242 NE Cerritos Dr., Palm Springs, CA

Property Description

Built in 1955, this Sunrise Park home is one of the earlier entries in Jack Meiselman’s Palm Springs development work. At 1,301 square feet on a 10,019-square-foot lot, the proportions tell a familiar Meiselman story: a compact, efficient interior set within a generous site that puts the real living space outdoors. The floor plan puts the living room at the front of the house, rather than on the pool side. It also features three bedrooms and two baths, but the exact bedroom layout is unclear. Based on its construction date, it is unlikely that the primary suite is separated from the two guest bedrooms, which became a unique design aspect of Meiselman’s later work and reflected his preference for creating privacy for the primary suite.

The home sits fully enclosed behind a perimeter wall with gated entry, creating a compound-like quality that feels genuinely private without sacrificing the visual connection to the San Jacinto Mountains that defines so much of Palm Springs’s residential appeal. That indoor-outdoor relationship is central here: the primary bedroom has direct access to the backyard, and the living and dining areas open to the pool and patio. A fireplace anchors the main living space — a practical inclusion for desert evenings that also gives the room a focal point. The custom kitchen looks out into the open-plan living/dining area, keeping the cook connected to the rest of the house rather than isolated behind a wall.

Outdoor living is well-considered. The backyard has a heated pool and spa, a pergola, and a covered dining patio — three distinct outdoor zones that give the property real usability across Palm Springs’s long outdoor season. The 10,019-square-foot lot is notably generous; most Registry-documented Meiselman homes sit on lots closer to 9,000-10,000 square feet. That’s a deliberate quality, not a coincidence — Meiselman’s market was vacation-home buyers who came to Palm Springs to be outside.

At a 1955 build date, this is among the earlier surviving Meiselman homes in the Sunrise Park area. The Registry hasn’t confirmed the original architect for this address, which makes it an important documentation target — early Meiselman projects sometimes involved architects not yet fully identified in the record.

Neighborhood

Sunrise Park is one of the neighborhoods where Meiselman’s scattered-site development pattern is most evident. Rather than building large tracts all at once, Meiselman characteristically developed one or two homes at a time — placing them along side other developers, often near but distinct from Alexander Construction Company homes. This approach makes his homes harder to identify in bulk but more fun when you find them. Sunrise Park sits in central Palm Springs, convenient to downtown and well-positioned relative to the hiking and recreational access points that make the Coachella Valley worth living in year-round.

The neighborhood’s development era — primarily the mid-1950s through early 1960s — coincides with Palm Springs’s most architecturally productive decade. The homes here were mostly built for second-home buyers and vacation-home seekers attracted by the city’s growing reputation as a desert retreat. That market context explains some of Meiselman’s design priorities: generous outdoor space, strong indoor-outdoor flow, and livability in the desert heat were commercial necessities, not just aesthetic choices. This home’s compound configuration, with its walled perimeter and multiple outdoor areas, fits that brief precisely.

For the Registry, a 1955 Meiselman in Sunrise Park is a meaningful addition. Most documented Meiselman homes cluster in the late 1950s and early 1960s, so a verified 1955 example represents one of his earliest documented homes in the city.

Is this Your Home?

If this is your home, it’s an important chapter in Palm Springs’ architectural history, and the Meiselman Registry would love to document it in full. If you own this home, claim your listing and help us tell its story.