The Eichler Ranch-Style House
Photography and Text: Matt Hind
Along with the American economic boom of the post-war period there was an unprecedented growth in the construction of affordable, single unit private homes. Most were unremarkable in design or indeed, aspiration but there were a few developers who wanted to bring some of the sensibilities of those architects of the interwar years like Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bauhaus school to the American public.
Joseph Eichler moved from New York to Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He lived in a Usonian* dwelling designed by Frank Lloyd Wright which is reputed to have been the inspiration for Eichler Homes Inc. founded in 1949 to develop affordable modernist homes for post was American families. Joseph Eichler is now recognised as the only developer in the United States to have produced modernist homes on a commercially large scale.
Eichler employed progressive architects such as Claude Oakland, Raphael Soriano, Austen and Allen, A.Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons. Championing unorthodox techniques for tract housing Eichler Inc. would go on to Build 11,000 homes, mainly in the Bay area of Northern California. The place featured here is in the town of Orange, thirty miles south of Los Angeles and was designed by Jones and Emmons. It can be found in one of only 5 Eichler developments in Southern California. This type of home, recognised today as part of mid-century modern design, was commonly known as a ranch-style house, although in this case in contemporary style. Joseph Eichler is now recognised as the only developer in the United States to have produced modernist homes on a commercially large scale.
*An abbreviation of United States of North America used before the WWII by Frank Lloyd Wright to denote a simple, affordable and distinctly American style of housing.
Other Eichler Locations
The Highlands, San Mateo, California
Palo Alto, California
Fairhaven, Orange, California
Granada Hills, California
Thousand Oaks, California
