A five-bedroom house in Orange designed by mid-century architect Joseph Eichler has fetched $1.025 million in a private sale.
The price is a record for an Eichler home in Southern California, according to Kelly Laule of Better Living SoCal, the listing agent and an Eichler home specialist.
The City of Orange has nearly 340 Eichler houses, she said; Granada Hills and Thousand Oaks each have about 100.
“None of them have ever hit $1 million,” Laule said. “We just made history.”
Eichler homes reflect the designer’s signature exposed post-and-beam construction, open-air atriums, sliding doors and integrated indoor and outdoor spaces.
At 2,074 square feet, the house at 852 S. Oakwood St. is one of the rarest and largest models built in Southern California, the agent said.
The home has a split-wing design with the master bedroom and retreat on one side of the home and secondary bedrooms on the other. An open kitchen separates the bedrooms and living areas.
Built in 1960, the house has gone through an extensive renovation, but still adheres to its Eichler roots. For one thing, it has only two bathrooms.
Added in the redo were terrazzo floors, custom grain-matched walnut cabinetry, an under-counter microwave and push-button drawers, eliminating the need for “optically-disruptive handles,” Laule said.
The home was foreclosed in 2016 and purchased at auction by an investor, she said. A Long Beach family, longtime clients of hers, were interested in the house, and entrusted her to do the renovation and select the finishes.
Stephen Meade, her partner at the firm, represented the buyers, who signed the contract in November; the sale closed Jan. 31.
Other agents in the city of Orange, contacted Wednesday, immediately confirmed a local record was set.
“This is a first for an Eichler,” said veteran real estate broker Al Ricci.
Realtor Chris Merritt, who works at First Team Real Estate and also sells Eichler homes in Orange, said he knew of no other Eichler in the county to close at $1 million.
Laule entered the sale amount into the Multiple Listing Service, so it can be used as a comparable sale for other Eichler listings.
“It is a record setting sale as far as I know,” Merritt said. “We’re all thrilled about it.”
While Eichers were originally designed as affordable homes that average families could buy, they’ve become a big draw for midcentury modern aficionados.
And there are a finite number of Eichlers, Merritt noted.
“These are speciality homes,” he said. “They’re not making any more Eichlers. They are unique.”
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