What Are Eichler Homes? Everything To Know About These Midcentury Modern Homes

Maybe you’re a fan of vintage turned new, or you appreciate the midcentury modern aesthetic of post-war homes. If so, an Eichler home might be a popular house style to consider for homeownership. With all the modern elements of this home, and the vintage ones making a resurgence of popularity, the Eichler home is a great option for homeowners looking for a piece of timeless history.

Let’s get into what makes an Eichler home, and if it’s the right fit for you.

What Is An Eichler Home?

Joseph Eichler was the designer behind Eichler homes. These midcentury modern homes draw inspiration from the outdoors and feature clean lines, glass walls, open floor plans and post and beam construction. He built thousands of homes in the California area, and changed what was expected for middle-class suburban homes.

The houses have withstood the test of time, even though most were built almost 50 years ago. Eichler’s style was simple yet modern, translating very well with homeowners’ style today. An example of this is how Steve Jobs drew inspiration from his childhood home, an Eichler house, for the design of his revolutionary technology company. Part of the reason the architecture’s style grew to such popularity was the location. A place like this, especially post-war, was a great area where growing families and communities had a need for modern yet affordable living. Eichler was able to recognize this desire and fell into his influential position because of it.

History Of Eichler Homes

From the 1950’s to 1960’s, Joseph Eichler built an impressive 11,000 homes in California alone, making his work well known and accessible. The homes, typically one story, had great functionality and were the perfect size for the middle-class family who lived in the suburbs. He drew inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright, a famous architect. Eichler had the opportunity to live in one of Wright’s Usonian houses, a home design that was simple, small and embedded in the environment.

He not only wanted to build houses, but the communities that they would be in. He commissioned for parks and community centers to be built within these diverse communities, which did not discriminate against any religion or race. His modern thinking paved the way for other builders, and created a new era of real estate for respectable California style homes that regular people could afford and thrive in.

These homes are still scattered across the state of California and are a popular choice for anyone looking to buy a home in California.

Eichler Home Floor Plans And Characteristics

Each Eichler home is unique, and with different floor plans not one house looks the same. Yet, each design has a few staple features that would help you define the homes distinctive style:

• Windows: Eichler homes have small windows facing the street and huge windows facing an outdoor space in the back, creating a private yet open space.
• Open concept: Large windows, exposed beams and seamless transitions from indoor to outdoor spaces, the Eichler homes open concept is great for anyone who wants an airy and large open layout.
• Center courtyard: One of the house’s more unique features was the center courtyard. Usually encased by floor to ceiling glass walls or sliding glass doors so it was visible from the inside, these courtyards would be a popular place for an atrium and allows built-in individuality and design.
• Post and beam construction: An architectural feature that is increasingly popular today, Eichler homes feature purposefully exposed beams and posts to add dimension to the interior of the room without décor.
• A-frame roofs: Another distinctive feature, these homes will most typically have an a-frame roof. They will also be thin to extend clean lines to the exterior of the house, gently sloping, and in some instances, flat.

How Much Do Eichler Homes Cost?

While these homes were initially affordable for the average middle-class family, that might not be the case today. The real estate market’s median listing price for Eichler homes ranges from 1 – 2 million, but this can fluctuate depending on the location and state of the house.

So why have these once affordable houses become so expensive? The houses architectural design and style is not only simple and modern, but homeowners consider these houses to be pieces of art. This is due to how influential Eichler’s homes were when first built, causing his designs to transform into history that increases the future value.

Eicher House Pros And Cons

Like all homes, certain styles and designs appeal to different people. Let’s consider some pros and cons of owning an Eichler house.

Eichler Home Pros

• Due to most of these homes being one story and open concept, the layout is very accessible, inclusive and adaptable to whoever is living there.
• Living in an Eichler home is like living in a piece of history or art, without having to sacrifice modern features and styles.
• These homes were built around and within the suburban communities of California, making the location a good area for growing families.

Eichler Home Cons

• Pricing for these homes will be in the millions because of its popularity. Even while considering the average housing prices in California, its price limits the range of people able to live in one.
• Eichler houses are typically located in the suburbs, so if you’re more inclined to live in or near a city, these homes will place you farther away from that.
• The large windows make heating or cooling your home a more difficult task, and as a result, higher energy bills.

The Bottom Line

Joseph Eichler succeeded in creating mass produced houses that were still able to show the originality of whoever was living there. His style was influential to others, modern and considered all the things the average person might need from their home. While Eichler homes have increased in pricing, the history and the idea of them still remain.

If you’re ready to buy a house, get connected with an agent today and start searching for an Eichler home.