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Architects: Gustave Carlson Design
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Photographs:David Duncan Livingston
Text description provided by the architects. Architect-artist Gustave Carlson — whose eponymous residential architecture and design practice works on custom renovations, new construction, and sustainable design across architectural styles — adapted an unusually pedigreed 'Eichler,' the collective name for the distinctive single-family residences commissioned by the 20th-century real estate developer Joseph Eichler, to the current homeowners' vision, while paying homage to its groundbreaking origins.
An admirer of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's work, and widely regarded as a social visionary, Joseph Eichler took the design principles and values of modern architecture to middle-class Americans. Between 1949 and 1966, his company, Eichler Homes, built an estimated 11,000 modern, tract-style, single-family residences in planned communities, mostly in Northern California; the City of Palo Alto, located along the San Francisco Peninsula, boasts the largest concentration of such homes in the U.S.
Unlike most of the 'Eichlers' found in Palo Alto, the one which Gustave Carlson and the project team worked on is unique. Built in 1971, and located in the hills of Palo Alto on a flag lot that backs into what is now a golf course, this 'Eichler' was custom-commissioned by John S. Lynd, an architect and personal friend of Joseph Eichler.
The John S. Lynd 'Eichler' is currently owned by a visionary couple who share four daughters and an art collection of more than 90 works, mainly by emerging female artists. Carlson approached their commission by adapting the structure for contemporary living, integrating energy efficiency and sustainability while letting its original bones shine through.
"An 'Eichler' captures the word optimism in built form," notes Carlson, who has worked on dozens of private homes on the U.S. East Coast and in California. "These airy, light-filled, and human scale structures convey the promise of the post-World War ll era, as well as Joseph Eichler's philosophy on domestic life, and the ability of modern design to enhance our quality of life."
