Eichler featured on Curb Appeal television show
Curb Appeal featured an Eichler this week. Curb Appeal is on the Home And Garden Network. Each week they redo someone's street side yard and house.
I'm not sure where this particular house is, but they did a reasonably nice job. Unfortunately, they decided to replace the original numbers. Other than that it's nice.
They often repeat programs, so keep an eye out.
I saw it to and was appalled. It looked like Terra Linda, that is if Eichler built Claude Oakland models there in the early 60s. The hills looked like Marin County
The fence was not appropriate with the architecture at all. Frankly, the copper pipes on the fence was ugly and silly. The copper facia cover was also a laugh. The landscaping was fine and the new entry steps were perfect. I could even live with the copper art, but the house numbers, facia, and fence were horrible. She ripped down original house numbers! The new owner should be embarrassed! I feel sorry for her neighbors.
The sad part about the show was HGTV was running "Restore America", a preservation promo during the commercials. Oh the irony!
I was disappointed with the Curb Appeal episode also.
The fence was just wrong. The designer replaced the 6 foot fence with a 4 foot fence to "extend the vista to the backyard". Why have a low fence and let the neighbors see into your backyard? One of the ideas of an Eichler is to have private outdoor spaces.
The copper... I think that will just look "untidy" in the years to come. I do not think that the "aged patina" of copper is appropriate with a modern house. Maybe if they did stainless steel or coated the copper with a substance so that it does not discolor it would be more appropriate.
How could they get rid of the original house numbers and then replace them with numbers placed on a diagonal? Don't they know how many people would love to have the original house numbers?
I think that a lot of the HGTV programming is less than educational. The goal it seems is to do SOMETHING and to make changes rather than to do something that is appropriate for the particular house.
P.S. If I see one more couple that wants a "Tuscan" feel to their house, their yard, their kitchen, their bedroom, I will run from the house with my hands in the air screaming.
Sounds like joe b and jeff are jealous. I watched the episode and was pleased with the outcome.
not jealous. It must have been your house.
Joe... ouch!
Agreed, not jealous at all. The changes made on the Curb Appeal episode are nothing that I would want on my home.
In fact we replaced our short 4 foot fences within the last year with 6 foot tall fences and are so glad we did! The privacy is wonderful.
Im confused I thought Eichler drew much of his aesthetic from Wright in which case fences period would interfere with the blending of nature and the house.
Bryan: Eichler had very little to do with the aesthetic of his homes. He hired top architects like Jones & Emmons, Anshen+Allen, and Claude Oakland to design what was modern for the time. Eichler's motivation for these homes came from renting a FLW for a short while. His goal was to make that kind of living affordable.
Fences were, and are, a part of the Eichler home and landscape. Most of these homes are built in suburban housing tracts, unlike FLW's country settings. Eichler homes are geared for indoor/outdoor living and fences provide privacy for both.
Eichler's architects took great care to design these fences so these look and function well with the home. What was done on HGTV's latest assault was simply awful, from both aesthetics and function.
I was contacted by the producer of this segment several months ago. She wanted me to drive from my house in San Mateo to Lucas Valley in San Rafael (where the house is located) to be interviewed in front of the house. She wanted me to do this during the work week. As I am self-employed, and was very busy with work projects at the time, I could not afford to take a half day off (as that is how long it would take to make the roundtrip and do the interview) particularly since I would not be paid for my time. I did write her an email giving her advice on what she was trying to do with the house. She never responded with even a simple "thank you", which does not surprise me: it sounds like she did some very foolish things to the house (I did not see the show, I don't get cable TV)
These TV shows seem to want other people to give their time for free so that they can create a show to make money. I find this astonishing, but then it is simply in line with current American culture: you can always find people who will take time to appear on "reality television" for nothing.
Barry Brisco
