Editor’s Letter
Growing up in California, it’s hard not to be hugely infl uenced by Joseph Eichler, the man who brought Midcentury Modern to the masses. And in Southern California’s Orange County area, where I went to school and recently put down roots with my home, the Eichler tracts in Orange are like a proud emblem of the area, a trophy marking our own spot in the grand scheme of mid mod history.
When you think about Eichler’s tract developments with architects like A. Quincy Jones and Fredrick Emmons or Claude Oakland, I think you truly see how they embodied the new American dream at the time. They are equal parts innovation and quiet simplicity. Marketed to middle- class America, they were designed to appeal to the everyman. And yet to see them today, they feel so exclusive and dedicated to an honored few. To walk through an intact neighborhood of Eichlers is to feel like you’ve simultaneously traveled back in time to a retro wonderland and jetted into the future. To me it’s this push and pull between bold and peaceful, glamorous and natural that makes them so enchanting. Truth be told, to own one myself is still part of my American dream.
All thanks to a man who believed that this was the way we should be living in our homes, suitable for anyone, any family and in any city in America. And I happen to agree.
Thus it should be no surprise that this issue is all about Eichler, from northern California to my own personal backyard, to even a few surprising and somewhat controversial tracts with a unique and almost unbelievable connection to the Eichler canon. Compiling this set of diverse Eichlers and representing several ways to decorate and renovate them is just a fun tour that proves how adaptable and moldable these homes are today. I hope you see this range and it inspires you to find your spot in the canon and to feel the honor and excitement of making your personal mark on its history.