Talk + Tour: Eichler Homes in Thousand Oaks

SAH/SCC is hosting an Eichler home tour program in Thousand Oaks. The afternoon begins with a free lecture followed by a ticket-only self-driving tour of representative Eichler homes designed by Claude Oakland, AIA, and the firm of Jones & Emmons. This is the first time these homes have been on a major tour.

Author Paul Adamson’s Eichler: Modernism Rebuilds the American Dream (Gibbs-Smith, 2002) is the most comprehensive boo on Eichler to date. An architect with TCA Architects, Adamson will talk about the design concepts and their adaptation to mass production tempered by the goal of a better way of living for the middle-class family.

The Thousand Oaks Eichlers were the last of the single-family residence projects. Originally priced from $31,450 to $33,450, they sell for close to $1 million today. The four main plans and their variants featured “Multi-Purpose,” “Hobby,” and “Retreat” rooms. The sales brochure claimed that each model featured a kitchen that was “a marvel of efficiency”; a built-in, expandable table; an atrium; and signature details like “chrome closet rods. . . or silent light switches.” The houses came with installed landscaping, mahogany paneling, glass walls facing patios, backyards fenced for privacy, open floor plans, and radiant heating. And, above all, they imbued the clean, crisp, modernist aesthetic.

Now 50 years old, the 120 houses in this development remain remarkably like new. The streetscape is refreshingly varied in models and orientation, with old trees marking some residences, and  new landscapes harmonizing with others. Owners have found the homes so well planned that their 21st-century lifestyles are accommodated as beautifully as 1960s family’s once was.

The lecture is free and tour tickets are$25 for SAH/SCC members pre-order and on-site (limit: two tickets at member price); $30 for non-members pre-order; $40 for non-members on-site (if available). To purchase tickets for this tour, click here.