Gavello Glen Sunnyvale’s Anshen & Allen midmods

About Gavello Glen

Gavello Glen went up on the old Ellis Farm, an orchard that Pierino Gavello, a San Francisco restaurateur, bought in 1945. His son Elmer developed it at 34 with no building experience. An Eichler publication reports that Elmer first asked Joe Eichler about building on the land; when Eichler said no, Elmer hired Eichler’s architects, Anshen & Allen.

Most streets carry family names: Elmer’s parents were Pierino and Henrietta, and Gail and Gary Avenues are named for his children. Anshen Court is named for the architect Bob Anshen.

City records show the tract went up in four pieces: Gary Avenue in 1952; Tract 1196 (Gail Avenue and Duff and Anshen Courts) in 1953 and 1954; Tract 1270 (Pierino, Henrietta and Gavello Avenues and Betty Court) in 1954; and Tract 1554 (Jackpine Court and more of Pierino, Henrietta, Gail and Iris) from 1956 to 1959.

County records put the typical house at about 1,700 sq ft on a lot of about 9,700 sq ft, large for a 1950s tract. 130 of the 145 houses are one story and 14 are two; most have three bedrooms.

The same publication describes the signature look: a steep central gable with a glass front, open-beam ceilings, redwood, rear glass walls set in wooden mullions, and concrete slabs with radiant heat. Other models are low-gabled houses with clerestory windows, long ranch-style plans and two-story houses with banded windows.

built

1952–1959

homes

155 lots on three recorded tract maps (Tracts 1196, 1270 and 1554) and the Gary Avenue blocks, 145 of them single-family houses, per City of Sunnyvale parcel records. An Eichler publication describes a neighborhood of about 160 homes.

architect

Anshen & Allen (Eichler’s original architects, per an Eichler publication)

developer

Elmer Gavello

nearby guide

Braly Park & Gavello Glen guide

city

Sunnyvale, Santa Clara County

Streets

Gail and Iris Avenues continue past the Gavello blocks; this page follows the house numbers on the Gavello tract maps in city records.

Sources: an Eichler publication’s history of the tract, drawing on Elmer Gavello’s 1991 talk to the neighborhood association; City of Sunnyvale parcel records (tract, year built, size, stories, zoning), checked October 2026.

Sales on these streets

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Closed sales reported to the MLS on this tract’s streets and house-number ranges, whatever the listing calls the home, with the same home listed through two feeds counted once. Homes that sold privately won’t appear.

Buying or selling a Gavello

• Radiant heatGavellos were built on concrete slabs with radiant heat, like Eichlers. Ask whether the original system still runs, was repaired or was replaced, and have it checked before you remove contingencies.
• Glass and woodRear glass walls sit in wooden mullions, and the houses use a lot of redwood. Check the wood for weather, and ask what glass was upgraded and whether it was permitted.
• The long living roomThe most popular model has a narrow living room about 36 feet long, and many owners have widened it. Match the permit history to the size in the listing.
• Which lots are originalTracts 1196, 1270 and 1554 and the Gary Avenue blocks make up the tract, but a few lots were rebuilt or built later. Check the year built in county records.
• Sunnyvale rulesAdditions and rebuilds go through Sunnyvale’s design review. Ask Sunnyvale Planning which guidelines apply to the parcel before you plan a second story.

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