The Sunnyvale condo market is, in a word, tight. Easy light rail and BART access allow for quick transportation in and around the city, especially into San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area, and Sunnyvale has become a real hub for tech workers. This has done a number on the condo market, limiting availability—and limiting space. Most of the condos in Sunnyvale are in the 1,100 sq ft range. In fact, despite some big 1,600-footers being built, the average actually dropped below 1,100 this year.

A couple of weeks ago, I was having dinner with some friends when the topic of Eichler homes came up. These are beautiful houses, with a Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced High Modern feel, but they’re still very livable and quintessentially Californian. Sunnyvale alone has several neighborhoods made up of almost nothing but Eichlers—one of the largest concentrations in both California and the country. And people love them. There are sites dedicated to finding Eichlers for sale or to showing off pictures of their unique and beautiful look.