The Monta Loma Eichler tract is the group of about 200 Joseph Eichler houses in Mountain View's Monta Loma neighborhood, near San Antonio and Middlefield roads. Mountain View's 2026 historic context statement says the tract was originally known as "Fairview," dates it to about 1954 to 1957, and credits its houses to two architecture firms, Anshen & Allen and Jones & Emmons. It sits beside two other modern tracts by different builders, so not every flat-roofed house in Monta Loma is an Eichler.
This post is built mainly on public records: the final draft context statement that went to the City Council in September 2026, the council reports on the updated historic preservation ordinance, and the county's index of recorded maps. Where those records and published histories disagree, we say so. For the wider city, see our Mountain View mid-century modern page.
Before the houses: a shell mound, an airport parcel and a fast-growing city
The city's context statement records the Castro Mound, an Ohlone shell mound once located in today's Monta Loma neighborhood, which Stanford University anthropologists identified in 1893. About 400 feet long and 10 feet high, it was the largest of its type in the south San Francisco Bay region, and a 1947 aerial photograph in the statement shows it being leveled for suburban development.
Mountain View grew quickly after the war. The statement puts the city's population at about 6,500 in 1950 and nearly 31,000 by 1960, partly through an aggressive annexation program that followed the incorporation of neighboring Los Altos in 1952. That same year, according to the statement, Mountain View's planning commissioners approved Joseph Eichler's 154-home subdivision on a recently annexed 40-acre airport parcel at San Antonio and Middlefield roads. The statement doesn't name the airport. One published neighborhood history says Alvin Street roughly follows the footprint of the old landing field; we found no city record that confirms it.
Fairview: what the records say, and where the counts differ
The statement says the Eichler tract was "originally known as 'Fairview'" and is now more commonly called the Monta Loma Eichlers. It dates construction to about 1954 to 1957 and says the tract "ultimately had around 200 homes," primarily three-bedroom, two-bath models.
The counts differ:
154 homes in the subdivision the planning commission approved in 1952, per the city's context statement.
Around 200 homes in the finished tract, per the same statement.
Over 200 homes, with Eichler active in Monta Loma in 1954, per one neighborhood history.
200-plus Eichler homes, per a second published history, which dates the neighborhood's three tracts to roughly 1954 to 1957.
No record we read explains the gap between 154 approved and about 200 built, so treat any count as approximate. The statement's footnotes cite a 1952 newspaper for the approval and published histories, including the two quoted here, for the three tracts, so the sources overlap. The first neighborhood history puts almost all the Eichlers at 1,116 square feet.
Who designed the Monta Loma Eichlers
The context statement credits the Fairview houses to "the two firms that worked closely with Eichler at the time," Anshen & Allen and Jones & Emmons. It describes low-slung, one-story houses that are modest at the street and open at the back through expansive rear glass to patios or courtyards, with low-pitched gabled or shed roofs, or flat roofs.
The second published history says Jones & Emmons drew an original site plan with shared greenbelts behind the cul-de-sacs, later dropped for higher density. We found no plan or city record that confirms it. The neighborhood history names no architects; it describes plank ceilings, steel-pipe radiant heat and VCT tile floors in the Eichlers.
Three builders in one neighborhood
The context statement names two other mid-century modern tracts there: Oakwood, built by John Mackay, and Mardell Manor, built by the Mardell Building Company.
Oakwood (Mackay). Built 1955 to 1956, with more than 200 three-bedroom, two-bath houses. The statement says Mackay "also hired Anshen & Allen," which is why Oakwood has many aesthetic similarities to the Eichler tract next door. Our Mackay Homes post covers the builder.
Mardell Manor. 234 one-story houses built 1955 to 1959, which the statement calls "somewhat more modest" in design. The neighborhood history calls it the last Monta Loma tract to be built and gives house sizes of 1,140 and 1,216 square feet.
The statement names the Eichler and Mackay tracts in Monta Loma among Mountain View's architect-designed buildings. For a buyer, the practical point is that a flat-roofed house here isn't automatically an Eichler. The neighborhood history says the Eichlers have plank ceilings and the Mackays painted Celotex ceilings, and that almost half the Mackays sit on a slab.
What the county map books can and can't tell you
Tract numbers usually come from the recorded subdivision map. The Santa Clara County Archives' County Map Books index, published on the county's open data portal, covers about 5,900 maps recorded from about 1850 to 1957, bound into 108 volumes. The archives don't hold volumes 44, 46, 48, 50, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 66, 68, 71, 73, 76 and 81.
