Rare mid-century modern home drew 150,000 gawkers in ‘56. Now, it can be yours
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- Rare 1956 Eichler X-100, steel-framed experimental home, listed for $4.5M.
- Designers Jones and Emmons showcased glass walls, indoor gardens and prototype tech.
- House drew 150,000 visitors at opening and sustained national media attention.
In the hills of the San Francisco Peninsula, a rare steel-framed Eichler home — one that was built in the 1950s to stop people in their tracks — is back in the spotlight.
The one-of-a-kind Eichler X-100, an experimental “steel house of the future” built in San Mateo, is on the market for $4.5 million.
Joseph Eichler, an iconic midcentury modern real estate developer whose Sacramento legacy can be found in the small Eichler tract in South Land Park — now a protected historic district — commissioned the home in 1956. Architects A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons designed it.
In a world where most Eichlers are known for post-and-beam warmth, this one went full space-age: a modernist glass-and-steel statement intended as the ultimate showpiece for Eichler’s San Mateo development called the Highlands. And it worked. When the X-100 opened to the public for three months beginning October 6, 1956, a jaw-dropping crowd of an estimated 150,000 people toured the home.
A modern attraction
This wasn’t just a model house — it was a midcentury modern super attraction, the kind of place you’d visit, like a fair exhibit, to get a glimpse at a future that felt both sleek and strangely attainable.
“The Eichler X-100 is pure ’House of Tomorrow’ mid-century modern—a bold mash-up of Case Study House modernisn, Eichler’s signature glass-walled indoor/outdoor living, and a futuristic 1950s optimism about technology,” Compass listing agent Eric Boyenga said in an email.
“Steel framing, open atriums, skylights and prototype gadgets gave it a space-age, experimental vibe, while (landscaper Douglas) Baylis’s gardens and Herman Miller interiors grounded it in warm, livable modern design,” she said.
Eichler didn’t dabble on this one. He pushed the steel-frame experiment hard, filling the house with, for its time, advanced ideas and gadgets.
There are built-ins and skylights, 32 feet of sky domes that pour daylight into the interiors and prototype tech meant to make daily life feel newly modern — an intercom/radio system, a garbage “pulverator,” a black dishwasher believed to incorporate five years of research and double ovens with advanced controls.
The whole concept carried a distinctly postwar confidence: the belief that design plus technology could make a better, brighter everyday life. Even the house’s showpiece feature sounds like it was dreamed up for a magazine spread: a rotating, conical fireplace (now stationary) positioned as a futuristic centerpiece in one of the courtyards.
Bringing outdoors inside
The X-100 doesn’t just borrow nature through a picture window. It brings it inside. Two indoor gardens—the “entry garden” and the “game garden”— act like green rooms within the architecture, reinforcing the classic Eichler indoor/outdoor ideal while leaning into Jones and Emmons’ more experimental modernism. The house’s underfloor radiant heating system even extends to outdoor garden pads.
Glass walls frame landscaping and mountain views toward the Santa Cruz Mountains, creating a signature Eichler sensation: sheltered living that is never cut off from what’s outside.
The interiors were styled to match the concept. Early on, the home featured Herman Miller furniture, accessories from Gump’s, and décor by Knorr & Associates — a specific and tasty cocktail of midcentury California sophistication.
There are also playful, family-forward touches, including a children’s play yard with direct access from bedrooms, designed to blend safety and fun without sacrificing the clean modern lines.
Over the years, the X-100 has been carefully handled. Lucile Glessner (interiors) and J.C. Miller (landscape) led sensitive restorations that preserved the home’s indoor gardens, views and high-style mid-century modern vibe.
The house’s cultural footprint is almost as striking as its steel bones.
“The Eichler X-100 has been widely featured in the press since its debut in 1956,” Boyenga said. “It appeared in “Life,’ “Popular Science”, “Sunset,” “Arts & Architecture” and “Living for Young Homemakers”, and was even showcased in a Universal-International newsreel. More recently, it has been profiled in outlets like “Eichler Network,” “Bungalow Journal,” and ASLA publications, highlighting its experimental steel design and lasting influence on mid-century modern architecture.”
The X-100 was the last steel house Eichler built, according to the home’s history on the property’s official website. The public may not have been ready for his vision of the future. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016, and underwent two years of restoration.
Jesper Petersen bought house from Eichler in 1957 for $47,000, a large sum at the time considering the $18,000 model of conventional construction next door, according to the historical report.
After gaining national attention, X-100 influenced the future of modern residential design and shaped California Modernism style, Boyenga said.
“This is a true collector-grade property ideal for design enthusiasts, historians, and those seeking a singular living experience,” she said on the Compass property listing website.
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 12:23 PM.
