Rebuilding an Eichler

After a fire, this Eichler-inspired home had to be rebuilt from the ground up. How to go about rebuilding an Eichler?

This San Mateo neighborhood has one of the highest concentrations of Eichler homes in California. Atop one of its lots an original Eichler used to sit, built in the mid century. However, an unfortunate grill fire made quick work of this so-called “two-minute Eichler,” a reference to how quickly its all-wood structure succumbed to the fire.

So, when later owners of the burnt-down lot reached out to Klopf Architecture to rebuild, they knew they wanted to include classic Eichler elements, while making the home work better for the homeowners than the original Eichler ever could have.

Rebuilding an Eichler

One of the biggest changes in the rebuild was the layout of the home. One of the homeowners wanted to include an additional primary suite for their mother, which presented a challenge for the already narrow lot.

The home’s exterior is where its Eichler beginnings shine through most strongly. The overhanging and low-profile roofline, along with the vertical siding and splashes of Eichler color, ensure that though this home is a 2016 creation, it has firm roots in the mid century.

“Your back wall is your connection to the outdoors,” says architect John Klopf. “It can only be a certain number of feet wide, and [if] you have two primary suites back there, you don’t have much space for a living room to connect to the back either.”

living room sectional sofa open doors to pool — The living room offers one of the best views of the space, both interior and exterior, and is one of John and Klara’s favorite parts of the home. Western red cedar ceilings give the room a warm and rich feeling, while floor-to-ceiling windows show off the equally stunning exterior.

The solution came in an L-shaped layout, which was markedly different from the classic square shape of Eichler homes, but it fit the lot (and the homeowners’ needs) much better.

dining room and courtyard in rebuilt Eichler — The living area offers a view of the San Mateo home’s atrium, which divides the two volumes of the home and holds a rooftop trellis, letting light into the planters below. To the right of the atrium is the home’s garage and secondary suite.

As project manager Klara Kevane explains, the new layout for the San Mateo home is made up of two volumes, with the first volume holding the garage and the additional primary suite. The second volume is the main house, which includes a primary suite, a guest bedroom and bathroom, a TV room, an office and an open-concept living area.

Open Concept

The open-concept living area features a kitchen, a dining space and a living room. The kitchen cabinetry is also seen in the bathrooms and bedrooms, maintaining a sense of continuity throughout the home. “In an open concept house like this, with a lot of flow,” says John, “we want to keep the same material all throughout the house. We want the same cabinetry all throughout the house, and it should all have the same palette … even down to, in this case, the bathroom wall tiles.”

open living room and patio with fireplace and linear design — The open living area features concrete floors, which continue out toward the courtyard and pool. When paired with the extended cedar ceiling and the floor-to-ceiling windows, the San Mateo home embraces and joins with the outdoors, rather than excluding it.

Design Recipe for an Eichler

But it was crucial that the rebuilt home didn’t lose its Eichler look. On the exterior of the home, many quintessential Eichler elements were re-added, like the low profile of the home, its overhanging roof and vertical siding. “[We wanted to] keep the house more private towards the street facade, and have it look more like a wood wall,” says John.

backyard with grill, fire and pool — The wall of floor-to-ceiling windows can be opened up to the courtyard, creating a space that feels just as at-home inside as it does outside.

Eichler colors were also used where possible, like the subtle orange front door and deep gray siding. Together these elements make the home blend in in its neighborhood full of Eichlers. But it almost wasn’t that way. When they were building the home, it had to be reframed at the last-minute, as the original framing on the hilly lot made the home look two stories tall. “We didn’t want to look like a two-story home from the street,” says John. “It stood out, and we wanted to try to preserve the whole feel of the neighborhood … It was well worth it [to change the framing] to prevent the house from looking like this two-story monstrosity.”

open concept kitchen and living room in rebuilt Eichler — The cabinetry in the kitchen is echoed throughout the home, as the same cabinetry is used in the built-in wardrobes of the primary suites and in vanities and storage in the home’s bathrooms.

pool and landscaping retaining wall — The outdoor pool provides a pop of blue in an otherwise green courtyard. The concrete that fills the patio area is the same as the flooring inside, connecting the indoors to the outside. Additionally, the retaining wall on the back side of the courtyard provides a home for some lush plantings and a few boulders.

Inside, the home’s Eichler feel continues. One of the biggest ways it shines through is in the home’s expansive wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The windows look out onto a picture-perfect courtyard, which holds a pool, space to entertain and an outdoor kitchen.

Rebuilding an Eichler with Indoor-Outdoor Feeling

Bringing the inside and outside together as one is a must for any mid century home, especially in California. And it’s no different for this Eichler rebuild. One of the ways John and his team created the indoor-outdoor feeling was through the home’s concrete slab flooring, which fills the interior of the home and is continued outside. “The floor slab is exposed concrete flooring with radiant heating, which is another typical Eichler element,” says Klara.

bedroom in rebuilt Eichler facing courtyard with pool — The primary bedroom’s floor-to-ceiling windows give the space a fantastic view of the courtyard. A smaller window on the right wall shows how the home is tucked into the retaining wall.

The home’s primary bathroom features a large skylight alongside an upper window above the bathtub. “The skylight over the sinks brings in [additional] light and balances the light out in the room,” says John.

rebuilt home with L-shaped layout — At night, exterior lighting creates an outdoor space that feels just as cozy as its interior counterparts. The continuous line of lights from inside to out, along with the overhanging roof and ceiling, adds to the home’s indoor-outdoor feeling.

And as the lot sits on a slope, the courtyard has a retaining wall. But rather than trying to hide or remove the wall, it’s instead highlighted, covered in lush plantings and boulders. The home sits up against the wall, where it’s highlighted through window placements, which, John says, create the feeling of the home being perfectly integrated into the landscape.

Want more Eichler? Read about Joseph Eichler or see Eye for an Eichler: Tour a Renovated Eichler Getaway in California. And of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube for more Atomic Ranch articles, house tours, and ideas!