That gap matters here. In the index, the last tract maps before the gap are in volume 42, recorded through June 1, 1953, and the next are in volume 54, starting December 27, 1954. The volumes that survive from those 18 months (43, 45, 47, 49 and 52) hold records of survey and a few other maps, not numbered tract maps, so the tract maps from that span may be in the missing volumes. We found no Fairview map and no Mountain View filing under Eichler's name, though the Eichler name appears as owner on six earlier filings from 1947 to 1950, including Sunnyvale Manor and Greer Park. We can't give Fairview's tract number from the records we read.
Two 1955 Mountain View maps in the index are worth knowing. Tract No. 1399 (recorded March 8, 1955, Book 54, page 55) and Tract No. 1424 (August 10, 1955, Book 62, page 8) between them list Whitney Drive, Diablo Avenue, Lassen Avenue, Tamalpais Street and Alma Street, the road the statement says was widened into Central Expressway starting in 1962. The index lists a title company, not a builder, as owner of both. The statement places a Mackay house on Diablo Avenue, so part of these maps may be Oakwood, but the index can't say who built which lots. For a specific house, ask the county for the recorded map and the city for the permit file.
Is Monta Loma a historic district?
No. According to the September 22, 2026 council report, Mountain View adopted its first historic preservation ordinance and created the Mountain View Register of Historic Resources in 2004, and the existing ordinance has no provisions for creating a historic district. The context statement says no postwar residences in Mountain View are listed in the National Register, the California Register or the Mountain View Register. The list of eligible resources attached to that council report includes no houses from Monta Loma's building years of 1954 to 1959.
On September 22, 2026, the City Council introduced an updated ordinance on a 7–0 first reading. The version set for final adoption on October 13 would allow new historic districts only within the area bounded by California Street, Hope Street, Evelyn Avenue and Bryant Street. The context statement places Hope and Bryant streets downtown, behind the main blocks of Castro Street, and the Eichler tract at San Antonio and Middlefield roads. We found no official map of that area. The city's online record for October 13 shows the consent calendar, including the second reading, approved on one motion, but the minutes were still marked draft on November 6, 2026. Until final minutes are posted, treat adoption and the November 12, 2026 effective date in the staff report as unconfirmed.
Even without a district, the statement's evaluation guidance is a useful lens for owners:
Intact tracts of exceptionally distinctive Midcentury Modern design may be eligible as districts, generally with 60 percent or more of the properties contributing.
Second-story additions are likely to make a one-story house a non-contributor, though one substantially set back and deferential in scale may still contribute.
Doors and windows replaced in their original openings, with the original pattern intact, may not cost a house its eligibility.
Street trees, setbacks and the street pattern can also count.
We found no single-story overlay or Eichler design guideline for Monta Loma in the 2026 historic preservation reports or in the council records we searched. Rules change, so ask Mountain View's planning division what applies to a specific lot before you design an addition. This is general information, not legal advice.
What to check on a Monta Loma Eichler
Which builder. Eichler, Mackay and Mardell houses stand near one another. Compare ceilings, roof forms and the permit file before you trust a label in a listing.
Original design. The statement's description (rear glass, post-and-beam structure, low roofs, a modest street face) is a fair test of what has been kept.
Heating. The neighborhood history describes radiant heat in steel pipe. Have the system tested before you buy.
Additions and permits. The statement notes that second-story additions have been a fairly common change in postwar tracts. Pull the city's permit history and ask what the city allows on your lot.
Frequently asked questions
When were the Monta Loma Eichlers built?
Mountain View's 2026 historic context statement dates the tract to about 1954 to 1957, after the city's planning commissioners approved the subdivision in 1952.
How many Eichlers are in Monta Loma?
About 200, by the city's account, though the subdivision approved in 1952 was for 154 homes. Published histories say "over 200" and "200-plus." We found no exact count.
Who designed the Monta Loma Eichlers?
The city's context statement credits Anshen & Allen and Jones & Emmons. Mackay's neighboring Oakwood tract also used Anshen & Allen, which the statement says is why the two look alike.
Does Mountain View have another Eichler tract?
Yes. The statement describes a 1972 tract of 53 four-bedroom homes between Permanente Creek and Miramonte Avenue, at Trophy and Eichler drives, first called Grandmeadow and now known as Bell Meadows. It says the houses have many of the rooflines typical of later Eichler homes designed by Claude Oakland.
Related reading
More guides on this topic: Eichler Neighborhoods & Tract Histories
Curious about a Monta Loma Eichler's builder or history? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
