Résumé

Joseph Eichler worked as a wholesale produce merchant during his early days in San Francisco. He called himself a "butter and egg man" before he turned his attention to real estate development.

It is said that Eichler built approximately 11,000 houses, mostly in the Bay Area, between 1949 and his death in 1974; (some put the number nearer to 12,000); this total included some 40 sub-divisions, most clustered on the San Francisco Peninsula; Eichler designed much of the City of Palo Alto's south side, and was the site of some of his most famous tracts; Greenmeadow and Green Gables tracts in Palo Alto are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; additionally, the Rancho San Miguel and Terra Linda Tracts in Walnut Creek, CA, and San Rafael, respectively, were included on the National Register.

Professional Awards

Recipient, Certificate of Merit. Southwest Research Institute, for Eichler Houses, 1952.

Recipient, Arcadia Achievement Award for Eichler Houses, 1953.

Relocation

The US Census of 1930 noted that Joseph, Lillian and Richard Eichler resided in an apartment building at 1945 Broadway in San Francisco, CA. This seven-story, revival-style apartment block had been finished the previous year. At the time, they retained a servant, Ada Weber (born c. 1880 in CA). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0332; FHL microfilm: 2339942, accessed 09/20/2018.)

Eichler and his wife resided at 220 Grinnell Street in San Mateo, CA, from at least 1940 until 1942. (See See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: San Mateo, San Mateo, California; Roll: m-t0627-00330; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 41-42, accessed 09/20/2018 and Burlingame-San Mateo, California, City Directory, 1942, p. 150.) The 1940 US Census indicated that two servants lived with the Eichlers in that year, Richard Kuest (born c. 1917 in ND) and his wife Lillian Kuest (born c. 1923 in SD).

By 1944, the Eichlers had moved to a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed residence, the Sidney Bazett House, designed in 1939, begun in 03/1940 and completed by 06/1940, at 101 Reservoir Road in Hillsborough, CA. (SeeBurlingame-San Mateo, California, City Directory, 1944, p. 144.) Bazett worked as the President of the American Brokerage Company in 1935 and had various jobs in investment banking over the years in many places. (See Burlingame-San Mateo, California, City Directory, 1935, p. 84.) Shortly after moving in, Sidney Bazett and his wife, Louise Reno, faced the death of their child at birth; Bazett's marriage to Louise dissolved thereafter and he also joined the military in 1942, and was stationed in 1945 in Jacksonville, FL. According to one source, Eichler leased the house from him and had an epiphanic experience living in cutting-edge Modern architecture. It inspired him to change careers and go into house construction.

Spouse

He married Lillian Moncharsh (born 11/15/1902 in New York, NY-d. 05/01/1982 in CA).

Children

He and Lillian had two son, Richard Lionel Eichler (born 02/12/1928 in San Francisco, CA-d. 11/18/1998 in San Mateo, CA) and Edward Philip Eichler (born 07/01/1930 in San Francisco, CA-d. 03/27/2014 in Tiburon, CA)

Biographical Notes

By the mid-1990s, Eichler houses had become very popular again, spawning enthusiast websites, the best known being the Eichler Network. In 2005, two Eichler subdivisions were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

SSN: 561-03-8512.

• New York, NY (Architect's Birth)
  New York, NY

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• Burlingame, CA (Architect's Death)
  Burlingame, CA

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