The 2,310 square foot steel X-100, called in the Eichler Homes brochure an "Exciting Exploration into Future Living," was designed by A. Quincy Jones, who wanted to continue his experimentation with steel homes. Joe Eichler and his son Ned saw it as a perfect opportunity to get all the businesses that were clamoring for Eichler Homes to use their products to put some of their pre-production prototypes on display.
The Wall Street Journal said, "The thousands of Californians who crowded into this 'home of tomorrow' this week gaped at such innovations as a revolving fireplace, one entire wall of glass, a plastic skylight like a bomber bubble, two indoor gardens, electrically operated sliding doors that replace all windows, and steel-frame construction to eliminate the need for load bearing walls." Local newspapers, as well as nationally distributed magazines like Sunset, Living for Young Homemakers and Arts & Architecture, ran articles about the X-100, which is said to have drawn over 150,000 visitors to the 700-house Highlands development.
The home also boasted such features as a MusiCall intercom radio, Waste-King's "super-hush pulverator" (garbage disposal), an automatic dishwasher and a NuTone five-in-one unit built directly into the countertop for blending, sharpening knives or making juice, as well as rooftop spotlights that eliminated the need for lamps, reversible kitchen cabinet doors (yellow on one side and white on the other) for instant decor changes and an 8'x4' Formica table in the kitchen that slid apart to reveal two burners used to keep food warm during meals.
Though the Eichlers wanted the structure primarily as a promotional tool, it turned out, somewhat as a happy accident, to be an experiment into the technological future of homebuilding.
From eichlernetwork.com and midcenturia.com
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| X-100 kitchen, with pull-apart table revealing a two burner range eamesdesign.com |
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| Interior color scheme of gray with cinnamon beams eichlernetwork.com |
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| X-100 exterior with pool midcenturia.com |
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| Rotating fireplace and interior gardens midcenturia.com |
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| Sales brochure (from Sunset magazine, 1956) about.com |
Let's play an "I Spy" game and see what kind of thread we can get going with the new Blogger feature. I'll start the thread in the comment section below, and we'll see how many of the props we can recognize in the pictures above. The Eichlers got companies to furnish the X-100. How many can we identify?
I love how these photos look like they could have been taken yesterday. Or in 2020. They are just so timelessly fresh and modern. I'd really love to move right in...
ReplyDeleteI agree. It looks more "modern" than most homes built today. With all the interest in mid-century design, I'm surprised that no developer has built a tract of homes similar to the Eichlers. In select cities, I bet the subdivisions would sell out in no time flat.
DeleteI love the burners in the table! How cool is that? Course it could turn out bad if you left the burners on and closed the table... oops. I love the phone on the backsplash too! So convenient! =)
ReplyDeleteUntil you mentioned the phone on the backsplash, I hadn't noticed that kitchen wall phones have gone the way of the dinosaur. In the 60s-80s, everyone had a wall phone in the kitchen. I guess cordless phones and cell phones made them unnecessary.
DeleteThis is just way too much fun! House of my dreams...Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteThere are so many features of this house that would still make people ooooh and aaaah. And yet soulless McMansions continue to appeal to many. The fact that people today prefer big and unimaginative over small and innovative speaks volumes about our society.
DeleteI'd love to have that revolving fireplace or the warming burners under a table. And don't get me started on the indoor gardens!
"I SPY" GAME: How many well-known products or pieces of furniture can you find in the pictures above? Click on Reply to keep the thread going till we've identified everything. I'll start. :)
ReplyDeleteI spy a piece of yellow DANSK KOBENSTYLE COOKWARE on one of the warming burners between the sections of the pull-apart table. Your turn to be observant!
DeleteEverything is fair game...appliances, dinnerware, furniture. Have fun!
I spy a ton but I'll just identify the Nelson Coconut Chair and Marshmallow Sofa. (Thanks Irving Harper!)
DeleteYes, let's hear it for Irving Harper! The guy worked for the likes of Gilbert Rohde, Raymond Loewy, and Jack Lenor Larsen, and he designed a ton of the stuff George Nelson gets credit for...but still isn't the household name he deserves to be.
DeleteI spy a place I'd love to spy in person! And a lot of things I'd probably buy today if I ran across them. Does that count?
DeleteI love enterior shots of Eichlers!
ReplyDeleteI spy what I believe is some white Cromecraft chairs around that kitchen table with the yellow Dansk pot. And I think there's a brutalist style light fixture hanging from the ceiling in the 3rd photo with the pool but I can't tell you the maker. The picture's small & my eye-sight isn't all that great.
Does this house still exist today?
ReplyDeleteAccording to an article on eichlernetwork.com:
DeleteLongtime owner Anna-Lise Pedersen sadly passed away in January 2003. Shortly afterwards, in July 2003, the X-100 was sold to a preservation-minded group, including Eichler Network director Marty Arbunich, preservationist Adriene Biondo, and film director John Eng. Eng and Biondo own an Eichler together in Granada hills, in Southern California. The new owners plan to restore the X-100 and convert it into an exhibition house.