Palo Alto's Eichler neighborhoods are not one place. The City of Palo Alto's 2018 Eichler design guidelines map the city's Eichler tracts, built from 1949 into the 1970s by several architects, and each has its own street plan, house types and zoning. This guide walks through every Palo Alto Eichler tract this site has written up, plus the Stanford Eichlers just outside the city, in the order they were built.
Each section gives the years, the architect, where the tract sits and what sets it apart, then links to the full history. The facts come from public records: the city's guidelines, the National Register listings, the county's index of recorded maps and the archive of Claude Oakland's firm at UC Berkeley. It is a guide to architecture and history, not a market report. Zoning can change, so confirm current rules with the Palo Alto planning department.
How to read the tract list
The city's guidelines (adopted April 2, 2018, by Resolution 9748) include a table of Palo Alto Eichler tracts with a year range, an architect and a lot count for each. A footnote says the lot counts come from city GIS files and don't necessarily match the number of homes. We use the table's names and dates below. Where the table leaves the architect blank, we say so rather than guess.
Three things vary from tract to tract:
Single-story overlay. Some tracts have a single-story overlay combining district; others don't. The guidelines say the overlay limits height to 17 feet and one habitable floor. Our single-story overlay guide explains how they work.
Flood zone. Parts of the city lie in a special flood hazard area, where the guidelines say the lowest floor must be elevated, which in their words "effectively prohibits basements."
Historic status. Two tracts, Greenmeadow and Green Gables, are National Register historic districts, both listed in 2005.
The first tracts: 1949 to 1951
University Gardens (1949–1950)
The earliest date in the city's table. The guidelines credit it to "Joseph Eichler with draftsman Castor" rather than an architect, and count 63 lots. They describe the houses as having wide overhanging eaves, shallow shed roofs and box-like massing: "identifiably Modernist," but only a hint of what came next. The city's map places it southwest of El Camino Real, a short way north of El Centro Gardens. It has no single-story overlay. Read the University Gardens history.
Green Gables (1950)
The state's listing for the historic district says Eichler Homes developed Green Gables in 1950 and describes 62 one-story homes designed by Robert Anshen and Steve Allen, with three bedrooms and one bath, built with post-and-beam framing on a concrete slab. The city's table dates the tract 1950–1951 and counts 63 lots; as its footnote warns, lots and homes don't always match. It was listed on the National Register in 2005. Read the Green Gables history.
Greer Park (1950–1951)
An Anshen & Allen tract with 131 lots in the city's table. The county's map index records Tract No. 796, Greer Park, on October 2, 1950, with Amarillo Avenue, Greer Road and three circle streets: Van Auken, Metro and Moffett. For its overlay and flood status, check the city's parcel map. Read the Greer Park history.
Charleston Meadow (1950–1951)
The records spell it Charleston Meadows. The city's table dates it 1950–1951, credits Anshen & Allen and counts 158 lots. The county recorded it in two units: Tract No. 765 in October 1950 and Tract No. 840, Unit No. 2, in January 1951, around Charleston Road and Second Street. Its distinction is governance: the guidelines say Eichler set up the first architectural control committee here in 1950 to enforce the tract's covenants, and that owners reconstituted it in 2000. Read the Charleston Meadow history.
Fairmeadow (1951–1954)
The tract with the circle streets. The city's table credits A. Quincy Jones and counts 300 lots. The county recorded Tract No. 892, Fairmeadow, in 1951, with streets that include Roosevelt Circle and Starr King Drive. The guidelines use its "futuristic concentric circle street plan" as their example of Eichler treating a tract as a planned community. Read the Fairmeadow history.
Early 1950s infill: 1951 to 1955
Channing Park (1951–1952 and 1955)
Two neighborhoods in the city's records. Channing Park No. 1 & No. 2 (1951–1952, 57 lots) is credited in the city's table to Anshen & Allen together with A. Quincy Jones. Channing Park No. 3 (1955, 20 lots) is a Jones & Emmons tract that adjoins it on the west. The first has a single-story overlay; the second doesn't. The guidelines describe a large flood zone fed by San Francisquito Creek that includes the area between Channing and Hamilton avenues. Read the Channing Park history.
Walnut Grove (1953–1954)
A small, early tract: 30 lots, credited to both Anshen & Allen and Jones & Emmons. Its larger place in the record is zoning: in 1992 it became the first Palo Alto neighborhood with a single-story overlay, and that overlay covers far more lots than the tract itself. Read the Walnut Grove history.
