Amplified Lifestyles has long admired the California mid-century Eichler Homes built by developer Joseph Eichler (1900 – 1974). These light-filled houses are recognizable for their recessed entryways with broad, low-gabled roofing. While small windows faced the street for privacy, large picture windows at the back look to unobstructed views of the outdoors. Wood entrances, exteriors, paneling, and exposed widely-spaced posts and beams further emphasize the house’s connection to the natural world. To streamline the interiors, the developer utilized built-in furnishings and appliances. Open-concept kitchen, dining, and living areas, sometimes with glass partitions and central atriums, allowed homeowners to blur the line between the inner and outer worlds.

Eichler did not begin his career as a real estate developer but as a purveyor of butter and eggs. The native New Yorker moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1925 to help with his in-laws’ wholesale business. By 1943 he owned a retail store Peninsula Farmyard specializing in eggs and poultry. At the time, he and his family rented the Sidney Bazett House in Hillsborough, a Usonian-style residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The experience of living in a Wright house inspired Eichler to create communities of homes that incorporated modern architectural elements for the average family. With millions of soldiers returning from WWII, the time was right.

In 1949, Eichler Homes, Inc. started building affordable residences designed by the Bay Area architects Robert Anshen and Steve Allen of the architecture firm Anshen and Allen. The architects masterminded the California Modernist style of the homes that first went on the market for an average sale price of $12,000. Later Eichlers were designed by Claude Oakland, A. Quincy Jones, and Raphael Soriano. Having experienced discrimination in New York for being Jewish, the developer advocated fair housing, selling homes to Asians and Blacks. Between 1949 and 1966, Eichler Homes built over 11,000 houses, primarily in San Francisco Bay Area suburbs. Today, their timeless appeal endures.