CA-Modern takes its final bow

After 18 years, Network's print magazine set for a transition with new fall '23 issue
By Adriene Biondo
  Fridays on the Homefront
The new fall '23 issue of CA-Modern magazine (above) will soon be en route to our Northern California Eichler and Streng homeowners. It will also be our print magazine's final issue, though the Eichler Network will carry on into 2024 with a new emphasis.
  

The new fall '23 CA-Modern will be the final issue of the Eichler Network's print magazine that has been delivering Eichler and Streng owners and mid-century modern fans a seemingly endless stream of home-improvement guidance, entertainment, and lifestyle joy for the past 18 years.

"Even though our two decades of publishing CA-Modern have been thoroughly enjoyable, and our current business vibrant, we stand at a crossroads with a heavy heart," points out publisher Marty Arbunich. "It's time for us to make a change."

After completing 30 years at the helm of the Eichler Network, Marty recently announced that the Network will continue its publishing efforts online in 2024 and beyond through its website, EichlerNetwork.com; annual print 'Home Maintenance Directory'; and e-mailed blogs and social media.

Fridays on the Homefront
Three of the 72 published issues of CA-Modern, including the very first one (far left), from 2006.

As a longtime CA-Modern staff member, the loss of CA-Modern magazine fills me with mixed emotions, tempered by the knowledge that the Network will continue online, anchored by new material, and its extensive content archive and roster of vetted service companies.

Shortly after we purchased our Eichler home in Granada Hills in 1995, we reached out to the Eichler Network in San Francisco, and felt like we had struck gold. SoCal has a mere fraction of NorCal's 11,000 Eichlers, and our Balboa Highlands community was looking to make the connection to the birthplace of all things Eichler.

In those early days, Marty was publishing a black-and-white newsletter, carefully curated with helpful and entertaining articles about all things Eichler. He generously offered to mail it free of charge to our community, a gesture that truly put our Balboa Highlands homeowners in touch with the wonderful world of Eichlers. Along the way, the Network also inspired us to work towards an historic designation for our 1960s tract.

Fridays on the Homefront
CA-Modern and the Eichler Network have always encouraged 'community,' which includes Eichler neighborhood gatherings, as above. Photo: Steve Conkling

Over the past 28 years, as an advocacy-based contributor with a background in historic preservation, I've enjoyed following the Network's growth, and recall when the full-color CA-Modern quarterly magazine made its debut in 2006.

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