The Sequoyah Hills Eichler homes are a small group of modern houses in the southeastern Oakland hills, above Interstate 580 off Keller Avenue. Published histories call the tract Joseph Eichler's only project in Oakland. It began as an Eichler development after a 1964 land purchase, but Eichler built only part of it, and a co-developer and later builders filled the other lots.
This post covers the land's naval hospital past, the partnership that built the subdivision, where the sources disagree, the architects, the city's survey ratings and today's rules. It is architecture and history, not a market report. For the city as a whole, see our Oakland mid-century modern page.
From rancho to naval hospital
A neighborhood history traces the land to Rancho San Antonio, granted to Luis Peralta in 1820, and says the hills stayed largely undeveloped until the Sequoyah Hills and Oak Knoll country clubs were founded early in the 20th century. The Oak Knoll club went bankrupt in the Depression, and in 1942 the U.S. Navy acquired Oak Knoll and several surrounding properties for the Oakland Naval Hospital.
According to the same history, the Navy then built a second complex for psychiatric patients: the San Leandro Naval Hospital, which opened in 1944 on a plateau overlooking Oak Knoll, where the Sequoyah Hills houses stand now. It describes 26 wards of unpainted redwood that housed 1,500 wounded plus medical staff, and says the hospital was recommissioned in 1951 to receive Korean War casualties.
A published military history gives different details. It says the San Leandro hospital was commissioned with 500 beds on August 15, 1944, to care for "war neurosis" and "combat fatigue" cases, and was decommissioned on September 1, 1946, when its property was absorbed by the nearby Oakland Naval Hospital. The two accounts differ on the size, and only one mentions a 1951 reopening. We found no official record that settles either point.
Most of the main hospital property below is now the city's Oak Knoll project site. Oakland's project page says that site, part of the former Oak Knoll Naval Medical Center property, is in the South Hills area, bounded by Mountain Boulevard and Interstate 580, Keller Avenue and Sequoyah Road.
Eichler and Brown & Kauffmann, 1964 to 1971
In 1964, the neighborhood history says, the Navy sold the San Leandro hospital site to the developers Eichler and Brown & Kauffmann. The naval buildings were removed, and the land was extensively regraded and filled before houses went up. A 2018 article also says Eichler Homes and Brown & Kauffmann, a Palo Alto homebuilder, jointly bought the land, about 100 acres, in 1964.
The 2018 article says plans called for 264 homes and that later builders added more. The neighborhood history says Brown & Kauffmann sold the last of 264 lots in 1971, and that control of the homeowners association then passed from the developers to the residents. At first the only way in was Sequoyah Road, winding up through the older area near the country club. Keller Avenue was extended into the hills in 1970, giving a direct route to the MacArthur Freeway.
The Eichlers sit together near the tract's main entry, at Hansom Drive and Keller Avenue and on Coach, Phaeton and Shay drives, according to published accounts. Two Brown & Kauffmann model homes stand at the entrance too, and some streets have Eichlers on one side and other builders' houses on the other. The street names follow a theme: Hansom, Coach, Phaeton, Shay and Surrey are all types of horse-drawn carriages, and the neighborhood's website notes that Shay, Phaeton and Coach radiate from Hansom in a wheel-like pattern.
How many Eichlers? The counts differ
We found no official count, and the published figures don't match:
The neighborhood history says only 48 Eichler homes were built, and that the small number earned the area the nickname "the lost Eichlers of the Oakland hills."
A 2018 article counts 53.
An April 2018 blog post and a 2023 walking-tour listing both say 54.
The 2018 accounts put about 350 non-Eichler houses in the same tract, including ranch houses and some Mediterranean and Monterey revival designs. They describe the Eichlers as generally smaller than the Brown & Kauffmann houses, some of which have two stories.
The architects and the houses
Published accounts say Claude Oakland laid out the Eichlers on their streets and designed many of them, and Jones & Emmons designed others. UC Berkeley's Environmental Design Archives says Oakland started Claude Oakland & Associates in 1960, taking the Eichler account with him, and that the association lasted until Eichler's death in 1974. UCLA's finding aid for A. Quincy Jones's papers dates his partnership with Frederick Emmons from 1951 to 1969. Our Claude Oakland page and Jones & Emmons page cover both firms' wider work.
The 2018 article mentions three basic Eichler models here, one with a Japanese-style dual-sloped roof. Inside, it found many houses with intact mahogany paneling and grass cloth closet doors, some original kitchens, a curved wall of glass brick between an atrium and an inner hallway, and a bedroom with steep gables and skylights. The neighborhood history adds that many of the houses were spared the remodeling of the 1970s and 1980s.
