San Jose's Eichler neighborhoods are five pockets of post-and-beam houses on the city's west and southwest sides, built by Joseph Eichler's company from 1952 to 1963. The National Park Service's multiple property document for these tracts says they sit in San Jose's Willow Glen and Western districts and hold 484 homes in eight separate tracts. San Jose's 2025 Eichler design standards, in the version presented to the City Council, count the same five neighborhoods as seven tracts with "approximately 480" homes.
This guide takes the five neighborhoods in the order they were built: Morepark, Fairglen, the Fairglen Additions, Hudson and Fairhaven. Each section gives the years, the recorded tract numbers, where the tract sits and what sets it apart, then links to the full history. The facts come from public records: the federal document, the Fairglen Additions National Register nomination, the county's index of recorded maps, the city's tract map and the city's design standards. It is a guide to architecture and history, not a market report.
How to read San Jose's Eichler records
Three record types come up again and again, and they don't always agree:
Tract numbers. Each subdivision was recorded as a numbered tract map. The federal document's geographic list names Tracts 656 and 1136 (Morepark), 1818 (Fairglen), 2238, 2239 and 2240 (the Fairglen Additions), 2837 (Hudson) and 3009 (Fairhaven).
Lot counts. The city's tract map layer gives a number of lots for each tract. Lots and homes are not always the same thing, so treat a lot count as a guide, not a census.
Date ranges. The federal document and the city's standards each give more than one date range for some tracts. Where they differ, we give both.
The seven-versus-eight difference is simple: the city's numbered list counts Morepark once, while the federal document counts its two tract maps separately. Our San Jose Eichler tracts history sets out every number and where each one comes from.
Morepark (1952–1953)
Morepark has the earliest dates of the five in the federal document. The federal document places it west of downtown San Jose, next to the community of Burbank, and builds it from two tract maps:
Tract 656. The county's map index records it on July 10, 1951, with Richmond, Kingman and Fruitdale avenues. The federal document calls it a small 33-lot tract on both sides of what is now Richmond Avenue, on the market in 1952.
Tract 1136. Recorded on March 9, 1953. The document says it added 44 lots to the east on Menker and Goodwin avenues and was built out by 1954.
The city's tract map shows the same 33 and 44 lots. The federal document puts Morepark in Eichler's "early experimental period," when he worked with both Anshen and Allen and Jones and Emmons, and it quotes a 1953 critique that praised "the general excellence of the Eichler developments" while faulting some of the plans. The city's standards add that older tracts, "including Morepark, may also incorporate horizontal wood siding." Read the Morepark history.
Fairglen (1957–1959)
The original Fairglen tract is small. The federal document describes Eichler's 30-unit Fairglen Tract of 1957, south of Dry Creek Road and southwest of the Willow Glen district, and says access to the new Sinclair Freeway (Interstate 280), whose construction began in 1958, was a selling point. The city's tract map shows Tract 1818 with 30 lots, on Margot Place, Adele Place and Dorrance Drive along Dry Creek Road.
The Fairglen Additions nomination calls it "the noncontiguous one and one-half block Fairglen tract," north of the Additions, and says it fits with the larger-lot subdivisions on the north side of Curtner Avenue. So a house described as "Fairglen" could be in this tract or in the Additions to the south. Read the Fairglen history.
The Fairglen Additions (1959–1961)
South across Curtner Avenue are the Fairglen Additions, Units 1, 2 and 3, recorded as Tracts 2238, 2239 and 2240. The federal document calls them the largest of the San Jose Eichler developments, with 218 units. The nomination places them between Curtner Avenue and Andalusia Way, from the west side of Booksin Avenue to the east side of Briarwood Avenue, on land that had been fruit orchards. Unit 1 has 73 lots, Unit 2 has 61 and Unit 3 has 84.
What sets the Additions apart:
Thirteen plans. The nomination says thirteen distinct Eichler Homes plans were built here, initially designed by Anshen and Allen and by Jones and Emmons and completed by Claude Oakland's firm. One model, by Claude Oakland & Associates, sets an A-frame into the center of a flat roof.
Two elevation types. The nomination groups the houses by roof and parking: a low-sloped gable with a one-car garage and carport, or a flat roof with a two-car garage.
Historic listing. The National Park Service listed the district on the National Register on June 6, 2019. The nomination says 204 of the 218 homes retain the architectural integrity of the original Eichler design.
The federal document's narrative says the Additions were built "between 1959 and 1960"; its own list of surviving tracts and the nomination say 1959–1961. Read the Fairglen Additions history.
