SUNNY DAYS, SUNNYVALE
Eichler owners of Rancho Verde come together
to protect and celebrate their neighborhood

From the pages of CA-Modern magazine
By Dave Weinstein

Chuck and Patty Ward's corner of the world has always been a place of trees. Back in 1962, when the Wards moved into their brand-new Eichler subdivision in Sunnyvale, there were orchards of apricots stretching towards the horizon -- and every home had cherry trees. "At least one," Patty recalls. "One of our friends had five."

"It was all cherry orchards," says 41-year resident Sidney Bernstein of the tract before it filled with houses. "We made cherry liqueur," his wife Roberta remembers.

Over the years, while the cherries have died and the apricots were replaced by subdivisions, the tract, officially dubbed Rancho Verde by Eichler Homes when built, retains a special feeling because of its greenery. The trees -- redwoods, oaks, black walnut, and more -- provide shade, a sense of peace, and privacy for the glass-walled homes.

But that too has been chipping away as once open, or half-open parcels have been filled with high-density housing. Last year, neighbors took a stand when a four-acre, park-like site occupied by a church was slated to be crammed with 42 two-story houses. "The word 'shoe-horned' comes to mind," says neighbor Jan Scicinski.

The battle proved to be something of a triumph for the neighborhood, with the city of Sunnyvale turning the 70-home subdivision, and a portion of the former church property, into a 'single-story overlay' district. That means no homes in the Eichler tract can add on second-story additions -- and homes on the portion of the church parcel closest to the Eichlers cannot be more than a single story.

But the triumph did not, alas, protect the trees on the church parcel. Scicinski, who used to drive out of his way on his way home to enjoy the trees that once graced the site, misses them deeply. And when fellow neighbor Pat Shea drove home after they were gone, he says, "I almost missed the turn the first time because the trees were down."

Still, Rancho Verde (today neighbors call it either Fairbrae 5, since it was one of several Fairbrae additions developed nearby by Eichler, or call it nothing at all) is definitely on a roll. The neighborhood, always a friendly place, is becoming more so because of friendships forged during the year-and-a-half effort to protect its privacy.

"The whole process of rezoning the neighborhood definitely brought our neighborhood closer together," says Suzanne Shea, Pat's wife and a leader of the rezoning effort whose backyard faces the church property. "Many friendships were strengthened and many new ones were formed."

"The friendships got so close," says Pat, "that they trusted us with their dog when they went out of town," referring to Jan Scicinski and Anna Scicinska and what Jan calls their "sofa hound."

And the neighborhood, where children once flourished, then became virtually extinct, is again filled with playpens and strollers as a younger generation of families moves in -- driven, often enough, by the same motivation that sent original owners here. It is a wonderful modern neighborhood near high-tech jobs and good schools -- with home prices several notches lower than similar Eichlers in Palo Alto.

The battle started when neighbors whose houses bordered the church property got wind of the proposed development. "We noticed surveyors on the lot in late August 2006 and called the city to find out if there had been a planning application," Suzanne says. "There had been."

The proposed homes would have looked directly into the backyards of 21 neighbors. Fear spread through the entire neighborhood, not just those immediately affected. "I thought it was going to change the entire character of the neighborhood," Rancho Verde owner Glenn Hendricks says. "Ohmigod," Suzanne thought, "we do need to get on this!"

About 15 years earlier, a similar high-density 'infill' project was built next to a group of Eichlers a few blocks away, replacing an orchard that had surrounded the landmark 1870s Briggs-Stellings house. "The Eichlers were all ruined by it," says Suzanne.

The neighbors' first plan was to buy a strip of land between their homes and the development from the church. But the church wouldn't agree. But there was one hope. Seven years before, the city had created its first single-story overlay zone -- coincidentally, perhaps, also in an Eichler neighborhood. The issue on Wright Avenue wasn't a new development. Residents demanded help after an Eichler was demolished and replaced with a two-story monster.

In creating the zone, the city also created an overlay zoning that could be applied to other neighborhoods -- as needed and at the discretion of the city. But success in winning the overlay was far from assured.

The Sheas, Joe Conley, Kathy McGuire, Chaoyang and Li Li Zheng, and other volunteers needed to convince 55 percent of the neighborhood to back the single-story overlay. They needed to raise nearly $15,000 for the filing fee. They had to win over planning staff, the planning commission, and the city council.

"It was remarkably easy to build community support," Suzanne says. "Folks were so supportive." Eighty percent of the Eichlers signed a petition in favor, and no one in the neighborhood fought the plan. And, says Suzanne, "a very significant fraction" of neighbors ponied up for the filing fee.

They never did win over the planning staff, which argued that Sunnyvale needed more housing, and pushed that high-density was the way to go. Planning staff suggested that clever placement of windows could preserve privacy in the Eichlers.

But neighbors did better with planning commissioners and council members, thanks to well-organized presentations that made clear how Eichlers differ from standard ranches thanks to their walls of glass.

One slide at their presentation showed Joe Conley and family at home during an evening, just as residents of the new homes would view them. Joe was holding a pizza and waving through the glass at his new, voyeuristic neighbors. "That was really a knockout picture," says Suzanne Mills, Suzanne Shea's mother.

What clinched it, Pat Shea says, was a compromise proposed at a meeting by planning commissioner Laura Babcock. Impose the single-story zone on all the Eichler homes, but only on a portion of the new homes. "It was the fact that the planning commission came up with a compromise that got the ball rolling," he says.

