An Eichler carport, a walled entry court and a nearly windowless front wall are the first things you see on many mid-century modern streets. To some buyers the front of the house looks closed. It was designed that way: the parking, the entry and the privacy screen work together so that the living spaces can open up completely at the back.
This guide explains how that street side was put together, using the National Register nominations for Eichler tracts in Palo Alto and San Jose, Palo Alto's Eichler design guidelines and Caltrans' statewide study of postwar tract housing. It also covers what the records say about enclosing a carport or changing the front.
Why the street side looks closed
The Greenmeadow nomination says the designs emphasize privacy, presenting relatively blank façades to the street with almost no street-facing windows. San Jose's draft National Register documentation describes clean, simple elevations with limited or no windows toward the street, and a front door set well back, beyond the entrance atrium or courtyard. At Green Gables, Eichler's 1950 tract in Palo Alto, the entrance sits in the center of the house, well back from the street.
Closed doesn't mean walled off from the neighborhood, though. Palo Alto's guidelines point out that few fences divide Eichler front yards, which creates a sense of shared landscape, and they explain that front yards are visually shared while private living space is located at the rear. For more on that indoor-outdoor side of the plan, see our indoor-outdoor living page.
The Eichler carport: from Wright to the tract
The carport has a modern pedigree. Caltrans' study says Frank Lloyd Wright is credited with coining the term and popularizing the open carport as an alternative to the enclosed garage. The same San Jose documentation names flat roofs, covered parking spaces and slabs on grade as key elements Wright used to make his Usonian houses affordable, and says Eichler homes came to incorporate them, and Caltrans notes that carports are more common on Contemporary style houses than on other postwar styles.
Green Gables, 1950. The nomination says there were essentially two plans: one with a single-car garage and one with a single-car carport, placed at the front.
Jones & Emmons. The Greenmeadow nomination credits A. Quincy Jones with carport designs sheltered under an extension of the living room roof. Caltrans adds that Jones later put a central carport topped by a high-pitched gable on the atrium plan, a design Eichler introduced in his Lucas Valley tract in Marin County, begun in 1963. See our Jones & Emmons page.
Fairglen Additions, San Jose. Several models use one half of a low 2:12 gable to cover a one-car garage, with a cross-beam reaching to an exposed post to form a combined covered porch and carport.
Palo Alto generally. The guidelines say Eichlers may have a two-car garage or a one-car garage paired with a carport, and that in some neighborhoods the carports lead to glazed walls that define a courtyard beyond.
Not every tract used them. At Greenmeadow, the nomination says the new four-bedroom layouts featured large two-car garages instead of carports.
The garage as part of the façade
Where there is a garage, it is part of the composition rather than an afterthought. Palo Alto's guidelines say the garage is always placed on the front façade but carefully incorporated into the roof form, and that original garage doors are clad in vertical wood boards similar or identical to the wall cladding. The Greenmeadow nomination describes garage doors finished in matching siding, with fixed transom glass above them and across the entire front. San Jose's documentation describes one- or two-car front-facing garages with doors of similar siding and fixed clerestory windows above.
The historic surveys treat those doors as important. Green Gables' evaluation criteria count conventional ranch-style or aluminum roll-up garage doors, and windows set into the garage door, as non-contributing changes. Palo Alto's guidelines add that driveways lead directly to the garage or carport and recommend keeping their original location and size. For new houses in Eichler neighborhoods, they add that curved driveways are not appropriate except where a garage doesn't face the street.
Entry courts, screen walls and front fences
Between the street and the front door, many Eichlers have an outdoor room. The Greenmeadow nomination describes Jones & Emmons' T-shaped plans, where a front-yard court is enclosed by a street-side concrete block wall and bounded on its other two sides by the bedroom wing and the garage. The nomination says this feature "alludes to the atrium, a later innovation." It also says the street-side masonry walls, built up to the eave height, blurred the line between building and landscape. See our atrium living page for the courtyard's later form.
Wood fences were part of the design too. The San Jose documentation describes front-yard privacy fencing in siding similar to the house, and the Fairglen nomination lists vertical grooved front privacy fences integrated into the front elevations. Palo Alto's guidelines draw a clear line between those and new fences:
Fences that enclose a front courtyard are fine if they sit flush with the front façade plane.
Fences between the house and the street are generally discouraged, and fences at the front property line are particularly out of character.
Where a front-yard fence is built, the guidelines suggest keeping it within ten feet of the front wall of the house, or in line with the front of a projecting garage.
Large raised front porches are not considered appropriate, and patios belong at the rear or in courtyards and atria; a front patio is discouraged unless solar orientation or the interior layout makes it the right spot, and then it should be screened with plantings.
Enclosing a carport or changing the front
Parking needs change, and Palo Alto residents who commented for the guidelines listed carports instead of integral garages among the inconveniences of Eichler design. The records show what's at stake when the front changes:
It has happened for decades. The Green Gables nomination found carports converted to garages and carports added to create parking for two cars. The Fairglen nomination lists infilled carports and garages among common alterations.
Integrity takes a bigger hit with carports. Caltrans' study says converting a garage into living space is common and doesn't necessarily mean a critical loss of integrity, but converting an open carport into an enclosed garage or living space is a more substantial loss, because it changes the form of the house.
Details count. The Greenmeadow and Green Gables surveys both count carport glass changed to anything other than simple, uncolored translucent glass against a house's historic rating.
Enclosure can be done with care. Palo Alto's guidelines list enclosing an atrium, courtyard or carport as one way to add living space without a new addition, as long as the enclosed feature supports the house's original modern style.
Our Eichler renovation guide and mid-century modern design guidelines pages cover more. Before you plan an enclosure or garage conversion, ask your city's planning and building departments what permits and reviews apply, and work with a licensed contractor.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Eichler carport?
It is an open, roofed parking space built into the front of the house, often under an extension of the main roof. Palo Alto's guidelines say some Eichlers pair a one-car garage with a carport, and in some neighborhoods the carport leads to a glazed wall and a courtyard beyond.
Can I enclose my Eichler carport?
It depends on the city and the house. Palo Alto's guidelines treat enclosing a carport as one way to gain space if the result fits the house's modern style, but Caltrans notes that enclosing an open carport is a more substantial change to a house's historic integrity than converting a garage. Check your city's rules, and any National Register or local historic status, before you design.
Why don't Eichlers have front porches?
The houses were designed to keep private living at the rear. Palo Alto's guidelines say large raised front porches aren't appropriate because front yards are visually shared, and the entry is usually a recessed door or a walled court instead.
Did every Eichler have a carport?
No. Greenmeadow's four-bedroom layouts introduced large two-car garages instead of carports, and Palo Alto's guidelines describe both two-car garage models and garage-plus-carport models. At Green Gables, buyers chose between a plan with a one-car garage and a plan with a one-car carport.
Related reading
Eichler Atrium Models vs. Courtyard and Gallery Plans Explained
Eichler Siding Replacement: Grooved Plywood, Redwood and Your Options
Thinking about what a carport or entry court would mean for how you'd use a house? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team and we'll talk it through.
