Architecture over the weekend: two articles in the Chronicle about Eichler Brothers' timeless California style, as two 50's vintage tracts in Palo Alto are named to the National Register of Historic Places. One about design, the other about the Eichler policy of selling homes to African-Americans and their first steps in integrating the suburbs. More about Eichlers on the market here.
Employing the post-and-beam vernacular with very simple materials and distinctive rooflines, the Eichlers brought the dream of California modernism to thousands of families. Many of these houses in the intervening half-century have been unsympathetically remodeled, and equally at risk of becoming teardowns as land prices increase and McMansions rule the 'burbs.
· The Eichler and the Ecstacy [SF Chronicle]
· Eichler Progressive in More Than Design [SF Chronicle]
· Eichler Network