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He famously offered to buy back homes from people claiming their black and brown neighbors would lower their property values. © Kevin Swartz MLSListingsSituated in Sunnyvale, CA, this 1959 Eichler home has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 2,129 square feet of living space. The original atrium has been converted and with the extended entryway, the room adds 470 square feet to the home.
The plans developed by Oakland include some of the more unique for any Eichler homes, including 'gallery' models, high-peaked models, and homes with multiple patios that seem as much a part of the house as the living room. This tract in Saratoga is one that is included in the collection. Not all Eichler tracts are.“The Oakland & Imada Virtual Collection contains images of all the site plans with house model numbers from the Oakland & Image Collection.
The Anatomy of An Eichler House
That year Joseph L. Eichler, the first major builder to engage the services of independent architectural firms, came to Anshen and Allen as a client. There is no real archive of Anshen and Allen material. Early files from the office of the initial Eichler architects have disappeared. The archive has provided maps for “36 developments in six different regions within California, including Marin, the San Francisco Peninsula, Silicon Valley, South Bay, East Bay and Los Angeles,” according to its website.
I think mid-century modernism was one of America’s most incredible eras to be alive. After making an offer and spending their holiday in a midcentury home, everything fell into place as their offer was accepted. We spoke to Aaron about the story of their Eichler home and inquired about the pros and cons of the midcentury modern living. Eichler began building on the Peninsula in the early 1950s. By the late 1960s, Eichler had built 1500 homes in eight Peninsula cities.
An Eichler Home in Palo Alto, Stays True to Its Original Design
Eichler Homes, which he founded in 1949, sold 11,000 of these post-and-beam residences, most of them in the vicinity of America's future tech capital. The earliest Eichlers were priced at $9,600 for just over 1,000 square feet, and though the models increased in price and square footage during the company's late 1950s heyday, a vet could still purchase one with $800 down. Step into an Eichler home and you may just assume that the home was designed and built yesterday. Although many of his homes have been renovated over the years, the clean lines, exposed beams and glass walls are just as trendy and relevant today as they were in the 1950s and 1960s.
However, many of the home’s original features remain, including the mahogany paneling, open air atrium, wood-burning fireplace, globe lights, unpainted ceilings and more. His work is heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright as well as Mies van der Rohe. When designing his home, he focused on the concept of bringing the outdoors inside.
All You Need to Know About Buying and Renovating an Eichler House
Between 1949 and 1966, Eichler built over 11,000 homes throughout the Northern and Southern communities of California. These homes were designed to provide middle-class Americans the opportunity to live in stylish, contemporary homes at a moderate price. This inspired more builders to construct similar homes, which were now known as Eichlers. All are neighborhoods where homes were designed by Claude Oakland and his partner Kinji Imada. The site plans are pulled from the archive’s Oakland and Imada Collection.
Eichler homes originated in post-war America in the middle of the 20th century. During that time, American society experienced unprecedented changes, as more Americans were looking toward the future. The mid-century modern design reflected perfectly what they were looking for – modern features, a hopeful future, and an environment that was bright, sunny, and full of possibilities.
Today, Eichler homes can still be found in the Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas. While they were once considered affordable housing, Eichler homes are now prized by architect lovers and regarded as works of art. Unfortunately, these homes don’t stay on the market for long, and they often fetch high prices. If it has mahogany panelled walls then it’s almost definitely a Joseph Eichler home. We could spend an evening designing and drawing our retirement home with all kinds of pictures and we could make it really big say the front room floor as a layout. “Claude Oakland joined the architectural office of Anshen and Allen in San Francisco in 1950.
But at the same time, he understood the value of privacy. As you may notice, many of his homes have very few or no street-facing windows. Throughout his career as a real estate developer, Eichler built more than 11,000 homes across communities in northern and southern California. The largest of Eichler’s developments is in San Mateo, called “The Highlands.” These homes were built between 1956 and 1964. If you’re a fan of modern, minimalist home design, there’s a good chance that you’ll fall in love with Eichler homes. A man ahead of his time, Joseph Eichler transformed what it meant to build modern, affordable housing for middle-class Americans.
The home has been tastefully refreshed to include modern conveniences. The kitchen features quartz countertops and new appliances. The master bedroom features two closets, and the home has several glass doors that open up to the outdoors. © Ken Deleon MLSListingsThe Eichler home on Mackay Drive in Palo Alto features a large lot and a modest floor plan that spans 1,540 square feet. © Eric Boyenga MLSListingsWith 1,813 square feet of space, this Eichler home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with a 6,324 square foot lot. Built in 1962, this home has been remodeled and is located in the prime Panama/Ortega Park location.
Classic early-era Eichler housing tracts can be found in Menlo Park, Ladera, Redwood City, and Atherton. The Mills Estates Eichler neighborhood in Burlingame and three Foster City Eichler tracts have newer homes, circa the mid-1960s. One fine spring afternoon in 2009, on a routine prospecting run through Sunnyvale, Calif., a rather glamorous young real estate agent named Monique Lombardelli drove her Volkswagen sedan into a better, bygone world. Lombardelli had spent her first several months as a Realtor in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
