Which Eichlers Are Historic? Bay Area Listings and the Rules That Shape a Remodel

A handful of Bay Area Eichler neighborhoods are on the National Register of Historic Places, and many more have local rules. The two get confused. Here’s which Eichlers carry historic status, what that status does and doesn’t do, and the local rules that actually shape a remodel.

On the National Register

• Green Gables, Palo Alto. A 1950 Anshen & Allen tract, listed as a historic district in 2005, according to Palo Alto’s 2018 Eichler guidelines.
• Greenmeadow, Palo Alto. The 1954–55 Jones & Emmons tract with its own community center, also listed in 2005.
• Fairglen Additions, San Jose. 218 homes from 1959–61, listed in 2019 under the National Register study of San Jose’s Eichler tracts.
• The X-100, San Mateo Highlands. Eichler’s experimental 1956 house, individually listed in 2016. The rest of the Highlands isn’t a district.

Nominated, studied or called eligible

• Pomeroy Green, Santa Clara. California’s State Historical Resources Commission took up its National Register nomination in January 2021, citing its early cluster planning.
• San Jose’s other Eichler tracts. The 2018 study “Housing Tracts of Joseph Eichler in San Jose, California, 1952–1963” covers Morepark, Fairglen, Hudson and Fairhaven as a historic property type. Only the Fairglen Additions have been listed.
• Los Arboles and Triple El, Palo Alto. The city’s 2018 guidelines call them as architecturally cohesive as the two listed districts, or more so, and say they may be eligible.
• Diamond Heights, San Francisco. SF Planning prepared a draft historic context statement in 2016; it’s a study, not a designation. More in our post on Eichler in San Francisco.

What a listing does, and doesn’t

A National Register listing doesn’t by itself stop a private owner from remodeling. In California, though, National Register properties are also on the California Register of Historical Resources, which can bring added review when a project needs a discretionary city approval. If you’re planning work on a house in a listed district, ask the city early what review applies.

The rules that shape most remodels

• Palo Alto. Eichler design guidelines (2018) for remodels and additions, and single-story overlays on many tracts. See which Palo Alto tracts have one.
• Sunnyvale. Eichler design guidelines (2009) and single-story combining districts on many Eichler blocks. See Sunnyvale’s districts, block by block.
• Cupertino. Fairgrove is zoned R1-e, with Eichler regulations for new homes, additions and remodels; the city’s text says they don’t rule out a harmonious second story.
• Saratoga. One original house in the Shubert Drive tract is on the city’s heritage inventory, so permit work on it goes to the Heritage Preservation Commission.
• Foster City. Citywide architectural review of exterior changes.

Elsewhere, from Mountain View to Monte Sereno and San Francisco, we found no Eichler-specific rules, though some blocks have single-story zoning of their own. Our tract indexes for Silicon Valley and the Peninsula and San Francisco note the rules city by city, and our city-by-city guide to single-story overlays covers the zoning side.

How to check a specific house

• Ask the city whether the parcel is in a listed district, has single-story zoning, or falls under Eichler guidelines.
• Check the parcel’s zoning for an overlay suffix such as “S.”
• For a listed district, ask what review a remodel or addition would need before you write an offer that depends on it.

Weighing a remodel or a purchase? Call the Boyenga Team at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.