The Fairbrae Eichler neighborhood in Sunnyvale is a group of adjoining Eichler tracts built from 1958 to 1961, with streets like Hollenbeck Avenue, Sheraton Drive, Torrington Drive and a long run of short courts. Sunnyvale's own records use the Fairbrae name for "Fairbrae Unit 1" and for the blocks around the Fairbrae Swim and Racquet Club. Between 2016 and 2018, owners applied to put most of the area into single-story combining districts, and today's parcel data shows those districts in place.
This post is a tract-by-tract architecture history built from the public record: Sunnyvale's parcel data, the city's rezoning reports and its Eichler design guidelines. It covers when each tract was built, how the streets are laid out, what the houses are like, and how the single-story rules came about. It doesn't cover the market. Our Sunnyvale mid-century modern page covers the city's other Eichler areas.
The tracts, in the order they were built
Sunnyvale's public parcel layer carries a recorded tract number, a year built and an Eichler flag for each lot. Read together, those fields show Fairbrae filling in over four years:
Tract 2227 (Fairbrae Unit 1), 1958. 76 Eichler-flagged lots on Sheraton Drive, Quince Avenue, Pome Avenue, Pulora Court, Pomegranate Court and Hollenbeck Avenue. A 2017 city report counts 79 lots inside the tract boundary and says all of them were originally built as Eichlers.
Tract 2228, 1959. 92 lots on Remington Drive, Sheraton Drive, Royal Ann Court, Sage Court, Hollenbeck Avenue, Smyrna Court, Spinosa Drive and Royal Ann Drive.
Tract 2229, 1959. 104 lots on Torrington Drive, Templeton Court and Drive, Snowberry Court, Tangerine Way, Rockport Drive, Regia Court, Ribier Court, Sesame Drive, Strawberry Court and parts of Hollenbeck, Royal Ann and Spinosa.
Tract 2622, 1960. 49 lots on Sesame Drive, Vanderbilt Court and Drive, Winggate Drive, Hollenbeck Avenue and Sesame Court.
Tract 2824, 1961. Six lots on Sesame Court.
The tract field isn't complete. Sixteen Eichler-flagged lots on Tiffany Court and part of Sage Court, all dated 1959, carry no tract number, so the counts above don't cover the whole area. City reports apply the Fairbrae name to Unit 1 and to the blocks bounded by Hollenbeck Avenue, Torrington Drive, Spinosa Drive and Sheraton Drive. The parcel data doesn't carry neighborhood names, so where "Fairbrae" ends among the later tracts is a matter of local usage, not record.
Who designed Fairbrae?
We found no city report, survey or archive record that names Fairbrae's architects, so we leave the question open. These were the years when Eichler worked with Anshen & Allen, with Claude Oakland as a principal on Eichler projects there until 1960, and with Jones & Emmons. A National Register study of Eichler's San Jose tracts describes this period's direction: entries that grew into outdoor forecourts and atriums, private master suites, and carefully oriented houses on gently curving streets. If original drawings for a Fairbrae house turn up, the title block will settle it.
The street layout
Fairbrae is built around a few through streets, with Hollenbeck Avenue running through four of the five tracts. Short courts branch off them: Pulora, Pomegranate, Royal Ann, Sage, Smyrna, Templeton, Snowberry, Regia, Ribier, Strawberry, Vanderbilt and Sesame. Many of the street names are fruit names, such as Pome, Pomegranate, Quince, Royal Ann, Tangerine and Strawberry.
One non-residential site sits inside the area: the Fairbrae Swim and Racquet Club, a private club on 1.06 acres at Hollenbeck Avenue and Sheraton Drive. During the 2016 rezoning, the club's board told the city in writing that it opposed including its land, as did the owner of a large non-Eichler home lot on Hollenbeck. City staff recommended leaving out the club and the two non-Eichler home lots at 1158 and 1160 Hollenbeck Avenue.
