Qualla: X-100 (house)

X-100 (house): Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yngvadottir, CC BY-SA 4.0. The X-100 was named after a spaceship. Or at least, its name may have been derived from the X-15, the crewed space project that represented the cutting edge of American ambition in the mid-1950s. The house itself embodied a similar optimism: an experimental steel-frame residence designed by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons for Eichler Homes, built in 1956 at the San Mateo Highlands development to prove that tract houses could be modern, affordable, and made of steel instead of wood. It was the future, prefabricated and delivered.

Read more: X-100 (house) on Qualla

Image: Yngvadottir | CC BY-SA 4.0

X-100 (house): Eichler's Bet on Steel

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yngvadottir, CC BY-SA 4.0. Joseph Eichler founded Eichler Homes to bring modernist architecture to the suburban masses during the postwar California building boom. His developments used architect-designed houses -- initially by Anshen and Allen, later by Jones and Emmons -- that were built cheaply enough t...

Read more: X-100 (house) on Qualla

Image: Yngvadottir | CC BY-SA 4.0

X-100 (house): Glass Walls and Prototype Appliances

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yngvadottir, CC BY-SA 4.0. The house has three bedrooms, two living rooms, and a kitchen arranged around the perimeter, with a central utility core containing bathrooms and laundry. The thin steel supports and glass sliding doors along the entire rear facade create a sense of openness that timber construct...

Read more: X-100 (house) on Qualla

Image: Yngvadottir | CC BY-SA 4.0

X-100 (house): From $60,000 to National Register

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yngvadottir, CC BY-SA 4.0. Eichler sold the X-100 for $60,000 to Jesper Petersen, a furniture importer. The house changed hands several times before a group called X-100 Partners acquired it. One of the partners, Marty Arbunich, director of the Eichler Network, restored the house and became sole owner in 2...

Read more: X-100 (house) on Qualla

Image: Yngvadottir | CC BY-SA 4.0