Eichler Architects:

About the Eichler Architects:

Anshen + Allen

PROPERTY NERDS® / ARCHITECTURE, PEOPLE & PLACE

Anshen & Allen belongs at the beginning of a serious exploration of Eichler architecture. The practice helps explain how a developer’s ambition became a recognizable housing program—and why an Eichler should be understood through its plan, structure and site, not simply its furniture or paint colors.

01 / Two architects, one San Francisco practice

UC Berkeley’s Environmental Design Archives identifies S. Robert Anshen (1910–1964) and William Stephen Allen Jr. (1912–1992) as the firm’s founders. They met at the University of Pennsylvania in 1935, moved to San Francisco in 1937 and established their partnership in 1939. An early joint commission was a house for Ralph K. Davies.

The Second World War interrupted their full-time practice: Allen served in the Navy, while Anshen worked for the Housing Authority of Vallejo. They returned to full-time partnership in 1946. The archive documents a broad practice encompassing residential, commercial, educational and religious work, later including medical facilities. Explore the Berkeley collection.

02 / The Eichler connection and the Oakland connection

The firm’s Eichler work was also the setting for Claude Oakland’s early involvement. Berkeley’s Oakland & Imada history records Oakland joining Anshen & Allen in 1950 and becoming a principal designer for the Eichler account. He established his own practice in 1960 and continued that relationship. This office history matters when interpreting credits: a firm attribution and an individual designer’s contribution are related, but they are not interchangeable labels. Read the Oakland & Imada archive overview.

Explore Claude Oakland’s history alongside this page to understand the continuity. Compare both with Jones & Emmons, whose practice offers another route into the Eichler story.

03 / How to read the photographs

The historic portrait and plan gallery on this page serve different purposes. The portrait introduces the people; the drawings help you investigate the design. Neither alone confirms the authorship or original condition of a particular property.

Start with the roof and ceiling

Follow a beam from the interior toward the glazing. Does the ceiling plane continue visually toward an overhang? Where does the roof rise or flatten, and how does that change the room below? Record the relationship rather than labeling a house from one roof shape.

Read the entry as a sequence

Sketch the route from sidewalk to front door to living space. Look for moments of compression, privacy and opening. Compare the actual house with its plan; a new door, enclosure or addition may have changed how the original sequence works.

Look beyond the glass

A glass wall frames something: a courtyard, planting, a fence, a neighboring structure or sky. Evaluate that view from a seated position as well as standing. The quality of the indoor-outdoor relationship depends on the setting as much as the amount of glazing.

04 / Use the floor-plan gallery as a research desk

1. Read the drawing’s own title. Record any model code, project name, date, revision and architectural credit that is actually legible.

2. Check orientation. A mirrored plan can resemble another model. Compare garage position, entry, kitchen, bedroom wing and outdoor space together.

3. Separate drawing from construction. A brochure drawing is not an as-built survey. Confirm dimensions and alterations against the property and available records.

4. Record the evidence. Keep the image filename and source with your notes. If a credit is missing or unreadable, label it unconfirmed.

Our Floor Plan Library adds a broader comparison framework. Use it to form better questions, then seek property-specific documentation.

05 / More than Eichler houses

The Berkeley collection includes projects such as the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center and San Francisco’s International Building. Seeing the firm’s work across different building types helps place its housing within a larger professional career. The archive includes drawings, photographs and office records—not simply a list of finished buildings.

06 / Questions for an Anshen & Allen attribution

• What document connects this address or development phase to the firm?

• Is the cited model name on an original drawing, a sales brochure or a later listing?

• Which visible features are original, which are documented alterations, and which remain uncertain?

• Does the current plan preserve the relationships among entry, living area and outdoor rooms?

• What records should a buyer request before planning changes to beams, glazing, roof or walls?

Property Nerds perspective: good attribution makes a property story more precise. It does not establish structural condition, renovation feasibility or a market premium. Keep architectural research and property due diligence connected, with each supported by its own evidence.

Explore Eichler neighborhoods →   Take the Showing Notebook →

Ask the Boyenga Team about an Eichler you are researching.

Anshen + Allen Eichler Floorplans

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