Sunnyvale's Eichler neighborhoods bookend Joseph Eichler's career. His early Sunnyvale Building Company tract and his first architect-designed subdivision went up here in the late 1940s and 1950, and tracts from his later years, built after Eichler Homes closed, did too. In between, a different builder put up an Anshen & Allen tract of its own. This guide walks through the six Sunnyvale tracts this site has written up, from oldest to newest.
Each section gives the years, the builder and architect, where the tract sits by streets and what sets it apart, then links to the full history. The facts come from public records: the county's index of recorded maps, Caltrans and state preservation studies, the archive of Claude Oakland's firm at UC Berkeley and the City of Sunnyvale's own reports. It is a guide to architecture and history, not a market report. Zoning can change, so confirm current rules with the Sunnyvale planning division.
Where Eichler started: Sunnyvale Manor (1947 and 1950)
A state preservation study of Eichler's San Jose tracts says he founded the small Sunnyvale Building Company in 1947, at first selling prefabricated houses to owners of individual lots, then moved on to small tracts, including the first phase of Sunnyvale Manor. The county's map index records Tract No. 371, Sunnyvale Manor, on September 30, 1947, with Bayview, Maude, Arbor, Balsam, Morse, Duane and Cypress avenues.
The second phase is the one architecture readers know. Caltrans's 2011 study Tract Housing in California, 1945–1973 says Eichler commissioned Anshen and Allen to design the houses for the second phase of Sunnyvale Manor, that the houses had flat roofs and post-and-beam rather than stud framing, and that the 51-house tract convinced Eichler to commission architects for all his future projects. The state study calls Sunnyvale Manor Addition "the first architect-designed Eichler subdivision," and describes its AA-1 prototype as T-shaped in plan, with the living and dining wing under a high, low-sloped roof opening onto a private patio through full-height glass doors.
So a "Sunnyvale Manor Eichler" can mean either phase, and the two are very different houses. Read the Sunnyvale Manor history.
A different builder: Gavello Glen (about 1952)
Gavello Glen is not an Eichler tract, but it shares the architects. The Caltrans study illustrates the "Gavello Glen tract, Sunnyvale," with Anshen and Allen as architects, built about 1952 by Gavello and Perego. The county's map index records Tract No. 551, Gavello Glen, on September 28, 1948, with Gary Avenue, Gail Avenue and Old San Francisco Road.
The same study notes that builders such as Gavello & Perego mainly built houses of traditional design and only occasionally built post-and-beam houses in the Contemporary style. That makes Gavello Glen a useful comparison: Anshen and Allen designs, built by someone other than Eichler. We found no record of a company called Gavello Homes, and the full post covers what we couldn't confirm. Read the Gavello Glen history.
Late 1950s and early 1960s: Fairbrae and Fairwood
Fairbrae (1958 to 1961)
Fairbrae is a group of adjoining Eichler tracts, with streets like Hollenbeck Avenue, Sheraton Drive and Torrington Drive and a long run of short courts. The city's parcel data, read for our full post, shows the tracts filling in from 1958 to 1961. Sunnyvale's 2017 report on the Fairbrae Unit 1 rezoning request names "the Fairbrae Unit 1 (tract) Eichler neighborhood" on Pome, Quince and Hollenbeck avenues, Pomegranate and Pulora courts and Sheraton Drive, and describes the issue as preserving a neighborhood "of predominantly single-story Eichler homes." That request asked to rezone the tract from R-1 to R-1/S, the city's Low Density Residential/Single-Story district. Read the Fairbrae history.
Fairwood (1961–1962)
The archive of Claude Oakland's firm at UC Berkeley files a project called "Fairwood," described as Units 1B and 2 of Tract No. 2944 in Sunnyvale, dated 1961–1962, with Eichler Homes, Inc. as developer and Jones & Emmons credited for site planning. The same index lists a later Fairwood Addition (Tract No. 4789, 1969–1970) under J.L. Eichler Associates.
The city's records on Fairwood come mostly from three single-story rezoning requests filed in 2016 and 2017 by owners in and next to the tract, from R-0 to R-0/S. Their reports name streets including Dartshire Way, Devonshire Way, Kingfisher Way, Flicker Way, Carlisle Way, Mallard Way, Firebird Way, Flamingo Way and Dunholme Way. The council adopted Ordinance 3080-16 in May 2016 and Ordinance 3108-17 in February 2017. Read the Fairwood history.