A potential historic district, not a designated one
Oakland's Cultural Heritage Survey is, in the city's words, "a general survey of every visible building in Oakland." Its ratings run from A, for highest importance, to E, of no particular interest, with F for buildings less than 45 years old or modernized. Each property also gets a district code: 1 for an Area of Primary Importance or a National Register-quality district, 2 for an Area of Secondary Importance or a district of local interest, and 3 for no district. Within districts, a plus sign marks contributors and an asterisk potential contributors.
The city's Local Register includes properties rated A or B and properties in Areas of Primary Importance. Landmarks are designated after public hearings by the Landmarks Board, the Planning Commission and the City Council, and officially designated Preservation Districts are also called S-7 and S-20 zones.
Where does Sequoyah Hills fit? A 2018 article reports that the survey determined in 1998 that every one of the Eichlers "contributed" to a potential historic district, meaning each house was essentially intact as seen from the street. The same article says the tract isn't an official district because no one from the neighborhood has applied. We found no city page that gives the tract's district code, and the state's list of listed historical resources for Alameda County has no Sequoyah entry. To learn a specific house's rating, ask the survey staff.
Neighborhood rules, city review and wildfire inspections
Sequoyah Hills has its own neighborhood rules on top of the city's. A summary of the neighborhood's Second Amended Declaration of Protective Restrictions, ratified in January 2000, says it:
requires all major modifications of property to be preapproved by the Environmental Committee;
sets a two-story limit on all home construction;
requires specific, written architectural guidelines for reviewing proposed changes.
The rules are compiled in a document dated 2004 and revised in March 2005. A 2018 article says the architectural preservation rules run seven pages within that larger rulebook, never mention Eichlers by name and apply to every house in the tract. It notes that because the rules aren't Eichler-specific, details such as doors can change more easily than in Marin's Upper Lucas Valley, and that the committee approved converting one Eichler's exterior to stucco.
Oakland's Design Review Exemption page exempts like-for-like repairs and replacements, such as windows, siding, stucco and decks, when the new work matches the existing or historic design and doesn't affect character-defining elements. Small additions can qualify if they visually match, create no new housing unit and equal 10 percent or less of the floor area or footprint on the site, or up to 250 square feet when the existing building is under 2,500 square feet. Decks less than 30 inches above grade are exempt. Larger or nonmatching projects need fuller review.
The city's wildfire district inspections page says every parcel in the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area gets an annual vegetation inspection, that the city expanded its Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to cover the whole WUI Fire Area, and that owners have 45 days to correct problems an inspector finds. The page links to an address map.
What to check before you buy or remodel
Who built the house. The Eichlers are a minority of the tract's houses, so confirm the original builder from permit and assessor records.
The neighborhood restrictions. Get the current rules and ask what the Environmental Committee requires before you design.
The city's review path. Check whether your project fits the design review exemption or needs a fuller review.
Fill and slopes. The hospital site was regraded and filled before construction, so ask a geotechnical engineer about settlement, drainage and retaining walls.
The survey rating. Ask the Cultural Heritage Survey staff for the house's rating and district code.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the rules for a specific property with the City of Oakland, the neighborhood's governing documents or an attorney, and ask a tax advisor before relying on any preservation incentive.
Frequently asked questions
How many Eichler homes are in Sequoyah Hills?
Sources differ: 48 in a neighborhood history, 53 in a 2018 article, and 54 in a 2018 blog post and a 2023 tour listing. They sit among about 350 houses by other builders.
Who designed the Sequoyah Hills Eichlers?
Published accounts credit Claude Oakland with laying out and designing many of the houses, and Jones & Emmons with others.
Is Sequoyah Hills a historic district?
Not a designated one. A 2018 article reports that Oakland's survey found in 1998 that every Eichler there contributed to a potential district, but no one has applied for designation, and we found no state listing.
Can a Sequoyah Hills Eichler get a second story?
The neighborhood's amended restrictions set a two-story limit and require preapproval of major changes, and the city's design review rules apply too. A 2018 article said second-story additions, common in other Eichler tracts, weren't something you'd see there. For other East Bay tracts, see our East Bay Eichler page.
Related reading
Eichler Architects: Who Designed Which Homes, Tract by Tract
Wildfire Home Hardening for Hillside Mid-Century Homes in California
More guides on this topic: Eichler Neighborhoods & Tract Histories
Curious about a Sequoyah Hills Eichler's model, history or neighborhood rules? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
