Climate Control
Eichler Homes’ heyday coincided with a golden age of cheap energy, so it’s no surprise that this house needed significant attention to meet California’s current Title 24 energy efficiency standards. But with smart applications of current technology, Garcia and Steele vastly improved the building’s energy performance while strengthening its connection with the outdoors.
Garcia specified new double-glazed units for every opening. Steele added a 3-to-5-inch layer of rigid foam to the uninsulated roof deck, slightly altering its trademark knife-edge profile but leaving the decking exposed in most of the living spaces. Garcia says, “[The roof] is kind of this light ‘hat’ on the house, and that’s really beautiful. So we kept every room exposed to the tongue-and-groove unless we had to soffit down for mechanical.” Recycled-denim insulation fills the exterior walls.
A roof-mounted photovoltaic array feeds the new in-floor electric radiant heating system. But in this climate, Steele says, cooling is the crucial issue, “and on a very hot day in Walnut Creek, the house is very comfortable.” A roof-mounted whole-house fan keeps the building cool through most of the summer, while a conventional air conditioning unit provides backup for the hottest days.
To keep the interior uncluttered, Steele ran the ductwork within the insulation layer. “It kind of snakes around on top of the roof,” Garcia says. Except for the custom round registers and narrow return-air slots, “you can barely tell it’s there,” she adds.
Golden State
Rising property values and renewed interest in mid-century modernism give Eichler houses an appeal to contemporary buyers that far outstrips their original mid-market price point. “I think the original Eichlers cost between $8,000 and $12,000,” Garcia says. Now prices routinely top $1.5 million. And like many Eichlerphiles, the owners of this home enthusiastically “restored” their house to a condition that far exceeds its original spec.
Structural steel and advances in window and door technology allowed Garcia and Steele to expand the original home’s openness to the outdoors. Custom walnut and Spanish eucalyptus cabinets grace the kitchen and baths. Steele is especially proud of the painstaking work that made the flush garage door disappear into an unbroken sweep of steel-paneled wall.
Perhaps the project’s most remarkable detail is another disappearing act. In the original house, a fireplace and chimney filled much of the living room’s gable wall. “That was the first thing you saw when you walked in,” Garcia says, “and it had to go away.” To open the view while preserving the element of fire, Garcia replaced the masonry mass with a glass firebox resting on a cantilevered Caeasarstone hearth fitted with a recessed ventless ethanol burner.
