Locals Featured in Documentary Honoring Eichler Homes

A Bay Area based realtor is featuring two Castro Valley residents in a documentary highlighting the homes they live in.

Monique Lombardelli of McGuire Real Estate is in the works of completing a documentary that features the mid-century, modern homes of developer Joseph Eichler titled "People in Glass Houses: The Legacy of Joseph Eichler."

For the past four years, she searched for homeowners throughout the state — from Castro Valley to Orange County. Two Castro Valley residents in the Greenridge community will make an appearance in the 45 minute documentary, set to debut in September of this year. A trailer of the documentary was recently released [click here to see it].

Lombardelli, who not only has a background in real estate but also broadcasting, budgeted $30,000 and spent the past four years working on the film. She not only wanted to highlight the unique designs of these homes but also the communities that they exist in.

From holding weekly block parties to owning the keys to each others' homes, each neighborhood is slightly different but all share the same values according to Lombardelli.

However, as friendly as these neighborhoods are, they also hold strict rules among their architectural committees which strive to preserve the true Eichler style — glass walls, post-and-beam construction, and open floor plans.

"They're going to be here forever because of these kinds of people," she said.

Among all the Eichler communities she's visited, Lombardelli said Castro Valley's holds the most historical documentation.

From photos to home layout plans, "they are meticulous at collecting and keeping everything," she said.

Lombardelli said a majority of Eichler dwellers are the original owners of their home. Over the years, a cult-like following for the homes has developed. It isn't often one goes on the market, but when it does, Lombardelli said as many as 1,000 people may be in line for that home.

There's No Race When it Comes to Owning an Eichler

Unlike most developers at the time, Eichler established a non-discrimination policy and offered his homes to people of all religions and races.

"Joseph Eichler was the first developer to allow African Americans, Asians, Hispanics to buy homes from a developer," Lombardelli said.

In fact, one of the Castro Valley residents featured in the film, Yvonne Daniel, was the first African American to purchase an Eichler home.

Lombardelli said after moving in, Daniel told her she would never live in anything else.

You can watch Lombardelli's documentary come September 2012 on her website, http://moniquelombardelli.mcguire.com/.