around the world and a seven-foot cedar swing in the shape of an elephant tusk, according to Wilson. The property also features a pool, hot tub, three carports, waterfalls and a koi pond.
Sean Stanfield of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty and Craig Chorpenning of Desert Sotheby’s International Realty are co-representing the listing.
The property is walkable to the Palm Springs Art Museum, which the Meyermans were heavily involved with. Harold Meyerman served as a chairman for the museum and Dorothy Meyerman was on several councils, including the architectural design council. The couple regularly hosted fundraisers for different organizations at their home over the years, according to Wilson, including a Morocco-themed one in 2014 for the Palm Springs Modern Committee.
Rock faces and boulders are seamlessly incorporated into the home’s design | Credit: Ricky Lesser
Proceeds from the home sale will go to charity, as will the rest of their estate, Wilson told The WSJ. Harold Meyerman passed away in 2015 at age 76 and Dorothy Meyerman died in 2022 at age 90. The Meyermans did not have any children.
The most expensive residential sale in Palm Springs was the home immortalized by Slim Aarons’ “Poolside Gossip” photograph, a 3,200-square-foot, 1946-era home originally built for American department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., which sold for $13.06 million in 2022.
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