Mid-century modern terms turn up in listings, inspection reports, city guidelines and historic surveys, and many of them mean something specific. This glossary defines the words you'll meet when buying or owning an Eichler or another post-and-beam modern house, in plain language.
Definitions draw on the City of Palo Alto's Eichler design guidelines, the National Register nominations for Eichler tracts in Palo Alto and San Jose, and Caltrans' statewide study of postwar tract housing. Where a term has its own page on our site, we link to it.
Builders, tracts and records
Merchant builder. A builder who bought large tracts of land, put in streets and utilities, built the houses and sold them as part of a new tract. Caltrans says this group built the great majority of California's postwar houses. Joseph Eichler was one; see our Joseph Eichler page.
Tract. A subdivision built by one builder, usually in a short period. Caltrans calls the tract, not the individual house, the fundamental unit for evaluating postwar housing. Our Eichler homes page covers Bay Area Eichler neighborhoods.
Custom home tract. A subdivision where lots were sold for individual houses. Caltrans says the houses were typically chosen from builders' stock plans rather than designed one by one.
Model and model number. One of the standard plans a buyer could choose in a tract, such as Jones & Emmons' JE-14 through JE-19 at Greenmeadow or the SJ-series models in San Jose's Fairglen Additions. See our Eichler floor plans and our collections for Anshen & Allen, Jones & Emmons and Claude Oakland.
Contemporary. The term used at the time, according to Caltrans, for houses with a more modern look than the typical tract house. Much of what's now called mid-century modern fits it.
Eichler vs. mid-century modern. "Eichler" names a builder; mid-century modern names a broader style. Our page on the difference between an Eichler and mid-century modern explains how they relate.
Historic and planning terms
Character-defining features. The features that make a house or district recognizable, such as Palo Alto's lists of roof forms, siding, clerestories and entry types for each Eichler roof type.
National Register historic district. A group of properties listed together on the National Register of Historic Places. In Palo Alto, Green Gables and Greenmeadow are Eichler historic districts.
Contributing / non-contributing. Survey labels for whether a building in a district still conveys its historic character. A non-contributing house can still be original to the tract; it may simply have lost too much original fabric.
Integrity. How much of a property's original design, materials and feeling survives. Caltrans says converting an open carport is a bigger loss of integrity than converting a garage.
Single Story Overlay (SSO). Palo Alto zoning that, as described in the 2018 guidelines, limits houses in some Eichler tracts to one habitable floor. Check current rules with the city.
Design guidelines. Advice for changes to a building or neighborhood. Palo Alto's Eichler guidelines are voluntary; see our mid-century modern design guidelines page.
Structure and materials
Post and beam. Timber construction in which vertical posts and horizontal beams form a frame that carries the floor and roof loads, in Palo Alto's definition. Caltrans says posts could be as much as eight or ten feet apart, with glass or non-structural panels between them. See our post and beam construction page.
Stud framing. The conventional alternative: two-by-four studs spaced every 16 inches and covered with plaster or drywall.
Tongue and groove. Boards with a ridge along one edge and a slot along the other that fit nearly flush. In Eichlers, tongue-and-groove redwood roof decking often forms the ceiling; the draft Fairglen Additions nomination describes it as two-inch by eight-inch.
Four-foot module. The planning grid Anshen & Allen used for Eichler houses, according to the Greenmeadow nomination, which helped standardize components.
Slab on grade. A concrete floor poured on the ground, with no crawlspace. Standard in Eichler-built homes from 1950 on, per the Green Gables nomination.
Radiant heating. Heating pipes embedded in the concrete slab, an idea Caltrans says Eichler and his architects borrowed from Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian houses. Palo Alto's guidelines note copper pipes in some Eichlers and steel in others.
Vertical-grooved redwood plywood. The siding on many Eichlers. The Fairglen nomination says shortages after the Korean War helped prompt the change from redwood boards to plywood. See our materials and construction page.