Hudson (1960–1962)
Hudson is the tract with the open question. The federal document says that in 1960, with the Fairglen Additions nearing close-out, Eichler Homes signed two more tract maps for a development "slightly to the west across Meridian Avenue from the Fairglen Additions." That passage doesn't name the development, but its place in the story, between the Additions and Fairhaven, matches Hudson. The federal lists date Hudson 1960–1962; the introduction to the city's standards says 1961–1963.
The tract number is the bigger puzzle. The federal document lists Hudson as Tract 2837, but on the city's tract map Tract 2837 is a 101-lot tract farther south. The streets just west of Meridian, including Hudson Drive, Comstock Lane, Dumbarton Avenue, Frobisher Way and Raleigh Drive, fall in Tract 2827, with 102 lots. Our full post explains why 2827 looks like the right number, but no source we read settles it. For a specific house, check the recorded map with the county. Read the Hudson history.
Fairhaven (1962–1963)
The federal document calls Fairhaven the last Eichler Homes development in San Jose. It says the tract map for the 57-unit Fairhaven was signed in 1962 "on the western edge of the growing City" and built out over the next year, and that a 1963 newspaper article named Jones and Emmons as one of its designers. The city's tract map shows Tract 3009 with 57 lots, on Mossbrook Avenue, Mossbrook Circle, Student Lane and Parkwest Drive. Its dates vary too: 1962–1963 in one federal list and 1961–1963 in another. Read the Fairhaven history.
The rules that apply across these tracts
The federal document is a framework, not a listing. It sets out what a San Jose Eichler tract needs in order to be nominated: character-defining features such as low, one-story massing, flat or 2:12 broad gable roofs, post-and-beam framing with vertical-grooved plywood siding, clerestory windows and radiant-heated slabs, plus construction within 1952–1963 and integrity of location, setting and design. The full multiple property document is on the National Park Service's site.
The City Council approved San Jose's Eichler Neighborhood Objective Design Standards on December 2, 2025 (Resolution RES2025-409). The council minutes say they cover exterior changes to Eichler houses on the city's Historic Resources Inventory that need a planning permit involving historic review. The version of the standards presented to the council says that as of 2025, only one of the city's five Eichler neighborhoods, the Fairglen Additions, was listed on that inventory, so they apply there and to any Eichler tract listed later. That version says second-story additions "are strongly discouraged" and allows one only under set criteria, such as keeping it to the rear half of the roof. The copy we read is marked as a draft, so confirm the adopted text with the city before you plan an addition. A 2019 city memo said National Register listing alone doesn't make a house eligible for the Mills Act; only designated City Landmark properties are. Our Mills Act guide explains that program.
As of November 2026, confirm which rules apply to a specific address with San Jose's planning division. This is general information, not legal advice; for a specific house, talk with the city, a licensed contractor or an attorney.
What to check in a San Jose Eichler tract
Which tract. "Fairglen" can mean the 1957 tract or the Additions, and Hudson's tract number is unsettled. The recorded tract map tells you more than a neighborhood name.
Historic status. The 2019 memo says houses in the Fairglen Additions go on the city's inventory as contributors or non-contributors. Ask the city which a house is.
The model. The nomination's plan codes, such as SJ-4 and SJ-1534, help identify the original house. Our guide on how to tell if a house is an Eichler covers what to look for.
Siding and roof. Horizontal siding can be original in older tracts such as Morepark, and in the Additions the standards as presented bar raising a roof above its original height.
Frequently asked questions
How many Eichler neighborhoods are in San Jose?
Five: Morepark, Fairglen, the Fairglen Additions, Hudson and Fairhaven. The federal document counts eight tract maps among them, and the city's standards count seven tracts, because the city lists Morepark's two maps as one.
Which San Jose Eichler neighborhood is a historic district?
The Fairglen Additions, listed on the National Register on June 6, 2019 and then placed on the city's Historic Resources Inventory. The city's 2025 standards say it was the one Eichler neighborhood on that inventory as of 2025.
Who designed San Jose's Eichlers?
The city's standards name Anshen & Allen, Jones & Emmons and Claude Oakland & Associates. The federal document says Jones and Emmons were designers on Fairhaven, and the nomination credits all three firms with the Fairglen Additions plans. Our guide to which architects designed which Eichlers covers each firm.
Do San Jose's Eichler design standards apply in Morepark or Fairhaven?
Not as of 2025. The council approved them for Eichler houses on the city's Historic Resources Inventory, and the standards say that in 2025 meant the Fairglen Additions. If another tract is listed later, they would apply there too, so ask the planning division before you plan exterior work.
Related reading
More guides on this topic: Neighborhoods & Tracts
Thinking about a house in one of San Jose'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.
