learnacross the u.s.mid-century modern
Mid-century modern, across the U.S.
Modern neighborhoods and house types worth knowing, coast to coast: what makes them distinctive, how they’re protected and what to check before you buy. Researched from National Register nominations and city preservation records.
- guides27neighborhoods and house types
- states17plus two house types sold widely
- earliest1947Six Moon Hill
- home baseSilicon Valleyhome of the Eichler
the guides
Twenty-seven guides
Each guide covers the houses, the designation and rules, and a checklist for buyers, with its sources.
virginia1949–1971
Hollin Hills
A 326-acre neighborhood in Fairfax County, Virginia, just south of Alexandria, with about 460 modern houses designed mostly by architect Charles Goodman for developer Robert Davenport.
- houses: about 460
- lots: ⅓–½ acre
- designation: 2013 · 2022
new york1949–1964
Usonia
A cooperative community in Pleasantville, Westchester County, New York, laid out by Frank Lloyd Wright.
- houses: about 47
- land: about 97 acres
- designation: 2012
massachusetts1947–1953
Six Moon Hill
A small neighborhood in Lexington, Massachusetts, on and around Moon Hill Road, with houses built from 1947 to 1953 and designed almost entirely by The Architects Collaborative, the firm founded with Walter Gropius.
- houses: 29
- architects: TAC
- designation: 2016
sold nationwidefrom 1953
Techbuilt and Deck House homes
Two families of modern post-and-beam houses from Massachusetts.
- Techbuilt kits: 3,000+
- Deck House: from 1959
- Deck Houses: thousands
made in ohio1948–1950
Lustron houses
Prefabricated houses made of porcelain-enameled steel, inside and out, at a former aircraft plant in Columbus, Ohio.
- houses: under 2,500
- shipped to: 33 states
- material: enameled steel
colorado1949–1957
Arapahoe Acres
A 30-acre neighborhood in Englewood, Colorado, of 124 individually designed modern houses built from 1949 to 1957 by developer and designer Edward Hawkins, with architect Eugene Sternberg.
- houses: 124
- site: 30 acres
- designation: 1998
californiafrom 1955
Palm Springs Alexander homes
More than 1,200 modern houses built in Palm Springs, California from the mid-1950s by the Alexander Construction Company, mostly designed by Palmer & Krisel.
- homes: 1,200+
- architects: Palmer & Krisel
- designation: house by house
californiafrom 1948
Crestwood Hills
A hillside neighborhood in Brentwood, Los Angeles, started by a housing cooperative in 1946, with post-and-beam houses by architects A. Quincy Jones and Whitney Smith.
- original houses: 34 intact
- architects: Jones & Smith
- designation: house by house
texas1953–1960s
Glenbrook Valley
A Houston neighborhood of about 1,250 ranch and mid-century modern houses, laid out by the Kansas City landscape architects Hare and Hare and built mostly from 1953 into the 1960s.
- homes: about 1,250
- planners: Hare & Hare
- designation: 2011
florida1940s–1960s
Sarasota School of Architecture homes
A movement rather than a neighborhood: post-war architects in Sarasota, Florida, including Ralph Twitchell, Paul Rudolph, Victor Lundy, Gene Leedy and Tim Seibert, adapted modern design to the Gulf Coast climate.
- properties: about 300
- architects: Rudolph, Twitchell
- designation: house by house
oregon1959–1975
Rummer homes
Eichler-influenced post-and-beam houses built around Portland, Oregon by Robert Rummer from 1959 to 1975.
- houses: about 750
- listed: 2013
- largest cluster: 62–65
california1960–1966
Eichler homes in Southern California
Joseph Eichler’s company built roughly 575 to 600 houses in Southern California in the 1960s, in five tracts across Los Angeles, Orange and Thousand Oaks.
- tracts: 5
- homes: 575–600
- districts: 4 of 5
california1953–1954
Cliff May Rancho Estates
Rancho Estates in east Long Beach is a tract of about 700 single-story ranch houses designed by Cliff May and Chris Choate and built by developer Ross Cortese in 1953–1954.
- homes: about 700
- design: May & Choate
- zoning: PD-11
arizonalate 1940s–1960s
Ralph Haver homes
Ralph Haver designed modest modern tract houses across the Phoenix area from the late 1940s into the 1960s.
- tract era: late 1940s–1960s
- roof pitch: 1:12
- designated: 62 homes
california1959–1980s
Streng homes
Streng Bros. Homes built thousands of Eichler-inspired modern houses around Sacramento and Davis from 1959 into the late 1980s, most designed by architect Carter Sparks.
- homes: 3,000–4,000
- architect: Carter Sparks
- builders: Jim and Bill Streng
colorado1954–1957
Krisana Park and Denver’s Cliff May homes
Krisana Park and the Harvey Park Cliff May homes are two mid-1950s modern home tracts in Denver, one modeled on Joseph Eichler’s California houses and the other built from Cliff May’s prefabricated system.
- homes: about 175 + 170
- overlay: CO-5, 2016
- landmark status: none found
texasfrom 1955
Memorial Bend
Memorial Bend is a west Houston subdivision begun in 1955 between Memorial Drive and Buffalo Bayou, known for its 1950s modern houses.
