Architecture Field Trip - Fairmeadow Eichlers

This was a fun mid-century Eichler neighborhood detour on the way back home after dropping my daughter off in Irvine.

Joseph Eichler was the only merchant builder in America who built modernist style homes on a large scale, designed by skilled architects and using quality materials. He was a social visionary and commissioned designs primarily for middle-class Americans. One of his goals was building inclusive and diverse planned communities, ideally featuring integrated parks and community centers.

Fun fact: The City of Orange has more Eichler homes than any community outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Orange CA Eichlers were built in the early 1960s using floor plans designed by Eichler’s well-known architects Anshen+Allen, Jones & Emmons, and Claude Oakland. Most of these homes are relatively spacious, ranging from 1963 - 2407 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2+ baths.  Many feature atriums and a multi-purpose room. Some of the images above show the shadows cast by the atrium slats.

Fairmeadow is a community of 100+ Eichler homes. The tract is on the west side of N. Cambridge Street, above E. Taft Avenue. Eichlers are on N. Shaffer Street, E. Glendale Avenue, N. Woodside Street, N. Winlock Street, N. Ridgewood Street, E. Ferndale Avenue, E. Briardale Avenue, and E. Palmdale Avenue.

Future “detours” on my radar include the Fairhaven tract in the southernmost tip of Orange and Fairhills in east Orange with homes.