Not everyone agrees. "I thought it was a bad deal," says neighbor Glenn Hendricks, who is a member of the city's personnel board and is hoping to land a spot on the planning commission. He says the result will be a "canyon effect" caused by tall houses on one of the streets leading to the neighborhood. Hendricks, who grew up in a nearby Eichler neighborhood, remembers when the landscape was rural and "85 percent of the houses had kids."

Rob Ward, Chuck and Patty's son, says Rancho Verde began as an enclave of young families -- aerospace engineers, scientists, and young retired military with second-careers at Fairchild Semiconductor or Lockheed.

Jack Worstel, an architect who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, points to a collectable Harry Bertoia rocker by his fireplace. "Jeannine used to rock all of our kids in that chair," he says of his wife. They raised four. "We've had a couple of new buckets," Jeannine adds, referring to the upholstery covering on the wire mesh chair.

"Growing up here was incredible," Rob Ward says. The neighborhood had 125 kids, who could play in the orchard, swim in water tanks, and camp out by Stevens Creek before Highway 85 destroyed its ambiance. Their parents enjoyed life there too, Patty says. "It was a very big party neighborhood," she says.

In many ways, things haven't changed in the neighborhood. Sidney Bernstein, an aero-mechanical engineer, says their Eichler in Sunnyvale cost $10,000 less than an identical model in Palo Alto when they bought it in 1962. When Paul Parker and Art Esperanza bought their home in 2000, they too had shopped Palo Alto first -- where the price differential had risen to $200,000.

It remains a sociable neighborhood as well, with folks often chatting in the early evening while pushing strollers or walking dogs. Delicatessens, restaurants, and shops at a nearby strip shopping center make the neighborhood walkable, Parker says.

"It's a very family-oriented neighborhood," says Nil Erdal, a Coldwell Banker broker who specializes in Eichler homes in the area, and has brought many new families to the neighborhood. "People bike ride, they stroll, they walk to the nearby shopping area. And they get together to talk, a lot. Everybody knows each other and are very friendly."

The neighborhood has always been desirable, but has gotten even more so, Erdal says. A decade ago, Eichler homes generally sold for less than neighboring homes. Today, she says, they sell for more. And the buyers, she says, invariably "want to do things in the right way. I never sold a property in that neighborhood to someone who bought it not appreciating the Eichlers."

Neighborhood parties still enliven the scene, particularly on the Sheas' stretch of Trenton Avenue. "People say, 'you guys on the other end of Trenton are the real party animals,'" Suzanne says, attributing their Christmas-time get-togethers and summer barbecues to traditions established years back by earlier residents.

J.P. Ahopelto, who moved to the neighborhood in 2005 with his wife, Nina Hutteger, says they fell in love with Eichler homes in 2000 and were determined to live in one. "We finally got our Eichler," he says. The couple, native to Finland who have two young sons, enjoy the neighborhood parties, including an annual barbecue.

Socializing can be a challenge, however, says Gunsu Temirer, who runs a software firm with her husband Metim Ozen. "For business purposes, we love the location," she says. "You're close to pretty much every big company you could want." But the culture of Silicon Valley enforces long hours, so the couple rarely hangs out with neighbors.

"To give you an example, when I was pregnant with my son, my next-door neighbor was also pregnant. We had our children three days apart," Temirer says. "But we only found out when our husbands were out pushing the strollers. 'When did you have a baby?' 'When did you have a baby?' "

As in many modern neighborhoods, folks often discuss their houses. Rancho Verde, built in 1961 and 1962, is a mix of low-gable and flat-roofed models, and a few A-frames, virtually all with atriums. The architects behind the designs are Claude Oakland and Jones & Emmons. The neighborhood is remarkably intact, at least from the street, with unruly replacement doors being about the worst changes that can be spotted, in Roberta Bernstein's eyes.

Only one house has added a second-story addition -- the one overlooking Jack and Jeannine Worstel's. But Jack Worstel says the impact is minimal because the addition faces them with "basically a blank wall."

Unlike some subdivisions, Rancho Verde is not rife with Eichler purists, Anna Scicinska says -- though many homes are remarkably intact inside and out. Instead, she says, owners make "a conscious effort to modernize while keeping it tasteful."

Parker and Esperanza's home, with its white beams and ceiling, sunny beige walls, slate tile floor, and minimal furnishings, exemplifies the trend. "We don't like clutter, as you can probably tell," Parker says. About the makeover, he says, "We do get good reviews."

But what makes neighbors happiest is the resurgence of young families -- who seem to pore in from every corner of the globe.

"Just among neighbors we know best, there are people from Belgium, China, the Netherlands, India, Korea, the UK, Israel, Switzerland, the Philippines, Finland, Thailand, Turkey and of course several from California and other parts of the U.S.," Suzanne Shea says. "There is also a complete spectrum of age ranges, from original owners in their 70s to late 80s to young families with toddlers."

"Interestingly," she adds, "people here are diverse in just about everything but livelihood. Most people here are scientists, mathematicians, engineers, architects, technical managers, and technical entrepreneurs."

At a recent birthday party for her daughter, Tanya Nigam and Peter Peuman hosted mothers and fathers from Finland, Germany, and China. Almost all were from the immediate Eichler neighborhood. Tanya herself is from India. Gunsu Temirer and Metim Ozen are natives of Turkey.

Wieland Holfelder, who's from Germany, says it's challenging being a continent away from his family. But his neighbors help. "Chuck and Patty," he says of the Wards, "are like our children's grandparents."

Photos: David Toerge; vintage photo courtesy Chuck & Patty Ward

• Rancho Verde is bordered on three sides by Mary Avenue, Ticonderoga Drive, and Pome Avenue; and to the south by a commercial area, another residential development, and the new development that border Fremont Avenue.

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