Celebrating Green Gables

Fostering community was what Eichler Homes was all about, and it's our guess that if Joe Eichler was still around today, he would have been pleased to see that Green Gables, one of his earliest-built subdivisions, is a place where neighborliness and pride of ownership still ring true.

For CA-Modern magazine's winter '23 issue, features editor Dave Weinstein visited the Palo Alto neighborhood, and his 'Forging Friendships' feature took readers on a delightful tour, interviewing homeowners and families who bring genuine joy to this lively community.

Sixty-three Eichler homes were originally built in Green Gables in 1950, and another 80 adjacent residences, in the area commonly referred to as Edgewood, followed in the mid-1950s. The early homes in the tract are particularly notable, reports Weinstein.

"Considering how old the earliest Green Gables houses are, and how small they originally were—three bedrooms, one bath, about 1,100 square feet, no atrium—the neighborhood is remarkably well preserved," he says.

Weinstein discusses the older portion of Green Gables, which "is historic not only because it is one of the first Eichler neighborhoods with variants of [architects] Anshen and Allen's original Eichler model AA-1, but because this tract brought Eichler his first sustained attention in the press, when Architectural Forum named this and other early tracts 'subdivision of the year' in December 1950."

In 2005, Green Gables was named to the National Register of Historic Places. "Many but not all residents know about this distinction, and some take pride in it," Weinstein says. "But when they brag about their good lives in the neighborhood, they talk about each other."

Supplemented by Rory Earnshaw's recent photographs, the warmth and easy camaraderie of the residents of Green Gables shines through.

You'll meet artist Alan Sonneman, who has made Green Gables his home and art studio for the past 25 years. His large-scale photorealist canvases depict scenic landscapes, many inspired by his camping trips to the Eastern Sierras.

"It's amazing living in a real masterpiece," says Sonneman. "It is a masterpiece of architecture. It's like every plane works well against the other. That's why I painted the doors different colors. So you have these colored panes."

You'll also meet Matt and Sandra Robles. For Matt, a highlight of living in Green Gables is membership in the swim club.