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SLIDESHOW: This was Joseph Eichler’s first custom-built home working with noted architects Robert Anshen and Steve Allen, who went on to become the original designers of Eichler homes. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
Eichler and his family lived in the Atherton home for 14 years from 1951 to 1965. During much of this time, he and his wife, Lillian, were said to have used the home to test ideas for use in less expensive tract homes. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
Triangular motifs repeat throughout the house, including on the fireplace and skylights. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
The home is larger and features many more embellishments than his tract houses. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
The kitchen was designed with twin Thermador ovens and twin refrigerators. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
Joseph Eichler customized every room in his Atherton home with built-in cabinetry and storage, redwood siding and triangular motifs. Photo courtesy The Boyenga Team. 
A wall of windows and sliding-glass doors along the entire back of the home open up to a rectangular swimming pool. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
Many of the features found in Eichler’s Atherton home can be traced to architect Frank Lloyd Wright. During World War II, Eichler reportedly lived in a Wright-designed home in Hillsborough, which ultimately inspired him to embark on a career building modern homes. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
Every room in this Atherton Eichler features custom-built cabinetry and storage. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
Many of the home’s details are immediately recognizable as “Eichler” features, nd-beamstruction, floor-to-ceiling windows and radiant 
This custom-built home was larger than Eichler’s typical houses. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
At the time of its construction, there were few, if any houses of its kind in Atherton. Local newspapers described the home as “ultramodern.” Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team. 
The home features five bedrooms that all face the backyard pool and have outdoor access. Photo courtesy The Boyenga Team. 
The backyard of Joseph Eichler’s personal home that he custom-built in 1951 is shown here. Photo by David Eichler, courtesy The Boyenga Team. 
Many details on the home are immediately recognizable as “Eichler” features, including a minimalist front facade. Photo courtesy the Boyenga Team.
The midcentury modern home that was the personal residence of California housing legend Joseph Eichler for more than a decade has been on the market for less than a week, and it’s already attracting a significant amount of attention from interested buyers hoping to preserve it.
The 3,700-square-foot Atherton home at 19 Irving Ave. was listed for sale on March 18 with an asking price of $6.385 million. The home has been listed for sale only one time before, when Eichler sold it to the current owners’ parents in 1965.
News of the home’s pending listing attracted more than a 1,000 visitors on March 16-17 when Eichler home specialists Eric and Janelle Boyenga from the Boyenga-Compass realty team opened the home’s doors to the public to give fans of Eicher homes and midcentury modern architecture the opportunity to explore the property before it officially hit the market. Some people drove from as far as Palm Springs and Los Angeles to marvel at the home’s unique design, Eric Boyenga said.
“It was like a Grateful Dead show for midcentury modern fans,” he said.
This home isn’t your typical Eicher. This is Eichler’s own “Eichler.” Built in Atherton’s Lindenwood neighborhood in 1951, the residence is considered among the most important homes of Eichler’s career. This was his first custom-built home working with noted architects Robert Anshen and Steve Allen, who went on to become the original designers of Eichler homes. It set the groundwork for what would evolve into the California modern post-and-beam homes known as “Eichlers.”
The home boasts a one-of-a-kind V-shape design that includes five bedrooms down one hallway and kitchen and living space along the other leg of the “V.” A wall of windows and sliding-glass doors along the entire back of the home open up to a rectangular swimming pool. There also are parallelogram-themed spaces, integrated indoor-outdoor rooms and many details immediately recognizable as “Eichler” features, including a minimalist front facade, post-and-beam construction and radiant heating.
“This is an Eichler on steroids. It’s a spectacular house,” Eric Boyenga said. “Most Eichlers were very simplistic. Everything here is built custom.”
Every room, he said, has custom-built cabinetry and storage. The outside redwood siding is continued indoors as vertical-lined siding, and there is remarkable detailing, such the triangular motifs repeated throughout the house, including on the fireplace and skylights.
Eichler and his family lived in the Atherton home for 14 years from 1951 to 1965. During much of this time, he and his wife, Lillian, were said to have used the home to test ideas for use in less expensive tract homes.
“A lot of the things he did in this house, he carried through to his later Eichler (designs). You can see the inspiration,” Eric Boyega said.
The Boyengas said they are optimistic about finding a buyer who appreciates the home’s historical value and is interested in preservation rather than just the value of the land – but there’s no guarantee that someone won’t purchase the home and then turn around and raze it. The home sits on nearly an acre of prime real estate in an town that has the nation’s most expensive ZIP code.
The lots in Atherton are large and valuable, Janelle Boyenga said. A few years ago, another Eichler-built home on Irving Avenue across the street from this one was demolished to make way for a 6,444-square-foot home, which is currently listed on the market for $14.95 million, according to Zillow.
The Boyengas confirmed that a few people have expressed interest in the home, including someone from the neighborhood who is considering purchasing the home as a second property, so it can’t be torn down and replaced.
“This isn’t just a midcentury modern home, it’s Silicon Valley history that started in our backyard,” Eric Boyenga said.
For more information about Eichler’s Atherton home, go to EichlerHomesforSale.com.