The Fairmeadow Eichler tract is the one many people in Palo Alto call "the Circles." Its streets don't follow a grid. They bend into rings named Roosevelt, Redwood, Starr King and Carlson circles. The city's Eichler design guidelines date Fairmeadow to 1951–1954, count about 300 lots, and use its "futuristic concentric circle street plan" as their example of Joseph Eichler treating a tract as a planned community.
This post covers the tract's architecture and history: who drew the street plan and the houses, how it was built out ring by ring, what an original Fairmeadow house shows from the street, and how the zoning differs from other Palo Alto Eichler areas. It isn't a market report. For the rest of the city's Eichler tracts, start with our Palo Alto mid-century modern page.
How Fairmeadow began
The first recorded map is Tract No. 892, "Fairmeadow, Being a Portion of the Rancho De San Francisquito." The county's map index says it was surveyed in February 1951 and recorded on July 16, 1951. Sales of the first houses opened in May 1951, according to an early account of the tract.
The streets listed on that 1951 map include Roosevelt Circle, Wright Place, South Court and edge streets such as Alma Street and Charleston Road. Some names on the map don't match today's signs. The index lists a "Roachdale Circle" and a "Starr King Drive," while the current streets are Redwood, Carlson and Starr King circles. If you research a house here, expect older documents to use names that have since changed.
The build-out took several years. Palo Alto's parcel report dates nearly all the houses on Roosevelt Circle to 1951 and the bulk of Redwood and Carlson circles to 1952. Starr King Circle runs from 1952 to 1954, and the houses on Wright Place are dated 1954. That matches the city's 1951–1954 range. It may also explain why counts differ (see below).
Who designed the Circles? The sources split
This is the main open question about Fairmeadow, and the records don't settle it.
The street plan. Greenmeadow's 2005 National Register nomination credits the "concentric ring layout for nearby Fairmeadow" to Anshen & Allen. It says Jones & Emmons later built on that layout at Greenmeadow.
The houses. The city's tract table lists A. Quincy Jones as Fairmeadow's architect. An early account of the sales credits Jones with four basic plans offered in several elevations, all with three bedrooms and two baths, though the same account's tract heading lists Anshen & Allen as the architect.
The timing wrinkle. The National Register study of Eichler's San Jose tracts says Eichler brought Jones & Emmons on in 1952. Yet Fairmeadow's first houses date to 1951. No document we read says which firm drew which phase.
So the fairest summary is that Anshen & Allen is credited with the site plan and A. Quincy Jones with the house designs. The exact split by year or street hasn't been documented. Both firms have pages here: Anshen & Allen and Jones & Emmons.
Why the circle plan mattered
Fairmeadow's rings drew attention well beyond Palo Alto. The city's guidelines reproduce an aerial view of the tract from a February 1955 national business magazine. In the guidelines, Fairmeadow is the example that Eichler neighborhoods were planned communities, not just rows of modern houses.
The ring plan also shaped what came next. In Greenmeadow, built in 1954 and 1955, Jones & Emmons took the idea further with inward-turning streets and a shared community center. Fairmeadow itself sits beside Mitchell Park. The guidelines say Robert Royston designed the park in 1958, after the tract was built.
The guidelines' general description of Palo Alto's Eichler streetscapes fits Fairmeadow well: consistent setbacks, curving streets instead of a strict grid, a mature tree canopy, and driveways that lead straight to the garage or carport.
What to look for in an original Fairmeadow house
Records name four basic plans but don't describe them model by model, so there's no Greenmeadow-style field guide here. Look instead for the features the city's guidelines list as typical of Palo Alto Eichlers. Our Jones & Emmons floor plans page shows the kinds of layouts the firm drew.
Post-and-beam on a slab. Exposed rafter tails under the eaves are the giveaway. The slab carries the radiant heat.
Low, horizontal massing. One story, box-like forms, and roofs that are flat, gabled or combination flat-and-shed, often at about 3:12.
Closed street faces. Little front glass beyond clerestories or triangular gable-end windows, solid wood front doors, and garage doors clad in vertical board to match the walls.
Full-height rear glass. Plate glass with vertical wood divisions and aluminum sliders onto the back yard.
Original materials. Vertical tongue-and-groove redwood or scored redwood plywood outside. Mahogany paneling inside, and a visually flat roof such as tar-and-gravel or rolled roofing.
The original plans had three bedrooms and two baths, so check whether a house has been enlarged. When you walk it, compare roof planes and beam directions. A rear or side addition that keeps the beam spacing and roof height reads as part of the design. One that changes the roof pitch usually doesn't.
Counting Fairmeadow: 300 lots or about 167 homes?
The city's tract table counts about 300 lots. It notes that its counts come from GIS parcel data and may not equal the exact number of homes. The early account of the May 1951 sales gives about 167 homes.
The phased build-out above may explain part of the gap, if the smaller number describes only the first sales and the larger one the whole tract through 1954. No source we read says so, so we give both figures rather than choose. Today's parcel report shows 197 parcels on the four circles and Wright Place. We don't know the tract's exact edges, so that count doesn't settle the question either.
Zoning, flood maps and the overlay question
Unlike Greenmeadow, Charleston Meadows and Greer Park, Fairmeadow has no single-story overlay. A June 2015 city staff report says that, as of then, 13 neighborhoods had applied for overlays and the city had adopted 12. The only one not approved was a Fairmeadow application covering "a small portion of one of the circles." The city's 2018 guidelines map shows no overlay on Fairmeadow, and today's parcel report lists the circle lots as plain R-1.
That means two-story additions and rebuilds aren't barred by an overlay here. The city's guidelines say second-story additions and two-story new construction go through Palo Alto's Individual Review process for single-family homes. Projects under SB 9, the state law on lot splits and two-unit projects, face extra city standards in mapped Eichler tracts. Under standards the City Council approved on February 12, 2024, they include a 22-foot maximum roof height and roof pitches of no more than 3:12. On the guidelines' November 2017 flood map, Fairmeadow sits outside the special flood hazard area, and today's parcel report shows Zone X for the circle lots. Flood maps and review rules change, so confirm the current rules for any address with Palo Alto's planning department, and ask a land-use attorney about SB 9 or other legal questions, before you design. For the city's guidance, see the Palo Alto Eichler design guidelines.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Fairmeadow called the Circles?
Its main streets are rings: Roosevelt, Redwood, Starr King and Carlson circles. The city's design guidelines describe the plan as a concentric circle street plan.
Who designed the Fairmeadow Eichlers?
Credit is split across sources. Greenmeadow's National Register nomination credits the concentric street layout to Anshen & Allen, and the city's tract table names A. Quincy Jones as the architect. An early account says Jones drew four basic plans with several elevations.
When was Fairmeadow built?
The first tract map was recorded in July 1951, and the city dates the tract to 1951–1954. The parcel report puts Roosevelt Circle first, in 1951. Parts of Starr King Circle and Wright Place date to 1954.
Does Fairmeadow have a single-story overlay?
No. A June 2015 city report says a Fairmeadow overlay application for part of one circle was the only one the city hadn't approved up to then. The circle lots are zoned R-1 today. Check with the planning department for the current rules on a specific lot.
Related reading
Greer Park Eichler History: Palo Alto's 1950 Anshen & Allen Tract
Charleston Meadow Eichler History: Palo Alto's Anshen & Allen Tract
Greenmeadow Eichler History: Palo Alto's Jones & Emmons Tract
Want help reading a Fairmeadow house's plan, phase or remodel history? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
