The Green Gables Eichler tract in Palo Alto is a group of single-story houses that Eichler Homes built in 1950 on Channing Avenue, Ivy Lane, Greer Road and Wildwood Lane, near the Embarcadero Road exit off Highway 101. The architects were Robert Anshen and Steve Allen. In 2005 the tract was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, one of two Eichler districts in the city. The other is Greenmeadow.
This post is a records-based history: what the National Register nomination, the city's 2018 Eichler design guidelines, the county's map index and the city's parcel map say, and where they disagree. For homes across the city, see our Palo Alto mid-century modern page.
Where the Green Gables name comes from
Green Gables was a place name before it was an Eichler tract. The nomination calls it a catch-all name for several distinct neighborhoods, annexed by Palo Alto shortly before World War II, and says Eichler named his development after the larger area.
The county's index of recorded maps backs up the older name. A map titled "Green Gables," Tract No. 66, was recorded on February 7, 1938, with roads that include Embarcadero Road, Heather Lane, Primrose Way and Iris Way, and a note that the tract lay next to Palo Alto. A second map, "Green Gable Addition," Tract No. 487, was recorded on June 21, 1948, and lists Greer Lane, Wildwood Lane, Channing Avenue and Ivy Lane among its roads.
That puts three of the district's four streets on the 1948 map. But the index doesn't say who built on them, a 1949 map in the same index lists some of those streets too, and we didn't see the maps themselves. Treat the 1948 map as a lead, not proof.
Built in 1950 from the AA-1 design
The nomination traces Green Gables to the first design Anshen & Allen drew for Eichler Homes, the AA-1, which went on sale in Sunnyvale in early 1950. All 51 of those houses sold within two weeks, according to the nomination. Eichler then hired the firm to design five more subdivisions that year using variations of the AA-1. Green Gables was one of them, and its 62 houses went on sale that May. Our Greer Park history covers that shared 1950 design line.
The nomination also says, crediting the list to an earlier researcher, that a national architecture journal named Green Gables and four other Eichler tracts "Subdivision of the Year" in December 1950. A national shelter magazine featured the Green Gables houses the month before.
What the 1950 houses were like
The nomination describes houses that were all single-story, with three bedrooms and one bath, built post-and-beam on a concrete slab. The main points:
Plan: kitchen, dining and living areas in one rectangular open space under a 16-foot free-span roof, with the kitchen in the center. The three bedrooms line one side, with the main bedroom at the rear.
Street face: a relatively blank front, with the entry at the center, set back behind the garage or carport. Floor-to-ceiling glass faces a concrete patio at the rear.
Two plans: essentially one with a single-car garage and one with a single-car carport. Living space averaged 1,100 square feet on lots of 6,000 to 7,000 square feet.
Interior: redwood plywood paneling, a head-high storage partition with fluted obscure glass on a built-in redwood cabinet, Formica counters and a pass-through "snack bar" to the dining area. Radiant heat was standard, and fireplaces were brick.
Exterior: horizontal redwood siding, first stained in earth tones and painted since. Garage doors were faced with matching siding. Rooflines were flat or gently sloping, with no gables, and deep rear overhangs shaded the glass in summer.
There are no parks, pools or common buildings in the district, and the nomination says the original sidewalks, street lighting and curbs remain. Its interior description rests on one house, the original model home.
How the National Register district was drawn
A volunteer committee prepared the nomination, first dated November 2003 and revised in May 2005. It surveyed the Eichler subdivisions built from 1950 to 1959, made a short list of nine subdivisions and two custom homes, and chose Green Gables because, of the six subdivisions Eichler built in 1950, its houses had changed the least.
Members walked the streets and scored each house on a point checklist. A house with 12 or more points counted as noncontributing. In the nomination's examples, shingles on half the front plus a metal roll-up garage door scored 16, and a visible six-foot atrium cover plus a traditional front door scored 12, so both were noncontributing.
The criteria show what counts from the street: single-story massing, flat or shallow roofs with square, plain beams, siding with lines in the original direction, garage doors faced to match the house, flat front doors and little clear glass on the front. Second stories (unless original), shingles, stucco, brick, vinyl siding, roll-up garage doors and visible ducts on the roof count against a house. When the nomination was written, it said only five houses had been heavily changed by second-story additions.
The boundary covers only the 1950 houses. A later Eichler group built in 1955 and 1956 on the east side of Wildwood Lane, reaching into Channing Avenue, Sandalwood Court and Edgewood Drive, was left out because, the nomination says, it was built separately with different floor plans. Those streets appear to match the tract the city's guidelines list as Edgewood (1956), which the guidelines' map places beside Green Gables, but no record we read names both.
