ROOTS OF THE EICHLER GABLE
The soaring central peak took the Eichler design to
new heights -- with drama and greater buyer appeal
From the pages of the
Eichler Network newsletter
By Joe Barthlow
The soaring peak of the steep central gable, a hallmark of the Eichler home design, took innovation, drama, romance, and buyer appeal to new heights when it was first introduced in the early 1960s.
Flanked on two sides of an open atrium by flat-roofed bedroom areas and a garage, this revolutionary new roof style was a radical departure from the flat and low-pitch roofs that previously had filled Eichler streetscapes. It created a carport-entry-living area that felt luxurious, and vistas from the living area that filled the room with lush vegetation from the landscape.
"This high roof gave a soaring volume to the center of the house," recalls Catherine Munson, a longtime salesperson for Eichler Homes from her Marin County base beginning in the late 1950s. "People always prefer higher ceilings, and there is something especially nurturing about the shape of the 'A' elevation."
This was also the first Eichler plan that effectively separated the adults from the children. The children's bedrooms were separated from their parents', and the adult side of the house included a master suite and 'father's study' which bordered the dining and living rooms.
"The plan was an instant success with both parents and children," says Munson. "So much so that for a time we worried about not being able to sell the other plans." The feature was quickly adopted in new subdivisions in both the Bay Area and Southern California.
But the high-pitched gable didn't begin and end with California's Eichlers. In fact, its architects, A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons, first unveiled the concept -- for a different builder and in a different state -- nearly six years before its early 1963 Eichler debut in the Lucas Valley development of San Rafael.
The striking appearance of a high-pitched gable wasn't exclusive to Jones & Emmons, though. Two years before Jones & Emmons' model 1505 (soon followed by 1605 and 1905) made its debut in Lucas Valley, former Anshen + Allen associate Claude Oakland was on his own designing homes for Eichler. Several of Oakland's more than 200 Eichler designs in the 1960s and '70s also featured high-pitched gables -- his super-gabled model 15 at Mill Valley's Harbor Point perhaps the most striking front elevation of all.
The new gable design may not have been such a departure from Oakland's flat-roof designs for Anshen + Allen. In the early part of 1956, Anshen + Allen designed a tract house with a steep gable for Sunnyvale merchant builder Elmer Gavello. Much of their work for Gavello mirrored their modernist post-and-beam work for Eichler.
This 'I'-shaped floor plan of 1460 square feet featured three bedrooms to the rear and a central open living area separated by a brick fireplace extending from the kitchen. The living and family rooms running up the center of the plan boasted soaring ceilings with glass-end gables. Street views featured a dramatically steep roof spine running down the 'I' over the living areas. Flanked to the left of the Gavello design was a flat-roof garage. To the right was a door-high privacy wall extending from the living room, enclosing a courtyard. The privacy wall along with the garage created a symmetrical appearance from the street. A flat roof covered the bedrooms as well.
"Although the gable image is not what we expect from Anshen + Allen, the strategy recalls the not unfamiliar influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose Prairie Style and Usonian home designs often employed a unique roof over the living spaces," points out Eichler historian Paul Adamson. "The sharp form and clerestory also provide a striking counterpoint to the otherwise rectilinear street façade, and no doubt had a reassuring visual appeal to potential buyers."
During that same year, Jones & Emmons began designing a post-and beam tract home for Hallberg Homes, a builder in Douglas fir-rich Portland, Oregon. Located east of downtown, Hallberg's planned development was poised to make one of the largest modern home building statements in the Northwest.
The years 1956-57 represented the zenith of Jones & Emmons' residential careers. Having just completed the highly publicized X-100 Eichler experimental steel house in the San Mateo Highlands, Jones & Emmons was about to publish their book, 'Builders' Homes for Better Living.' National publications 'Living for Young Homemakers' and 'House & Home' profiled the firm. Other magazines featured their award-winning work on a regular basis.
"Besides the stamp of individuality, Jones & Emmons have a faculty for creating a house that 'belongs' on a site," noted 'Living for Young Homemakers' in early 1957. This special skill made the architects ideal candidates to design a development that needed to complement the surrounding tall fir trees on Hallberg's site, and later the magnificent hills of Lucas Valley.
The commission called for 48 homes built from four similar 'I'-shaped plans, ranging from 1,700 to 1,800 square feet. Two of the plans showcased a steep-pitched gable spine running over the middle of the 'I'. The other two plans differed, with a lower pitch typical of many of the modern ranch homes. Sadly, the project never got past the construction of the four model homes.
