The Diamond Heights Eichler homes are the houses Joseph Eichler built around Red Rock Hill in San Francisco in the early 1960s, as part of the city's Diamond Heights redevelopment project. San Francisco Planning's architect biographies credit Claude Oakland's firm with the Eichler houses on Amber, Duncan and Amethyst streets and date them 1962 to 1964. The department's 2011 modern-architecture context statement says they were Eichler's first houses in San Francisco.
This post covers how the Redevelopment Agency turned empty hills into a planned neighborhood, how the slopes changed the usual Eichler plan, the other modern architects who built around the tract, and what an owner or buyer should check today. It is architecture and history, not a market report. For the neighborhood itself, see our Diamond Heights page.
Hills reshaped by a redevelopment plan
The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency was incorporated on August 10, 1948, under California's Community Redevelopment Law, according to the San Francisco Public Library's guide to the agency's records, which lists Diamond Heights among its project areas. The agency's 1961 annual report calls Diamond Heights a "330-acre planned residential community." SF Planning's 2011 context statement gives 325 acres, so treat the size as approximate. The same statement says the Board of Supervisors first designated the area in 1950, that the land was largely vacant, and that architect Vernon DeMars designed the site plan in 1951. DeMars was a Berkeley professor who consulted for the agency.
Before selling lots, the agency rebuilt the ground. Its 1961 report says it moved two million cubic yards of earth, topping three peaks and contouring the slopes. Nine miles of streets were built that year, and utilities went underground. After the second land sale, the agency engaged planning consultant Lawrence Lackey and Royston, Hanamoto and Mayes to plan community facilities, and SF Planning credits them with the community landscape between Red Rock and Gold Mine hills.
The first land sales were held on April 24, May 9 and October 24, 1961. In those sales, the agency reported, 246 lots for 293 homes on the slopes and 22 acres for 990 apartments on the peak were sold. The same report states a rule that covered all of the agency's land: beginning in 1961, all redevelopment land was sold "subject to architectural guidance and review of improvements."
Construction moved quickly. The agency's 1962 report says the first residents moved in on March 26, 1962, and that 191 homes were complete or under construction. By the end of 1963 it counted 330 units complete or under construction and about 1,000 residents. By the end of 1964 it reported 263 residential units complete and 117 more under construction.
A design competition and a hill of modernists
For the top of Red Rock Hill, the agency held a nationwide architectural competition from February 24 to June 30, 1961. A jury of three architects and two developers picked ten of ninety entries for design awards. The high bidder, San Francisco Redevelopers, Inc., chose a design by architects B. Clyde Cohen and James K. Levorsen. The agency's 1963 report lists Jack Allen Charney in association and says the first of those apartments were finished that year. SF Planning's context statement says only part of the design was built: a series of two- and three-story townhouses over garages along Diamond Heights Boulevard.
Eichler's houses went up among the work of other Bay Area modernists. SF Planning's biographies and the agency's reports name these Diamond Heights projects, among others:
Merrill Jew: six duplexes on Duncan Street, on the side of Red Rock Hill, built 1962–1963 with hexagonal pyramid roofs and cantilevered hexagonal balconies.
Hayes and Smith: a prize-winning home for Galli Construction Co., shown in the agency's 1964 report. SF Planning's context statement says Galli built 63 units designed by the firm.
Clement Chen and Associates: Glenridge, a 275-unit development that started construction in 1967. SF Planning credits Sasaki, Walker and Associates with its landscape (1968).
Joseph Esherick and Associates: garden apartments on Red Rock Hill, shown in a drawing in the agency's 1966–67 report. SF Planning also lists Diamond Heights Village on Red Rock Way (1972) for Arthur Gensler with Joseph Esherick.
Beverly Willis: the Diamond Heights Townhouses at Digby and Everson streets (1971).
Eichler's houses and how many there are
SF Planning's biography of Claude Oakland says he worked as a designer at Anshen & Allen from 1950 to 1960 and started his own firm in 1962. Eichler became his main client, and between 1962 and 1974 the firm designed large projects for him, including single-family housing in Diamond Heights. Its project list gives Amber, Duncan and Amethyst streets and the years 1962 to 1964. The same collection's biography of Kinji Imada, Oakland's longtime partner, says Imada joined Oakland's office in 1960, so SF Planning's own files differ on when the firm began. See our Claude Oakland page for his wider work.
The count varies by source. SF Planning's 2011 context statement says Eichler built 100 units in the early 1960s in parts of the neighborhood including Amethyst, Amber, Duncan and Cameo streets, and elsewhere counts about 100 single-family houses in the city. Other published accounts say 100 or "nearly 100," and a 2018 article and a 2026 newspaper report both say 104. The context statement names Ring Brothers, Galli Construction and Eichler among the developers who built much of Diamond Heights' housing, while other lots went to buyers who hired their own architects. The agency's annual reports that we read name Eichler only in the Western Addition, never in Diamond Heights.