Philippine mahogany paneling. The deep-toned veneer paneling on original interior walls described in the Greenmeadow and Fairglen nominations; Palo Alto's guidelines say Eichler walls often feature mahogany paneling.
Concrete masonry unit (CMU). Concrete block, used on some Eichler fronts and screen walls, often laid in stack bond on Contemporary houses.
X-100. A steel-frame model home that Jones & Emmons developed for Eichler Homes, built in San Mateo. See our Eichler X-100 page.
Roofs and windows
Pitch (3:12, 2:12). Inches of rise per twelve inches of run. Palo Alto says Eichler slopes are often 3:12; San Jose's draft documentation describes flat or 2:12 broad gables.
Parapet. The part of an exterior wall that extends above the roof. Palo Alto lists "no parapet" among the features of a flat-roof Eichler.
Shed roof. A roof with a single slope.
Gable. The wall area between two roof slopes. Eichler gables are usually low, often with clerestory glass beneath them.
Butterfly roof. A roof lower in the center and higher at the ends, seen on some Contemporary houses.
Hipped roof. A roof sloping on all sides. Palo Alto notes it appears in later tracts such as Community Center but isn't typical of Eichlers.
Eave, overhang and fascia. The eave is the lower edge of the roof where it meets the wall; an overhang extends past the wall to shade it; fascia is the board along the roof edge. Exposed beam ends under the eaves are an Eichler hallmark.
Clerestory window. "A high section of a wall that contains windows above eye level," to admit light, fresh air or both.
Window wall. Full-height glass between posts, usually across the back of an Eichler, with sliding glass doors.
Lite and sidelite. A lite is a single piece of glass in a window. A sidelite is a narrow glass panel beside the front door.
Fenestration. The arrangement of windows on a building's walls. Eichlers keep it minimal in front and open at the rear.
Surface-to-void ratio. The proportion of solid wall to window and door openings.
Plans and spaces
Atrium. An open-air court inside the house, usually entered through the front door. Caltrans dates Anshen & Allen's atrium plan to 1957; the draft Fairglen Additions nomination finds atrium drawings as early as 1956 and atrium plans in Eichler designs by 1958. See atrium living.
Gallery model. The draft San Jose National Register documentation's term for Claude Oakland's 1960s designs with indoor atriums under tall or pitched roofs. See our Claude Oakland page.
Courtyard plan. An L- or U-shaped plan wrapped around a court. The Fairglen nomination traces its L-shaped courtyard models to Anshen & Allen's T-shaped AA-1 prototype of 1950; see our Anshen & Allen page.
Multi-purpose room. A flexible room paired with the kitchen; Palo Alto's guidelines describe typical Eichler plans as a living and dining room plus a kitchen and multi-purpose room.
Zoned plan. A plan that separates active living areas from sleeping areas, credited at Greenmeadow to A. Quincy Jones; see our Jones & Emmons page.
Carport. Open covered parking, a term Caltrans says Frank Lloyd Wright is credited with coining.
Usonian. Wright's own term for his affordable one-story houses from the mid-1930s on, with slab floors and flat or low roofs.
Indoor-outdoor living. The connection between rooms and yard through glass walls. See our indoor-outdoor living page.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Eichler-style" mean in a listing?
It describes a look, not a builder. A house can share an Eichler's flat roof and glass walls without being built by Eichler Homes. Check the tract and the original records to confirm.
What is the difference between a clerestory and a skylight?
A clerestory is a window set high in a wall, above eye level. A skylight is set into the roof. Palo Alto's guidelines mention both as ways to bring in daylight while protecting privacy.
Is "post and beam" the same as "mid-century modern"?
No. Post and beam is a way of building, and mid-century modern is a style. Caltrans says a majority of Contemporary style houses used post-and-beam framing, but some builders put modern-looking models on stud frames.
Related reading
Ran into a term that isn't here? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team and we'll explain it.
