In Fullerton, ‘Eichlers’ Aren’t Really Eichlers

“Ooh la la!” the realty language gushed in a 2015 ad. “If you like Eichler design and mid-century homes, then you will love this very affordable ‘Fullerton Forever Home’ within minutes to downtown Fullerton.”

The home in question, with its open plan, walls of glass, and some remnant interior wood paneling is a beauty, and it caught the eyes of mid-century modern fans Avi and Karen Malloy.

“The listing was written in such a way as not to say directly the home was an Eichler, but that Eichler lovers would enjoy this home, and that sort of thing,” Avi Malloy says, recalling the ad copy. He adds “The term [‘Eichler’] was used intentionally to draw attention.”

The Malloys, who were living in Los Angeles and understood they couldn’t afford a cool modern home there, turned their attention to Orange County, where Avi’s sister lives and, perhaps even more to the point, there exist several mid-century modern neighborhoods that remain undiscovered.

“For my wife and I, being mid-century modern enthusiasts, what first drew us to the house was the architecture,” he says. They moved in August, having paid $485,000, much less than a mid-century modern home would cost in LA.

Also in Orange County are three actual Eichler neighborhoods – but no more than three – and all are in the city of Orange.

The Malloys wondered about the true genesis of the home they were eyeing, 600 West Maplewood Avenue. “Would you be able to guide me in finding out if indeed it is truly an Eichler?” Karen queried of the Eichler Network, publisher of CA-Modern magazine.

The broker who was offering the home, by the way, wasn’t the only individual in Fullerton pushing the idea that ‘Forever Homes,’ which were developed by the Pardee-Phillips Construction Company, were actually 'Eichlers.'

There is also Fullerton Heritage, a historical society whose website makes a convoluted argument for why these homes qualify as 'Eichlers.'

The headline on the Heritage site reads 'Eichler and the Forever Homes in Fullerton,' which certainly suggests a stronger connection than exists.

“The mid-century modern architectural designs of Eichler dwellings remain fresh,” the piece goes on, “contemporary, and 'modern' to this day and are so distinctive that his homes are just known as ‘Eichlers.’”

The piece’s first subhead is even more misleading: 'Eichler Homes in Fullerton – the Forever Houses.'

“While many Orange County residents are aware of the three Eichler tracts in the city of Orange -- Fairhaven, near Fairhaven and Prospect Streets; Fairhills, off Santiago Canyon Road; and Fairmeadow, near Taft and Cambridge -- few know that Fullerton also has a development of these quintessential California homes.”

“Between 1953 and 1956, over 280 Eichler homes—called the Fullerton Grove development—were built in three different phases in the southern part of the city.”

Yes, a few paragraphs down, the writer finally gets around to attributing these homes not to Eichler but to their real builder, the firm of Pardee-Phillips, and attributes their construction to the TV show ‘House that ‘Home’ Built,’ which included Eichler’s architects Jones & Emmons promoting a house plan they had originally designed for Eichler that could be built anywhere in the United States.

So, to Fullerton Heritage, this makes the homes 'Eichlers.'

“We know they were built by Pardee-Phillips and legalistically they may not be Eichlers,” says Maureen Burton, a board member who spoke on behalf of the Heritage board. She added that other people have called to say these homes are not Eichlers.

“The Forever Homes are not 'Eichlers' in the sense that he was not the builder/developer, but 'Eichlers' in the sense that they are the same Jones and Emmons plans,” she said in a statement from the board.

According to Pardee-Phillips promotional material for the development, the 'Forever House in Fullerton Grove' came complete with the  “dream kitchen of tomorrow, with built-in food preparation center built flush into your counter to mix, grind, stir, whip entirely by motor power.”

The developers bragged of the “expansive yet soft Contemporary design,” and showed the homes arrayed on winding tree-shaded streets.

Over the decades, like most [but not all] of the mid-century modern neighborhoods in Orange, the Fullerton Forever Homes lost most of their pizzazz. “Unfortunately many of the homes have been lived in by people who didn’t appreciate the architectural design,” Avi says, noting that the neighborhood has had a degree of blight and a reputation for crime.

He says, though, that it is on an upswing and is a safe place to live.

“My sense is that very few of the homeowners or occupants really have any interest or understanding of the homes they are living in, which is a point of frustration for my wife and I.”

He notes, though, that the broker handling the home marketed it as a modern gem, and says other people seem to be moving into the neighborhood with an interest in restoring the homes.

The Malloys’ 1,400-square-foot home, from 1955, has a pitched roof, three bedrooms, and clerestory windows. It’s sided in vertical wood and plaster, and they say the home is relatively intact, unlike many of its neighbors.  They and their young sons Joseph and Leon love the open plan and the light.

“This neighborhood in particular seemed like it would be a good target,” for modernism fans, Avi says. “Fullerton has a lively downtown, and this little community is only a mile from downtown. There should be a lot of interest in young people moving down here.”

“There needs to be more awareness of properties like this.”

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