How the slopes changed the Eichler plan
SF Planning's context statement says the houses reflect long, narrow lots, and its biography of Oakland says he designed seven floor plans for single-family houses and duplexes here. Published accounts count fewer: five models in a 2018 article, and roughly half a dozen in another, which says no other Eichler tract has them. The context statement describes the houses street by street:
Duncan Street and Cameo Way. Long, narrow one-story houses set back behind a scored concrete-block courtyard wall, each with an interior atrium near the center, often planted with trees, and Japanese-inspired overhanging beams. The awning-style garage doors were originally clad in narrow vertical wood.
Amber Drive. A block away, split-level houses with a slight setback, similar courtyard walls and an unusual two-sided, tall, narrow angled bay window.
Amethyst Way. Duplexes of similar design. Like the Amber Drive split-levels, they have enclosed courtyards but no interior atriums.
Farther east on Amber Drive. On a sloped section, several versions of split-level townhouses with enclosed interior entry courtyards, projecting eaves, cantilevered overhangs and flat roofs.
Published histories add that many of the houses are attached row houses or paired townhouses, set close together in a city pattern, and one describes an Amber Drive house that shares a roof with its neighbor, like a duplex. Where a house shares a wall or roof, roof work, additions and drainage repairs can involve both owners. Compare any house with the Claude Oakland floor plans we've collected, keeping in mind that the Diamond Heights models were drawn for this site.
Is Diamond Heights a historic district?
Not that we found. It isn't on SF Planning's list of Article 10 historic districts, and the department's current list of adopted and in-progress historic context statements doesn't include Diamond Heights. The department did draft one: its architect biographies cite a "Draft Diamond Heights Historic Context Statement Case Report" from summer 2016. A 2018 article reported that the draft wasn't written explicitly to lead to designation.
SF Planning's 2011 context statement, "San Francisco Modern Architecture and Landscape Design, 1935–1970," recommended a survey of Diamond Heights to identify and evaluate its modern buildings, and noted that many of the Oakland-designed Eichlers had already been altered in unsympathetic ways. It is listed among the department's historic context statements. The Redevelopment Agency itself is gone. The library's guide says all California redevelopment agencies were dissolved by order of the California Supreme Court on February 1, 2012, and that the city's Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure took over the agency's work.
What to check on a Diamond Heights Eichler
The model and the permit trail. Pull the permit history from the city's Department of Building Inspection and compare the house with its original model. Split-levels and two-story townhouses are original here, so a multi-level house isn't automatically an addition.
Shared walls and roofs. Ask which walls, roof sections and drains are shared, and whether any recorded agreement covers them.
Redevelopment-era deed terms. The agency sold land subject to architectural review. Ask a title company whether covenants from that era appear in the chain of title, and an attorney what they mean today.
Slopes and grading. These hills were heavily regraded. A geotechnical engineer can look at retaining walls, settlement and drainage before you buy or build.
Exterior changes. Check zoning, height limits and review requirements for the specific lot with SF Planning before you design an addition.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check with the city, a licensed contractor or an attorney before relying on it for a specific property.
Frequently asked questions
How many Eichler homes are in Diamond Heights?
SF Planning's 2011 context statement says about 100. Other published accounts give 100 or "nearly 100," and a 2018 article and a 2026 newspaper report say 104.
Who designed the Diamond Heights Eichlers?
Claude Oakland's firm, according to SF Planning. Its 2011 context statement says Oakland drew seven floor plans for single-family houses and duplexes here; published accounts count five or about six models.
Are Diamond Heights Eichlers detached houses?
It depends on the street. SF Planning describes one-story atrium houses on Duncan Street and Cameo Way, split-levels on Amber Drive, duplexes on Amethyst Way and split-level townhouses farther east on Amber. Published histories describe many of the houses as attached row houses or paired townhouses.
Who planned Diamond Heights?
The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency graded the hills, built the streets and began selling land in 1961. SF Planning credits Vernon DeMars with the 1951 site plan, and Royston, Hanamoto & Mayes, with Lawrence Lackey, with the community landscape. Our San Francisco mid-century modern page covers the city's other modern areas.
Related reading
San Mateo Highlands Eichler History: The Hillside Tract and the X-100
Eichler Architects: Who Designed Which Homes, Tract by Tract
More guides on this topic: Eichler Neighborhoods & Tract Histories
Curious about a Diamond Heights Eichler's model or history? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
