Childhood

In 1956 my parents built their first house (shown at right), in the post-and-beam modernist style. I was two years old when we moved in. It is located in Orinda, across the bay from San Francisco. View a color photo of the house, taken during construction, and take a tour.

Photos of the house were published in 1957 in a building trade publication titled Popular Home, which was put out as a marketing tool by U.S. Gypsum Corporation. By coincidence, Joseph Eichler worked with U.S. Gypsum in 1954 on an experimental steel house that was built in Illinois and designed by architects Jones and Emmons, the same architects who designed the home I now own.

In 1960 my father took a job in Southern California, and my parents built a very dramatic home in Palos Verdes (lower right). The house was inspired by Eichler's designs: it had extensive glass and clerestory windows, post and beam construction, a minimal roof slope and radiant heat. My mother designed the floor plan of the house based on 6" modules (an architect added the slightly sloping roof line). Unlike the Eichler homes, it had a monolithic white terrazzo cement floor. View photos of the house.



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