Property Description
At 1,114 square feet and dating to 1953, 3850 E Camino San Miguel is one of the smallest homes in the Meiselman archive — and potentially one of the most historically significant. The listing claims this may be the earliest Meiselman-developed property on record, a designation that, if verified, would make it the starting point of a residential design legacy that shaped South Palm Springs for the next two decades. That’s a remarkable thing for a modest three-bedroom to carry.
The floor plan is compact but coherent. The living area and kitchen have been opened into a single connected space — a configuration that aligns with mid-century desert residential principles even if it reflects a recent renovation rather than the original layout. All-new sliders connect the interior to an outdoor flex area with misters and direct pool access, preserving the indoor-outdoor continuity that defines Meiselman’s South Palm Springs work. The pool and spa are new construction. The lot, at 6,098 square feet, runs notably smaller than the 9,000–10,000 square foot lots more typical of Meiselman’s later South Palm Springs output — an anomaly worth noting in the context of an earlier build.
The renovation scope here was comprehensive: new windows and sliders, HVAC, recessed lighting, bathroom, flooring, landscaping, plumbing, and electrical. In practical terms, the mechanical and finish systems are essentially new. What remains from 1954 — the structural shell, the footprint, the massing — is the historical record this home still preserves.
Development and Neighborhood Context
Camino San Miguel sits in South Palm Springs, in the Little Beverly Hills neighborhood, where Meiselman concentrated much of his early development activity in the 1950s and into the 1960s. The neighborhood developed during a period of rapid residential expansion in Palm Springs, as demand for modernist desert homes grew alongside the city’s postwar reputation as a destination for design-forward living. Streets like this one were where that reputation was built, one small lot at a time.
If the 1954 date holds and the “original Meiselman” claim is substantiated, this address would represent the ground-floor moment of a development career that produced dozens of documented homes across the city. That’s a different kind of significance than architectural exceptionalism — it’s the significance of origin. Small, practical, and direct, this home may be where the Meiselman story actually begins.
Is This Your Home?
If you own 3850 E Camino San Miguel, the Registry wants to hear from you. Homes this early in the Meiselman timeline are exactly where the most important history lives — and homeowners often hold details, documents, and stories that exist nowhere else. Claim this listing and help us get the record right on one of the most historically compelling addresses in the archive.
