Eichlers with ‘Attitude’

More than any other tract houses, Eichlers seem to be alive. Anyone who lives in one knows this. There's a personality in each home, and it is surprisingly varied. But of what sort?

To begin with, most every Eichler is coy. With their angular lines, sexy good looks, and eye-poppingly colorful front doors, they entice. But their windowless street-facing facades lend an air of mystery.

What wonders, you wonder, are inside?

The tasteful exterior might suggest a home that is suave and sophisticated, and indeed this proved so when we visited Dwight and Felicita Evard's home in Sunnyvale's Rancho San Souci, with its expanded living area focused around its brick fireplace, which now stands in the middle of the room.

Inside the Evard Eichler, classic Le Corbusier armchairs, which have defined high-modern furnishings since 1928, share space with an L-shaped, low-slung sectional that mirrors the color of the paneled wall. Throws and pillows add a touch of comfort. Best, though, is how the sectional sits on an almost neon golden shag carpet.

And one wall ties the art of the Italian Renaissance to 20th century modern design, showing a near life-size image of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, whose proportions directly inspired Corbusier.

Alongside Eichlers that are suave sit those that must be called cool. In Palo Alto's Greenmeadow, Sabine and Stefan Nusser's interior with modern upholstered furniture in a range of grays plays off amusingly against abstract art on the wall and in the form of a carpet that shows panels of red and blue alongside diagonal stripes.

It doesn't take much for Eichlers in the cool school to evoke yet another mood: nostalgia. What can brighten up wood-paneled Eichler walls more than vintage, curvaceous table lamps with outer-space-styled shades? For our photo session, Mona San Filippo complemented the joyfulness of the furnishings in her Castro Valley Eichler by wearing vintage fashion.

'Retro'-fitting your Eichler with space-age or tiki artifacts from the mid-century isn't the only way to go bold and brash. Any number of Eichler models, particularly from later periods, are brash in and of themselves, including those with dual high-peaked gables to the front and rear of the atrium.

Not surprisingly, owners of these models often play up the brashness with eye-catching colored front doors that open onto the atrium. Bold use of colors works just as effectively indoors, as seen in the range of red, blue, and pickle-green found in the Diamond Heights, San Francisco Eichler of Jack Bernstine and Matt Ogden.