by Kate Baumann

Joseph Eichler had no formal architecture or design training; nonetheless he became one of Northern California's predominant developers during its postwar housing boom of the 1950's and 60's. Having spent a short time during World War 2 residing in the Frank Lloyd Wright's Bazett house in Hillsborough, California, Eichler was motivated to determine if such homes, modernist, aesthetically pleasing and functional, could be built for the masses.

His homes are characterized by flat or low-pitched roofs, open floor plans and centrally located atriums. The walls act more as partitions, keeping space divided but not always reaching the ceilings. This feature helps circulate warm air through the house from its radiant-heat floors. The emphasis in his designs on "boldness, change, and optimism through indoor-outdoor living, walls of glass, atriums" was suitable to the Bay Area's temperate climate where heating costs were minimal. Due to the poor insulation, which was a result of the extensive use of glass, this design could not be well adapted to harsher regions, and the style has remained fairly localized.

Typical Eichler homes. The one on the left shows the slightly pitched roofline while the one on the right's roof is flat.

His planned tracts of homes centered on community building, they often boasted pools and other public recreational facilities, along with plenty of open green space. He, like the City Beautiful planners, believed that green space contributed greatly to mental well-being and general happiness. Greenmeadow, a project composed of 243 homes located in South Palo Alto, California, is one of the most complete examples of Eichler's ultimate goal, affordable homes that were well planned and built in safe, community environments.

Atriums provide a space where indoor and outdoor blend

Community involvement was a large part of Joseph Eichler's plan

These homes, which originally sold for $11,000-$14,000 dollars, were intended to be family units, having either three or four bedrooms, and to become neighborhood environments for the post war influx of people to the Bay Area. Between 1950-60 Palo Alto, previously inhabited by professors and other people with connections to Stanford University, grew to over 50,000 inhabitants. The middle class families who flocked to the area because of job opportunities and the favorable climate needed places to live. Joseph Eichler, with his innovative designs and commitment to quality materials at reasonable prices, provided incoming families who likely had few resources with a viable housing option. By maintaining high standards he did not turn the profits that could have been achieved, rather he helped to create healthy and welcoming environments that remain largely unchanged fifty years later.

Eichler homes had several different plans, from two to four bedrooms and diverse exteriors.

In a time of intense segregation in many parts of the country Joseph Eichler saw that diverse communities could be beneficial and he was the first large tract builder to willingly sell his homes to minority families. He was emotionally attached to his building projects and he wanted his residents to be content with their environments. When people posed concerns about decreased property values due to minority neighbors Eichler volunteered to buy back the homes of discontented residents. "If, as you claim, this will destroy property values," Joe once told some disgruntled Eichler owners, "I could lose millions...You should be ashamed of yourselves for wasting your time and mine with such pettiness." His dedication to affordable housing and making his homes livable spaces endear them to their owners and act as a reminder that money is not always the driving factor behind people's actions. Sadly, as a result of the unconventional design of his homes and his commitment to quality materials his company, Eichler Homes, filed for bankruptcy in 1967.

While Joseph Eichler was innovative in his application of Frank Lloyd Wright's work in regards to affordable housing, the large windows and open rooms cannot be very efficiently heated in today's high-cost energy environment. The unique design and very specific plans do not allow for much alteration, either to the exterior in terms of remodeling, or the interior-adding air conditioning or siding. These inconveniences do not seem to be problematic enough to override the benefits residents find in living in them seeing asthere are still 3,000 Eichler homes in Palo Alto and more in surrounding cities. The Greenmeadow community has, within the last six months, applied for Historic Preservation Status; if it is granted the tract will be only the second post WW2 residential site in the country to achieve it and the only one in California. People take pride in living in the communities that he built and they helped to create and they find their homes to be highly livable. One resident, a woman from Hawaii with a Chinese background moved into her Eichler in 1960 with her husband and five children, "I am so enamored of the Eichler homes, I want to preserve my home as much as I can to the original so I can pass it on as my legacy to history and an acknowledgement to Joseph Eichler and his architects who built desirable, affordable and attractive tract homes for people like me to achieve the American Dream of owning our own homes. LONG LIVE THE EICHLERS!"
Joseph Eichler's own home, built to his designs.

The interiors are very open. They have wood panelling and carpet/tile floors.

Due to their popularity and location Eichler's are no longer the affordable housing units that they used to be. In California's inflated housing market Eichler's now fetch from $500,000 to $2,250,000 depending on size, location within the city and condition. Sadly the people they were intended for, the average family who was looking for a quiet suburban setting to raise their children and live their lives, can rarely afford to purchase them. Instead, like most unprotected affordable housing, the market increases ensure that they are no longer accessible to the people they were created for, the people who would benefit from their existence the most. While land values often determine what kind of area a place will be, who will live there, what clientele the stores will cater to, discriminating against groups will lead to an incomplete mix of citizenry. Whether inadvertently through natural increases in property values, or intentionally, a community without variation, culturally, racially or socio-economically, is missing an important part of what makes a population interesting.

By eliminating affordable housing, something Eichler spent the second half of his life working for, cities and their residents are done a disservice in that the place they live, in this case Palo Alto, becomes a homogenous, highly isolated place that functions within itself and can become intimidated by anything that is different or unknown. Eichler's will remain because they are legible homes with some measure of prestige, especially if they receive historical status, but the ideal that Joseph Eichler had in mind is lost, I fear, in favor of uniform communities and safe/unchallenging neighbors who share interests and ideologies.

Works Cited

Dowall, David E. The Suburban Squeeze-California. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1984.

Rodriguez, Joseph A. City Against Suburb-The Culture Wars on an American Metropolis. Prager; Westport, Ct. 1958.

Straszheim, Mahlon R. An Econometric Ananlysis of the Urban Housing Market. Columbia University Press, New York. 1975.

Websites Used

www.eichlernetwork.com/index.html

architecture.about.com/cs/josepheichler/

sunnyvalevoices.org/Pang/PangSlide.html