What the houses are like
The parcel layer reflects the houses as they stand today, additions included, so treat these as a snapshot rather than original specs:
One story. The parcel layer records only 4 of the 327 Eichler-flagged lots across the five tracts as two-story. The county field and the city disagree: the city's 2017 report counted 7 two-story homes in Unit 1 alone.
Bedrooms. Four bedrooms is the usual count in county records, followed by three and five.
Size. The median recorded building size is about 1,750 square feet in Tracts 2227, 2228 and 2229, and about 1,950 in Tract 2622.
Lots. Median lot sizes run from about 6,900 square feet in Unit 1 to about 8,300 in Tract 2622.
When you walk a Fairbrae house, look for the core Eichler features: post-and-beam framing on a slab with radiant heat, a closed street face with clerestory glass, full-height glass to the rear yard or atrium, and garage doors faced in the same siding as the walls. The 2016 city report describes the area as "primarily an Eichler neighborhood," and a 2017 report notes one Unit 1 house so heavily remodeled that it no longer had Eichler features. Our Eichler renovation guide covers how to keep those features through updates.
How Fairbrae became single-story districts
Sunnyvale created its Single-Story Combining District (SSCD) in 2000, effective January 1, 2001. A neighborhood can apply with signatures from 55 percent of owners, at least 20 homes, and at least 75 percent of the homes already one story, inside a boundary that follows a recognizable feature. Inside a district, homes are limited to one habitable story and 17 feet in height (down from 30), a 45 percent floor area ratio, and no lofts or mezzanines.
In the Fairbrae area, the city's reports record a run of districts and applications:
August 9, 2016: a district was approved for 48 predominantly Eichler homes between Vanderbilt Drive and Torrington Drive.
October 4, 2016: districts were approved for 28 predominantly Eichler homes on Sesame Drive, Sesame Court and Winggate Drive, and for 37 Eichler homes between Remington Drive and Spinosa Drive.
Late 2016: an application covered 62 lots bounded by Hollenbeck, Torrington, Spinosa and Sheraton: 55 one-story Eichlers, 4 two-story Eichlers, 2 non-Eichler homes and the swim club. Staff recommended dropping the club and the two non-Eichler homes, and the City Council was scheduled to take it up on December 6, 2016.
2017–2018: Fairbrae Unit 1, following the full tract boundary of 79 lots, with 72 one-story and 7 two-story homes at the time. The Planning Commission heard it on December 11, 2017, and the City Council was scheduled for January 23, 2018.
Today's parcel data shows the "S" combining district on all but one Eichler-flagged lot in Unit 1 and on the large majority of lots in Tracts 2228, 2229, 2622 and 2824. Sunnyvale adopted its Eichler Design Guidelines in 2009, with design suggestions and policies meant to keep the Eichler style. A June 2020 staff report says the city then folded them into one consolidated design guidelines document with no substantive changes, and that staff were starting a review to make the residential standards objective enough to meet state law. Rules change, so confirm them for a specific lot with Sunnyvale's planning division. The Fairbrae Unit 1 staff report lays out the process.
Frequently asked questions
When was Fairbrae built?
Sunnyvale's parcel data dates Unit 1 (Tract 2227) to 1958, Tracts 2228 and 2229 to 1959, Tract 2622 to 1960 and Tract 2824 to 1961. Only a few lots carry later build years from rebuilds.
Who were Fairbrae's architects?
No official record we found names them. Without a plan set or city survey, we can't confirm which firm drew which houses.
Can you build a second story in Fairbrae?
Lots inside a single-story combining district are limited to one habitable story and 17 feet. The district map now covers nearly all of the Eichler lots in these tracts, but check the zoning for your parcel with the city.
Related reading
Primewood Eichler History: Sunnyvale's Late Steep-Gable Tract
Sunnyvale Manor Eichler History: Where the AA-1 Prototype Began
Curious about a Fairbrae Eichler's tract, year or original features? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