Greenmeadow (1954–1955)
Palo Alto's other National Register district. The state's listing describes 243 homes and a community center complex of two buildings and a swimming pool, developed by Eichler Homes, Inc. between 1954 and 1955 and designed by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons. The houses are one story, with three or four bedrooms, two baths and attached garages, and the listing notes their blank street faces and floor-to-ceiling glass at the rear. The city's table adds a later phase, Greenmeadow No. 3 (1961–1962), by Claude Oakland. The district has a single-story overlay. Read the Greenmeadow history.
Triple El (1955)
A Jones & Emmons tract of 68 lots in the city's table. The guidelines single it out: Triple El and Los Arboles "have architectural cohesion that equals or surpasses" the two historic districts and "may be eligible for listing." The guidelines' map shades it as part of a single-story overlay, though the name doesn't appear on the city's 2015 overlay list. Read the Triple El history.
Late 1950s: 1956 to 1961
Edgewood (1956)
The city's table lists Edgewood as a 1956 A. Quincy Jones tract of 93 lots, drawn just east of Green Gables. The houses line Edgewood Drive, Sandalwood Court, the east side of Wildwood Lane and parts of St. Francis Drive and Channing Avenue. The guidelines name Edgewood among the neighborhoods with an architectural control committee. Next door is Edgewood Plaza, the shopping center Eichler Homes built in the late 1950s. Read the Edgewood history.
Royal Manor (1957–1958)
A late tract with 201 lots in the city's table and no architect named. The county's index records Tract No. 1556, Royal Manor, with Louis Road, Greer Road and Loma Verde Avenue on its edges and Kenneth Drive, Thomas Drive and Janice Way inside. For its overlay and flood status, check the city's parcel map. Read the Royal Manor history.
Meadow Park (1957–1958)
A 75-lot tract with the architect column blank in the city's table. It has a single-story overlay, and flood zone labels matter on its lots. Read the Meadow Park history.
Los Arboles (1959–1961) and Los Arboles Addition No. 2 (1974)
The city's table credits Los Arboles (84 lots) to Anshen & Allen with Jones & Emmons. The city granted it a single-story overlay in 2015. Next to it, Los Arboles Addition No. 2 (1974, Claude Oakland, 31 lots) has something the guidelines call unique: Eichlers built with two stories from the start. Read the Los Arboles history.
Next door: the Stanford Eichlers
Stanford's faculty neighborhoods sit on university land in unincorporated Santa Clara County, which the county calls the San Juan Residential District. Stanford's housing office explains that the university's founders specified that campus lands could never be sold, so homes there stand on ground leases. The archive of Claude Oakland's firm lists Eichler Homes, Inc. on Pine Hills lots in the early 1960s and J.L. Eichler Associates on Frenchman's Hill lots from 1968 into the early 1970s. Read the Stanford Eichler history.
What to check in any Palo Alto Eichler tract
The tract name and number. A recorded tract number on a title report or parcel record tells you which tract a house is in, and therefore which overlay and flood rules apply.
Overlay status. Look up the zoning on the city's parcel map; don't assume from the neighborhood name. Triple El shows why: its overlay appears under another name.
Flood zone. Ask for a parcel report. The guidelines say flood zones change and that rules for "substantial improvement" apply in a special flood hazard area.
Covenants. The guidelines say Eichler Homes wrote covenants for its tracts, that the city doesn't enforce them, and that residents may. Ask whether an active committee reviews plans.
This is general information, not legal advice. For zoning, flood or covenant questions on a specific house, check with the city, a licensed contractor or an attorney.
Frequently asked questions
Which Palo Alto Eichler tracts are historic districts?
Greenmeadow and Green Gables, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The city's guidelines suggest Triple El and Los Arboles may also be eligible, but as of November 2026 neither is listed in the records we read.
Which tract is the oldest?
University Gardens has the earliest date in the city's table, 1949–1950, and is credited to Joseph Eichler with a draftsman.
Do all Palo Alto Eichler tracts have a single-story overlay?
No. The 2018 guidelines say the city's single-story overlay districts overlap with eleven Eichler tracts. Walnut Grove, Channing Park No. 1 & No. 2, Meadow Park, Triple El, Los Arboles and Greenmeadow have one in the records we read; University Gardens and Channing Park No. 3 don't. Overlays can be added, so confirm any tract with the city's parcel map.
Are the Stanford Eichlers in Palo Alto?
No. They are on Stanford land in unincorporated Santa Clara County, next to the city. The county and Stanford, not Palo Alto, set the rules for changes there.
Related reading
Single-Story Overlay Districts: Check Your Street, Know the Rules
Eichler Atrium Models vs. Courtyard and Gallery Plans Explained
Palo Alto Eichler Design Guidelines: What They Say and When They Apply
More guides on this topic: Neighborhoods & Tracts
Thinking about a house in one of Palo Alto's Eichler tracts? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team to talk it through.
