Midday — the quiet street face
An Eichler turns a near-blank wall and a carport to the road. Privacy up front is exactly what lets the back of the house open up completely.
San Jose, California
The Eichler specialists of Willow Glen.
Eric & Janelle Boyenga have spent nearly three decades buying and selling mid-century modern homes across Silicon Valley. In San Jose that means Fairglen, Fairhaven and Rose Glen — post‑and‑beam, radiant slab, walls of glass, and a National Register neighborhood most agents have never set foot in.
The original Property Nerds · Compass
- 1996
- Serving Silicon Valley
- 0
- Homes sold
- $0
- Sales volume
- #0
- Compass team, Silicon Valley
Property Nerds, officially
We read the tract map for fun
Clients started calling us the Property Nerds years ago and it stuck, because it's accurate. In San Jose we know which of Fairglen's thirteen floor plans you're standing in, which streets kept their atriums, why a 1960 radiant slab runs cold in the back bedroom, what a foam-roof recoat costs this year, and how the neighborhood's new design standards treat a street-facing addition. When an original-condition atrium model lists, that detail is the difference between winning it and watching it go.
An Eichler at golden hour
Scroll, and watch the sky set
Late afternoon is when these houses do their best work — the low roofline catches the light, and the glass wall turns the garden into another room. Keep scrolling.
Golden hour — the glass wall lights up
The private side is floor-to-ceiling glass. As the sun drops, the low eaves frame the garden and the whole plan glows from the back.
Dusk — the atrium at its best
On the late Fairglen and Fairhaven models, the open-air atrium pulls the last of the light into the middle of the house. This is the room buyers pay a premium for.
After dark — why people move for these
Post-and-beam ceilings run flat and continuous from the entry straight through the glass. Lit from inside at night, an Eichler reads like a lantern on the block.
Why the Boyengas
Specialists, not generalists
San Jose's Eichlers run on two things: architecture that rewards people who know it, and a preservation-minded community that notices when you don't. We work both.
We know the tracts
Which of Fairglen's thirteen plans you're looking at, which blocks kept their atriums, and how Fairhaven's 57 homes trade.
Renovation judgment
Radiant slabs, foam and tar-and-gravel roofs, single-pane glass, original mahogany — what to keep, what to fix, and who does Eichler work well.
Pricing the Eichler premium
A restored original with its atrium intact can clear 10–20% over list; a deferred-maintenance house won't. We price to the market that's actually bidding.
The design-standards map
Fairglen is drafting enforceable design standards with the city. We know what they mean for an addition, an atrium enclosure or a siding change.
Selling in San Jose
The buyer for your Eichler isn't on the open market yet
San Jose Eichler buyers are specific: a designer who wants an original Claude Oakland plan, a family trading a bigger house for the Willow Glen lifestyle, a mid-century collector who has watched Fairglen for years. A general MLS push never reaches them. Our marketing does — the Eichler Network audience, the modern-home brokers, the client list we've built since 1996.
Pricing built on real Eichler comps, not the nearest four-bedroom. Compass Concierge to get the kitchen, baths and roofline to the standard this buyer expects. Matterport tours for the out-of-area offers that come in non-contingent.
Get a home valuation
Buying in San Jose
Win the right house without overpaying for it
We tour the house with you and read it out loud: the roof's age and type, whether the slab has been opened, original glazing versus retrofit, how sympathetic the last remodel was, and what the neighborhood's design standards will and won't allow you to change.
Then we build the offer. Deep Eichler comp data tells us the number that wins without leaving money on the table past the next bidder. Our network surfaces Compass Private Exclusives in Fairglen and Fairhaven before they reach the open market.
Start your searchThey knew the house before we walked in — the plan number, the roof, the one wall we could legally move. We closed in Fairglen under budget and haven't second-guessed it since. — Willow Glen homeowner, represented by the Boyenga Team
Home valuation
An algorithm can't see the atrium
The things that set a San Jose Eichler's value — an original floor plan versus a rebuild, whether the atrium is intact, the condition of the roof and slab, and which of the tracts it sits in — are exactly the things an automated estimate gets wrong.
Tell us the address and we'll come back with a range and the reasoning behind it, priced by hand against real Eichler sales. No obligation, no drip campaign.
Next step
Thinking about an Eichler in San Jose?
Buying, selling, or just trying to understand what you already own — start with a conversation. No pressure, no obligation.