Where the sources disagree
How many houses. The nomination's narrative and boundary description say 63. Its history section says 62 went on sale in May 1950, and the state's listing page also says 62. The city's tract table counts 63 lots.
Contributing count. The resource count on the nomination form lists 45 contributing and 18 noncontributing buildings. The narrative says 46 and 17. The city's parcel map today tags 62 parcels in the district, 45 contributing and 17 noncontributing.
Build years. The nomination says 1950. The city's tract table says 1950–1951, and the parcel map's year-built field shows mostly 1950, with a few 1951 records and one from 1953.
House size. The nomination gives an average of 1,100 square feet. The city's guidelines say the 1950 Eichler plans were about 1,200 square feet.
Roof decking. The narrative says Douglas fir tongue-and-groove planks; the form's materials list says 2x6 redwood tongue-and-groove, with Douglas fir beams.
Is there a single-story overlay?
The city's own documents disagree here. The Eichler design guidelines the city adopted on April 2, 2018 say in two places that both National Register districts, Greenmeadow and Green Gables, have single-story overlay (SSO) zoning. Yet the guidelines' own map of tracts and overlays hatches Greenmeadow as an overlay district and leaves Green Gables plain. The city's June 2015 staff report on overlay fees lists all twelve overlay zones adopted up to then, 846 lots in all, and Green Gables isn't on it. Greenmeadow is, as Green Meadows I, II and III, and so is nearby Greer Park.
The city's parcel map, read today, agrees with the 2015 list. Overlay lots there carry an "(S)" in the zoning code, as Greer Park's do, while every Green Gables parcel shows plain R-1 with a 30-foot height limit for roofs flatter than 12:12. We found no later ordinance adding an overlay. Confirm the zoning with planning staff before you plan a second story.
What the listing means for owners today
The guidelines call listing a generally honorary act. The practical points:
The design guidelines are voluntary, but owners in the two districts "may consider a stricter interpretation," especially of the chapter on preserving and restoring Eichler homes, to keep the district eligible.
Listed districts are automatically on the California Register. The guidelines recommend that the city review major projects on contributing houses against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.
The guidelines note that the 20% rehabilitation tax credit is for historic properties that are, or will become, revenue-producing, such as rentals.
The California Historical Building Code offers alternative rules for qualified historic buildings being rehabilitated.
On the city's parcel map, Green Gables lies in FEMA flood zone AH, a special flood hazard area, with some parcels split between X and AH. Ask how that affects floor height and flood insurance. For SB 9 projects, the objective standards for "mapped Eichler Tracts" listed in a May 2023 city staff report limit roof pitch to 3:12, height to 22 feet (20 for flat roofs) and a second floor to 25% of floor area where there's no overlay, and they bar projecting entry porches. Confirm the current standards with the city.
Before you buy or remodel, check:
Is the house contributing? The city's parcel records show its status.
What is the zoning? Given the overlay conflict, confirm it with planning staff.
What is the parcel's flood zone and base flood elevation?
What does the permit history show for past additions, carport enclosures and siding changes?
Are there CC&Rs? The guidelines say Eichler Homes developed CC&Rs for its tracts, but the city doesn't enforce them.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check with the City of Palo Alto planning department before you design anything, and with an attorney or tax advisor about tax credits.
Frequently asked questions
When was Green Gables built, and by whom?
Eichler Homes built the houses in 1950 to designs by Anshen & Allen, and the nomination says 62 went on sale that May. The city's tract table gives 1950–1951.
How many Eichlers are in Green Gables?
The sources say 62 or 63, as shown above. The 1955–56 houses on the east side of Wildwood Lane are not part of the district.
Does Green Gables have a single-story overlay?
The 2018 guidelines say it does, but their own map, the city's 2015 overlay list and today's parcel map show no overlay. Ask Palo Alto planning staff before you plan a second story.
Can I change a house in a National Register district?
Yes. The design guidance is voluntary and normal city permits apply. But changes visible from the street can make a contributing house noncontributing under the nomination's criteria, so check with the city first.
Related reading
Greenmeadow Eichler History: Palo Alto's Jones & Emmons Tract
Greer Park Eichler History: Palo Alto's 1950 Anshen & Allen Tract
Meadow Park Eichler, Palo Alto: The 1957–58 Tract and Its Overlay
More guides on this topic: Eichler Neighborhoods & Tract Histories
Want help reading a Green Gables house's history, zoning or permits? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