- homes: about 350
- by Floyd: about 50
- historic status: none found
georgia1959–1975
Northcrest
Northcrest is a mid-century subdivision in unincorporated DeKalb County, just outside I-285 southeast of Doraville, built from 1959 to 1975 and listed on the National Register in 2017.
- size: about 396 acres
- listed: 2017
- house types: 5
nevada1960–1979
Paradise Palms
Paradise Palms is a 1960s desert modern neighborhood in unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, built around today’s Las Vegas National golf course about two miles east of the Strip.
- built: 1960–1979
- homes: 963
- architects: Palmer & Krisel
washingtonfrom 1948
Hilltop
Hilltop is a planned community of about 40 modernist houses in south Bellevue, Washington, begun in 1948 as a cooperative organized by Seattle architects Perry Johanson, Fred Bassetti and John Morse.
- home sites: 40
- first house: 1950
- designation: none found
connecticut1940s–1970s
New Canaan’s modern houses
New Canaan, Connecticut has more than 100 mid-century modern houses built from the late 1940s through the 1970s by the Harvard Five and other architects.
- built: 100+
- demolished: about 20
- historic district: 2026
maryland1962–1967
Carderock Springs
Carderock Springs is a 1960s modernist subdivision in Bethesda, Maryland, built by developer Edmund Bennett with houses designed by Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon.
- built: 1962–1967
- houses: about 275–400
- designation: National Register, 2008
oklahoma1954–1957
Lortondale
Lortondale is a midtown Tulsa subdivision of low-slung modern houses designed by architect Donald Honn and built by developer Howard Grubb between 1954 and 1957.
- homes: about 220
- architect: Donald Honn
- designation: none found
michigan1956–1963
Lafayette Park
Lafayette Park is a neighborhood of Mies van der Rohe–designed townhouses, court houses and apartment towers set around a central park just east of downtown Detroit.
- homes: 186
- towers: 3
- landmark: 2015
californiafrom 1964
The Sea Ranch
The Sea Ranch is a planned community on about 10 miles of the northern Sonoma County coast, begun in 1964 by Oceanic Properties with landscape architect Lawrence Halprin.
- coastline: about 10 miles
- homes and lots: 2,200+
- national register: 2005
missouri1953–1955
Craig Woods
Craig Woods is a 1950s modern subdivision in Kirkwood, Missouri, that the city designated a local historic district in 2011.
- built: 1953–1955
- homes: 49
- designation: local district, 2011
michiganfrom 1947
Parkwyn Village and The Acres
Parkwyn Village and The Acres are two late-1940s cooperative neighborhoods near Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Frank Lloyd Wright drew the site plans and designed four houses in each.
- wright houses: 4 + 4
- houses built: 38 + 5
- national register: 2022 / 2004
reading the rules
How protection works
- The National Register is mostly an honorListing alone places no restrictions on what a private owner does with the property; the rules come from cities, counties and covenants.
- Local districts and overlays have teethPlaces like Fairfax County’s Hollin Hills overlay, Houston’s Glenbrook Valley district and the Eichler districts in Los Angeles and Orange review exterior changes before permits.
- Often it’s house by houseIn Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Sarasota, protection depends on the individual house, so check the address, not just the neighborhood.
- Covenants and associationsSome communities, like Hollin Hills and Usonia, also have their own design review through deed covenants or a cooperative board.
sources
Where this comes from
Checked October 20, 2026.
- National Park Service: National Register FAQNational Register listing places no restrictions on what a non-federal owner may do with their property.www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/faqs.htm
questions
Questions we hear
What is mid-century modern?
Houses designed roughly from the mid-1940s through the 1960s with open plans, walls of glass, low or flat roofs and natural materials. In Silicon Valley the best-known examples are Eichlers.
Which mid-century modern neighborhoods are historic districts?
Hollin Hills (Fairfax County overlay), Glenbrook Valley (City of Houston), Balboa Highlands (a Los Angeles HPOZ), the three Orange Eichler tracts and Town and Country Scottsdale have local district rules; others are on the National Register, under zoning limits or protected house by house.
Do you help buyers outside the Bay Area?
We represent buyers and sellers in Santa Clara County, bay-side San Mateo County and San Francisco. These guides are here for anyone who loves these houses.
more to learn
Keep going
- Mid-century modern homes in Silicon ValleyThe style at home: where it is, what to look for.
- Silicon Valley Eichler tractsEvery Eichler tract we cover, with live listings.
- Builder FilesThe builders and architects behind Bay Area homes.
- U.S. home price trackerHow prices moved in the 100 largest metro areas.
General information from the sources listed, checked October 20, 2026; not legal, preservation or construction advice. Confirm designation and permit rules with the local preservation office before you buy or remodel. The Boyenga Team represents buyers and sellers in Santa Clara County, bay-side San Mateo County and San Francisco.
talk to a property nerd
Love mid-century modern?
The Boyenga Team has sold Silicon Valley homes since 1996, including Eichlers and other mid-century modern houses. If you’re buying or selling one in the Bay Area, talk to a Property Nerd. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.
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