For nearly six decades, the midcentury modern home known as the “Green House” in Palo Alto’s Palo Verde neighborhood sat virtually untouched, preserving in time design elements from key figures in California’s modernist movement.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s protégé, Aaron Green, and built by Eichler Homes, the 1966-era home is considered a notable example of Joseph Eichler‘s iconic midcentury work (now known as “Eichlers”) and Wright’s minimalist design principles. Green served as Wright’s West Coast representative starting in 1951 and worked on dozens of Wright’s projects, as well as operating his own practice.
For this project built by Eichler, Green designed a low-slung home with a v-shaped footprint that featured exposed beams, concrete block walls, floor-to-ceiling windows and custom-designed furniture and fixtures made to perfectly fit the space.
Today, the home has been expanded to nearly double its original size to make room for the new owners’ growing family, but it still retains its original architectural identity inside and out. Even the custom furniture has been salvaged and reintegrated into the new design, which was completed in 2024.
CHECK OUT THE HOUSES ON THIS YEAR’S MODERN HOME TOUR: The Modern Architecture + Design Society is holding its annual Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour on Saturday, May 17. This year’s event features self-guided tours of six private homes on the Peninsula and in the South Bay, including this indoor-outdoor Eichler in Palo Alto. Photo by Mariko Reed/courtesy Modern Architecture + Design Society. 
Bay views from every angle: This 2024 modern home in San Carlos features an open concept layout with a fluid indoor-outdoor connection and views of the San Francsico Bay from throughout the space. Photo courtesy Modern Architecture + Design Society. 
Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home: Built in 1952, this Campbell home was renovated in 2024 by Build Smart Solutions. The home features vaulted ceilings, an open floor plan and floor-to-ceiling windows. Photo courtesy Modern Architecture + Design Society. 
New build in Los Altos: This newly built home features one glass walled living, dining and family areas and a two-story masonry entry element. Photo courtesy Modern Architecture + Design Society. 
The ‘Green House’: The kitchen in the newly renovated Palo Alto Eichler features original wood beams and a built-in dining bench. Photo by Ayla Christman/Courtesy Modern Architecture + Design Society. 
A room with a view: This 1960s home in Saratoga was renovated in 2025. Courtesy Modern Architecture + Design Society.
The original home was 1,590 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths on a one-third acre lot. The full remodel, which added about 50% more floor area, included expanding the home by 1,100 square feet, as well as adding a 240-square-foot garage to the property. That newly built square footage was put toward expanding the kids’ bedrooms and adding an office space, laundry room and half-bath.
“Our challenge was to protect the design integrity of the home while adding a substantial amount of space to make the home viable for a young family with three children,” according to Neal Schwartz, founder and principal at Schwartz and Architecture, who steered the expansion project.
During the renovation, the firm adopted Hippocrates’ ancient dictum “First, do no harm,” meaning all design decisions would be made with careful decision on the home’s aesthetic and historical value.
A rare opportunity to tour the home
Now, the public can have a firsthand look at the final results during the annual Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour on Saturday, May 17.
Sponsored by the Modern Architecture + Design Society, the self-guided tour gives the public an opportunity to visit and explore some of the best examples of modern architecture in the area, as well as to talk with the architects, designers and builders who had a part in creating the homes. This year’s tour includes the Green House along with five other private residences on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.
Adding new space in the least disruptive way
One of the key design elements visitors will notice when exploring the home is the low, geometric-shaped roof line, which is supported by concrete drainage scuppers that surround the home’s exterior.
What visitors might not notice, however, is how that roof line was seamlessly expanded over the newly added space.
“Given the spider-like sculptural roof and scuppers of the original, the home already was a complete thought, with no obvious solution of how to add to the composition, let alone double the interior square footage,” the firm said.
The team’s first design move was to head off the existing downward sloping roof beams mid-span and add a small rear addition along the entire length of the house under a new upward-sloping roof. Lifting up the roof added more light into kitchen and bedrooms, while continuing the rhythm of the existing structure and allowing for hidden cove lighting where the original beams once ran, according to Schwartz.
In addition, the original carport at the front of the house was too low for today’s cars and no longer met local code for covered parking, so the team raised the roofline and scupper to create a new carport. They also converted a portion of the area into a new sunken family room, consistent with the home’s midcentury modern vibe.
Taking inspiration from the home’s existing concrete block walls, the team added the primary bedroom suite behind a new board-formed concrete wall with clerestory windows to add continuity between the old and new spaces.
“Any addition had to feel like a natural extension,” according to Schwartz. “The design strategy (was) to let our modern interventions shine but with the mindset of ‘What would Mr. Green do?’
Homes on the 2025 Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ages 10 and over are invited to attend. Find more details about homes and tickets.