After Eichler Homes: Primewood and Rancho Sans Souci
Palo Alto's Eichler design guidelines say Eichler Homes filed for bankruptcy and closed in 1967, and that Joseph Eichler then set up J. L. Eichler Associates and kept working as an independent developer until his death in 1974. Two Sunnyvale tracts come from those years.
Primewood (late 1960s)
Sunnyvale's 2017 rezoning report describes the "Primewood Eichler neighborhood" as following the boundaries of its tract map, with homes on Allison Way, Lennox Way, Lennox Court, Blanchard Way and Beaverton Court, and West Fremont Avenue to the north. The request asked to rezone it from R-1 to R-1/S. The Oakland archive files Primewood under J.L. Eichler Associates as developer and Jones & Emmons as architect, dated 1967–1970. One record conflict to know about: the city's report gives the tract map as 4721, while the archive and the city's parcel layer use 4621. Read the Primewood history.
Rancho Sans Souci (1968)
The Oakland archive's project index has a row for Rancho Sans Souci in Sunnyvale, a residential subdivision dated 1968 and 1972, with J.L. Eichler Associates, Inc. as developer. Its files list model codes such as SV-3, SV-4 and SV-5. The index's key says the "SV" prefix covers four Sunnyvale projects: Fairpark, Fairwood, Rancho Sans Souci and Rancho Verde. The city's parcel layer shows one-story houses built in 1968 on MacKenzie Drive, Olympus Court, Laurentian Way and Pendleton Avenue. Read the Rancho Sans Souci history.
The rules that apply across these tracts
Two city tools come up in nearly every Sunnyvale tract history:
The Eichler Design Guidelines. A 2020 Sunnyvale report to council says the Eichler Design Guidelines were adopted in 2009 and contain "various design suggestions and policies to maintain the unique architectural style of Eichler and Eichler-like homes and their neighborhoods." The same report says the city consolidated its design guideline documents into one, with no substantive changes.
Single-story combining districts. Owners in Fairbrae, Fairwood and Primewood asked the city to add the "/S" single-story designation to their zoning. Our single-story overlay guide explains how these districts work.
Sunnyvale Manor and Gavello Glen have no single-story district in the records our full posts used. As of November 2026, check a specific lot's zoning with the city before you plan an addition. 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 Sunnyvale tract
Which phase or tract. Sunnyvale Manor's two phases and Fairwood's later addition show why a tract name alone isn't enough. A recorded tract number tells you more.
Eichler or not. Gavello Glen houses share Eichler's early architects but not his company, and the city's parcel layer doesn't flag them as Eichlers.
Zoning designation. Look for the "/S" in the zoning on the city's parcel data.
The house type. Our guide on how to tell if a house is an Eichler covers what to look for.
Frequently asked questions
What was the first architect-designed Eichler tract?
A state preservation study calls Sunnyvale Manor Addition, the second phase of Sunnyvale Manor, "the first architect-designed Eichler subdivision." Anshen and Allen designed its houses, and Palo Alto's Eichler guidelines list Sunnyvale Manor among the 1950 subdivisions built from their AA-1 prototype.
Is Gavello Glen an Eichler neighborhood?
No. A Caltrans study credits the builder Gavello and Perego, with Anshen and Allen as architects, about 1952. The architects link it to Eichler's early work, but the builder was different.
Did Eichler build in Sunnyvale after Eichler Homes closed?
Yes. The Oakland archive files Primewood (1967–1970) and Rancho Sans Souci (1968) under J.L. Eichler Associates, the company Joseph Eichler worked through in his later years.
Does Sunnyvale have Eichler design guidelines?
Yes. The city's Eichler Design Guidelines were adopted in 2009 and, according to a 2020 city report, were folded into a consolidated set of design guidelines without substantive changes. Ask the planning division which version applies to your project as of November 2026.
Related reading
Single-Story Overlay Districts: Check Your Street, Know the Rules
Eichler Atrium Models vs. Courtyard and Gallery Plans Explained
Sunnyvale Eichler Design Guidelines: What Still Applies in 2026
Silicon Valley Eichler Neighborhoods by City: A Guide to the Tracts
More guides on this topic: Neighborhoods & Tracts
Thinking about a house in one of Sunnyvale's Eichler or mid-century 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.
