Crash Course on Eichler Homes

Joseph Eichler was a visionary real estate developer who built thousands of his eponymous homes all across Northern California from roughly 1949-1966.  Here on the San Francisco Peninsula, we are home to some of the largest and oldest Eichler tracts.

According to Joseph Eichler's son, the inspiration for the Eichler design came from a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Hillsborough, which the family rented out for a short period of time.  Eichler was attracted to the custom-built modernist architecture, and set to incorporate that look into tract housing that would be affordable to the working class.  Eichler worked closely with a Frank Lloyd Wright disciple, Bob Anshen, and several other architects later on, to cultivate what would ultimately become the most easily recognizable homes of the mid-century modern era of architecture.

A 1950 Eichler we recently sold in the Atherwood tract of Redwood City.  Key Eichler features:  vaulted wood-beam ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, wood paneled walls (visible to the left)

The homes are built on the concept of "bringing the outside in", and usually feature glass walls oriented towards the backyard, vaulted wood beam ceilings designed to create a more open and airy living space, and an open floorplan allowing you to look out to the back yard from the front entrance.  Often an atrium would be incorporated into the home, to help further blur the line between outside and in.  Eichlers are also easily recognized from the street by their low sloping (and often A-framed) roofs.

Another shot of the Atherwood Eichler we sold.  Notice the low sloping roof line.  Later Eichlers often incorporated the A-frame roof into their design

The Eichler home came at a time in the post-war era where cookie cutter ranch-style homes were immensely popular, and for many WWII veterans coming home seeking convention rather than innovation, the Eichler design didn't resonate.  Mr. Eichler never profited greatly from Eichler Homes.

Beyond his accomplishments as a real estate developer, Joseph Eichler is highly lauded for his anti-discrimination stance towards housing.  He offered homes for sale to anyone regardless of religion of race, and he actually resigned from the National Association of Home Builders in 1958 when they refused to support a non-discrimination policy.

Notable Eichler Neighborhoods on the Peninsula:

-The Highlands in San Mateo:  Largest contiguous Eichler tract

-Atherwood in Redwood City:  among the oldest Eichler neighborhoods (built in 1950)