This weekend, I'm at a working-retreat for my day job at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. It is pretty amazing. Designed by Albert Chase McArthur, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, it's often called "the jewel of the desert"… and I was completely unaware of this space and its history.
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It's summer and the real estate market looks like it's picking up a bit — and I've been getting a few inquiries on Eichlers in Concord. As mentioned in previous posts, we really like Concord for its balance of affordability and livability and the Concord Eichlers are the most affordable out there… presently in the low/mid-400s.
We never thought about moving to Concord but if we had to do it again, we'd do so without hesitation: it's very BART accessible; we have a vibrant, old-school town square; the schools aren't terrible; and, we have decent weather: cool winters and hot summers… more so than the "forever fall" of San Francisco.
We have three Eichler neighborhoods in Concord:
Rancho del Diablo (c. 1963)
Rancho del Diablo is located off of Mendocino Dr. at Phoenix, Sacramento and Wilson streets. We have 3-1/2 blocks of homes: One on Phoenix and Sacramento and 1-1/2 on Wilson. We have three floor plans: 2 atrium models (peaked roof) and 1 non-atrium (flat roof). Wilson can be a bit busy, but overall, it's a quiet neighborhood. We do get foot traffic on Mendocino during school sessions, but kids walking down the street isn't the worse thing ever. I think we know more than half of the folks in the neighborhood either personally or by face/name and we have a fairly vibrant social scene, a website and a Facebook group. The flat-roof model is this one and the 4-bedroom atrium model is our own house.
Rancho de los Santos (c. 1963/64)
Rancho de los Santos is located off of West St. at Salem St. and winds back almost to Mendocino Dr. We used to call this "the annex" before Camila discovered the official name. They share the same school as we do being that they're only a few blocks away. They seem to have very similar models (2 peaked / atrium + 1 flat / non-atrium) in slightly different configurations. The streets are more windy and there are a few cul-de-sacs. West is more trafficked that Mendocino and there are homes along the street. Like Rancho del Diablo, there is a good amount of school-kid foot traffic.
Parkwood Estates (c. 1964)
Parkwood Estates* is in off of Babel Ln. and runs along Merridan, Gainsborough, Lancashire and Barington drives. It's directly adjacent to Concord Community Park, so there's summertime noise and more traffic and street parking that you'd expect on the weekends, but backing up to a big green-space can be nice regardless. The lots of these homes are about 15% larger and the homes are about 10% larger than the above two. I think there are 3 models: an A-frame, a peaked non-atrium and a peaked atrium model… or at least those are the ones we've been in. The 4-bedroom atrium model is this one. The 4-bedroom non-atrium model is this one.
*Thanks to Mary for the name… we called it "Rancho De La Mystery" previously.