Today, the subdivision is filled in with homes and shows signs of a typical middle-class neighborhood. Many of the Douglas firs stand at well over 100 feet tall, screening the western sun and shading the aging cedar shakes on the sharp-pitched gables. Entering the quiet development, one catches a glimpse of several huge panes of glass tucked inside a high-pitched gable. Flanked to the right, extending from the living room wall, is a nine-foot high, straight-stacked concrete block wall, which gives privacy to the home's outdoor living area and master suite. To the left of the gable, under a flat roof, is a deep entry and two-car garage.
Approaching the entry of the home, one is met by a freestanding cascading water feature made of copper and slate, created by the home's present owner, John Xóchihua (pronounced So-chee-wa). Xóchihua, an artist by trade, shares his home with wife Nacy, daughter Savanna, and golden retriever Honey. Xóchihua, who has lived in his Hallberg-built home for 13 years, found it difficult to find the right home when he was looking. "It was really simple for me to walk in a place and just go, 'No. No. No,'" John says today. He knew just as quickly that the Hallberg home was what he wanted. "I didn't even get past the kitchen -- it was like, this is it!"
Xóchihua has worked to preserve many of the home's original details while adding his artistic touches. Below the huge panes of gabled glass is an equally scaled fireplace and raised mantel made of eight-inch by eight-inch concrete block. Integrated with the fireplace is the block privacy wall, which extends east through the glass wall along with the hearth.
Between the hearth and block wall is an indoor planting bed. No longer containing plants, Xóchihua uses the space as a base for a five-foot-high water feature, its cascading water filling the living room with tranquility. "With all the glass and high ceilings in the main room, the visual division between interior and exterior space is much softer than in other homes," Xóchihua points out. "I found myself opening all the sliding doors during strong rainstorms, and by bringing the sound of the rain inside through the water feature, it made that division even softer. It's kind of a surreal feeling when your senses tell you that you should be getting drenched but your not."
Opposite the living room's fireplace is the kitchen. Influenced by the X-100 and foreshadowing his Case Study House project, Quincy Jones sited the kitchen in the center of the living area, dividing the living room from the multipurpose room while allowing 360-degree access. The kitchen features Eichler-style sliding cabinetry, and the counter tops still retain the original white- and gold-flaked Formica. In the center of the kitchen is a unique island, with storage access from all four sides, which also houses the original built-in Thermador oven.
Because the fireplace is located in the front of the home, the multipurpose room enjoys an uninterrupted view of the backyard patio area. East of the multipurpose room is the master bedroom suite. To the west are three bedrooms grouped around a combination laundry/guest bath. The entire west wing sits behind the two-car garage. Both east and west wings reside under a flat roof with deep overhangs.
As two walls in the living and multipurpose rooms carry tight-groove exterior siding indoors, every room features Philippine mahogany paneling with a transparent whitewash stain. The Douglas fir tongue-and-groove ceiling also received a similar finish. The light-colored walls and ceiling dovetail with the hanging globe lights to keep the home light and bright.
All of the bedrooms feature floor-to-ceiling glass. The lower half of the glass wall is Mistlite privacy glass, and the top a standard metal sliding window. Glass in the living area remains single pane, even in the Northwest. "I just treat it like a lodge, you know, get the fire roaring," Xóchihua says, pointing to his huge panes of glass. "We'll see how baby likes it."
While interior color schemes in the home have changed over the years, the exposed beams in the garage remain the original orange, much like Jones' personal home and the X-100. The sliding closet doors, original to the home, were made of wafer board, providing a unique texture.
Like Xóchihua's home, the other three Hallbergs remain intact, with minor changes. Sharing similar floor plans, all four feature a unique exterior finish. Across the street from Xóchihua is a redwood board-and-batten-cladded model owned by Claudia Nichols. Hers has a lower-pitched roof, similar to many of the modernist ranch homes. "I think it makes it warmer, honestly," Claudia says of her not-so-steep ceiling. "Anybody could walk in here and love it!"
The model next door to Claudia features an entry courtyard surrounded by a concrete block wall. Some of the blocks are turned sideways, exposing a pattern of peepholes similar to the X-100's entry. The last Hallberg, and possibly the most original home of the four, is closer the Xóchihua's home in design, but the block privacy wall features an 'X' treatment along the top.
The Jones & Emmons design for Hallberg generally has been recognized as the genesis of the steep-gabled design for Eichler. While the four Hallberg homes provide a small taste of California living in the Northwest, it's not clear why the remaining 44 were not built.
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