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Perfectly preserved Palm Springs time capsule home lists for the first time in 65 years

  • Nishadil
  • January 12, 2024
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Perfectly preserved Palm Springs time capsule home lists for the first time in 65 years

For the first time in its six plus decades of existence, this midcentury modern home is hitting the public sales market. A Palm Springs, California abode frozen in architectural amber is seeking a buyer, artifacts and furniture included — but sold separately. The three bedroom, approximately 3,000 square foot compound — named Bougain Villa, after the bougainvillea flowers around it — is asking $8.75 million, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

The listing is held by Sean Stanfield of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty and Craig Chorpenning of Desert Sotheby’s International Realty. “The property is a one of a kind piece of art that just could not be replicated today,” Stanfield told The Post of the residence, which was designed by well known area architect Hugh Kaptur and incorporates the surrounding terrain.

“The mountain and the house are blended together as one with rocks used as part of the actual structure,” Stanfield said of the property, which is set on about 1.35 acres and is located in a gated community. In the mid 1980s, the residence’s first owner, a Los Angeles electronics firm chairman named William Burgess, commissioned the enormously influential architect Albert Frey, whose craft is found throughout Palm Springs, to renovate the property, according to the Journal.

Frey — who, along with John Lautner and Richard Neutra, is widely credited with establishing Palm Springs’ iconic Desert Modernist style, and constructed Bougain Villa’s famous neighbor, Frey House II — tripled the then roughly 1,000 square foot house’s size and added a mirrored guesthouse.

In 1999, the home changed hands for the first time when the late Harold and Dorothy Meyerman fell in love with the abode, which was not for sale, and offered $1 million for it. Amenities include three carports, a pool, a hot tub, a wine cellar, rock walls and a Koi pond. And for a buyer that jumps to purchase the furnishings as well, there are various Moroccan rugs and a 7 foot cedar swing, among numerous other delights..