This hub covers the Silicon Valley cities this site has Eichler guides for: Palo Alto and Stanford's campus lands, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino, Santa Clara and San Jose. It isn't a list of every Eichler tract in the region. Joseph Eichler's company built in these cities from the late 1940s, and the National Park Service's study of his San Jose tracts says Eichler Homes had built more than 11,000 houses by 1964. Each city keeps its own records, and each has its own rules for changes.
This hub sends you to the right place. For each city it gives two or three facts from public records, then links to our city guide and to every tract history on this site. It is a guide to architecture and history, not a market report. Rules change, so confirm anything about zoning or permits with the city or county that governs the lot.
Palo Alto
The City of Palo Alto's Eichler design guidelines, adopted April 2, 2018, map the city's Eichler tracts, built from 1949 into the 1970s by several architects. Two of them are National Register historic districts, both listed in 2005. The state's listing for Green Gables says Eichler Homes, Inc. developed it in 1950, with homes designed by Robert Anshen and Steve Allen. The listing for Greenmeadow says it was developed between 1954 and 1955, with homes designed by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons and a community center complex.
Start with the Palo Alto Eichler neighborhoods guide, which walks through every tract below in date order, and read Palo Alto's Eichler design guidelines explained before you plan a remodel. Tract histories:
Stanford
The Stanford Eichlers stand on university land in unincorporated Santa Clara County, next to Palo Alto. Stanford's faculty housing office says that when Leland and Jane Stanford founded the university, "they specified that campus lands could never be sold," so homes there sit on ground leases. The archive of Claude Oakland's firm at UC Berkeley lists Eichler Homes, Inc. on lots in the Pine Hills tracts from 1960 to 1963, and J.L. Eichler Associates on Frenchman's Hill from 1968 into the early 1970s.
As of November 2026, Stanford's faculty housing office says projects on homes with a Stanford lease must be reviewed and approved by that office before work starts, and that homes 50 years old or older may need extra time for historic review. The same page says its building manuals are due to be updated, so ask the university what applies before you plan work. Read the Stanford Eichler history.
Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale has tracts from early and late in Eichler's career. The county's map index records Sunnyvale Manor, Tract No. 371, in 1947, and a state preservation study calls its second phase, Sunnyvale Manor Addition, "the first architect-designed Eichler subdivision," with houses by Anshen and Allen. Later tracts include Fairbrae and Fairwood, and the archive of Claude Oakland's firm files Primewood and Rancho Sans Souci under J.L. Eichler Associates, the company Eichler worked through after Eichler Homes closed in 1967.
One Sunnyvale tract on this site isn't an Eichler at all: a Caltrans study credits Gavello Glen to the builder Gavello and Perego, with Anshen and Allen as architects. Start with the Sunnyvale Eichler neighborhoods guide, and see Sunnyvale's Eichler design guidelines for the 2009 guidelines and what became of them. Tract histories:
Mountain View, Cupertino and Santa Clara
These three cities share one guide on this site, which also covers a mid-century tract that isn't an Eichler: Eichler and Mid-Century Tracts in Mountain View, Cupertino and Santa Clara.
Mountain View
Mountain View's historic context statement, in its final draft of August 10, 2026, says the Eichler tract in Monta Loma was originally known as "Fairview," dates it to about 1954 to 1957, and credits its houses to Anshen & Allen and Jones & Emmons. The same document says Eichler built a second, later tract in 1972, originally called "Grandmeadow" and now known as the "Bell Meadows" Eichlers. Monta Loma also has modern tracts by other builders, so a flat roof there doesn't make a house an Eichler. Read the Monta Loma history, and see our Mackay Homes builder history for one of the neighboring builders.
Cupertino
Cupertino's 2001 Eichler Design Handbook, as read for our Fairgrove history, places the Fairgrove tract inside Phil Lane, Tantau Avenue, Bollinger Road and Miller Avenue. It says the neighborhood, an architectural consultant and the city worked together on the R1-e Eichler standards and the rezoning of Fairgrove. Read the Fairgrove history.
Rancho Rinconada in Cupertino is a mid-century tract, but it isn't an Eichler tract: the county's map index records its tract map in September 1952 with Stern & Price as owner, and a library archive record credits its model houses to Cliff May. Read the Rancho Rinconada history.
Santa Clara
Pomeroy Green is a different kind of Eichler project: two-story townhouses on shared grounds at Pomeroy Avenue and Benton Street. A 2020 city staff report says construction was completed in 1963, and the National Park Service's weekly list shows Pomeroy Green listed on the National Register on March 24, 2021. Read the Pomeroy Green history.
San Jose
The National Park Service's multiple property document for San Jose's Eichler tracts dates them 1952 to 1963 and places them in the city's Willow Glen and Western districts, in five neighborhoods: Morepark, Fairglen, the Fairglen Additions, Hudson and Fairhaven. The Fairglen Additions were listed on the National Register on June 6, 2019. San Jose's City Council approved Eichler Neighborhood Objective Design Standards on December 2, 2025, for exterior changes to Eichler houses on the city's Historic Resources Inventory.
Start with the San Jose Eichler neighborhoods guide. Full histories:
Design rules by city
Each city handles Eichler changes its own way. In the records our posts used:
Palo Alto. Eichler design guidelines adopted in 2018, plus single-story overlay districts in some tracts. Our single-story overlay guide explains how overlays work.
Stanford. As of November 2026, review by the university's faculty housing office, which says homes 50 years old or older may need extra historic review time. Ask the university.
Sunnyvale. Eichler Design Guidelines adopted in 2009 and later folded into a consolidated set, plus single-story combining districts some tracts asked for.
Cupertino. Fairgrove's R1-e Eichler zoning and the city's 2001 handbook for the tract.
Santa Clara. For Pomeroy Green, a 2021 city council report said that, if the complex was found eligible, future changes would need to conform to the Secretary of the Interior's standards.
San Jose. The 2025 objective design standards, which the standards say covered the Fairglen Additions as of 2025.
As of November 2026, confirm current rules with your own city or county. This is general information, not legal advice; for a specific house, talk with the city, a licensed contractor or an attorney.
Frequently asked questions
Which Silicon Valley Eichler neighborhoods are National Register districts?
In the records our posts used: Green Gables and Greenmeadow in Palo Alto (both 2005), the Fairglen Additions in San Jose (2019) and Pomeroy Green in Santa Clara (2021). Listing alone doesn't set local rules; each city decides how it reviews changes.
Is every flat-roofed tract in Silicon Valley an Eichler?
No. Gavello Glen in Sunnyvale shares Eichler's early architects but had a different builder, Rancho Rinconada in Cupertino was built by Stern & Price, and Monta Loma has an Eichler tract beside tracts by other builders. Our guide on how to tell if a house is an Eichler covers what to check.
Did Eichler keep building after Eichler Homes closed?
Yes. Palo Alto's guidelines say Eichler Homes closed in 1967 and Eichler kept working through J.L. Eichler Associates. The archive of Claude Oakland's firm files Primewood and Rancho Sans Souci in Sunnyvale and Frenchman's Hill at Stanford under that company. Our Eichler Homes company history covers the full story.
Where do I find a tract's recorded map?
Santa Clara County's index of recorded maps lists many of these tracts by number and recording date, and San Jose's tract map layer shows lots by tract. Our guide to dating a house explains how to look one up.
More guides on this topic: Neighborhoods & Tracts
Thinking about an Eichler in Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino, Santa Clara or San Jose? 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.
