Rare East Coast Eichler home asking $490K shows off its unique modern design with new interior photos

The single-floor house at 130 Grotke Road in Chestnut Ridge, NY really is, as the listing boasts, a “unique home straight out of the pages of CA Modern Magazine.” 6sqft previously covered the home–one of a trio of East Coast Eichlers; the four-plus-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot 1962 slate gray beauty is on the market for $489,900. Joseph L. Eichler, whose modernist tract homes can be found throughout Northern California as well as the Greater Los Angeles area, was one of the most prolific residential homebuilders of the mid-20th century. Today, his homes are “collected” by modern design buffs for their ahead-of-their-time design and anti-McMansion cachet.

This bit of Palm Springs in Rockland County has been lovingly improved throughout the years, though there’s still room for improvement. Now, new interior photos reveal a stylish and livable home with a fabulous architectural history, ready for years of enjoyment.

The home, designed by favored Eichler architects Jones & Emmons, has the signature walls of windows, double A-frame roof and open interior atrium that the current homeowner likens to “a snow globe that comes alive in the middle of your house.”

A light-filled family room is highlighted by a warm brick wall, a wood-burning fireplace, exposed beams and clerestory windows.

The formal dining room is an impressive modern space with glass walls that overlook the home’s back yard. A tidy eat-in-kitchen somehow resembles a modern kitchen in 1962 as much as it does a pricey Henrybuilt kitchen in a newly-minted Manhattan loft.

Five good-sized bedrooms join two newly remodeled bathrooms. The home also features radiant floor heat (currently considered a top “green” choice, standard in Eichler homes), ductless air conditioning and plenty of closets.

Between 1949 and 1974, Eichler’s company built 11,000 homes—more than any other US tract home developer. His insistence on quality for middle-class housing was unrivaled in that era. Eichler homes received countless design awards. Using many locally-sourced materials and with an eye for natural beauty and modernist design—one of his biggest inspirations was a Frank Lloyd Wright “Usonian” house he’d rented—enclaves of Eichler’s homes sprung up in places like San Mateo, Walnut Creek, Sacramento, Marin County and Palo Alto. In the 21st century, along with similar “California Modern” homes in places like Palm Springs, CA, California’s diminutive Eichlers command prices in the million dollar range and up.

Here in Ramapo, NY, Chestnut Ridge design buffs–who love living in an Eichler neighborhood for much the same reason their West Coast counterparts do—find resources to renovate the sometimes-challenging structures on resource websites for Eichler fans, sharing knowledge and collaborating on restoration efforts, restoring interiors to accommodate modern life while preserving the architecture.

[Listing: 130 Grotke Road by Coldwell Banker Residential]

• One of Only Three East Coast Joseph Eichler Homes Is Selling for $490K
• Modern-Spotting: The Lost Eichlers of Rockland County, NY
• Innovative 1931 Long Island ‘Skyscraper House’ Was Built by the Father of Palm Springs Modern
• Mad for Modern: NYC Homes That Are Cooler Than Don Draper’s Park Avenue Pad

Images courtesy of Coldwell Banker.