Sometimes newcomers to Silicon Valley strongly prefer older homes, such as Victorians, Craftsman, or other distinctive architectural styles, preferably surrounded by homes of the same vintage.  Most of the valley is filled with ranch style housing, but there are quite a few neighborhoods which enjoy historic home which exude tons of charm.  Where to find them?

San Jose’s historic homes

San Jose is a large city (10th largest in the United States, almost 1 million residents) and very spread out with a wide diversity of neighborhoods.  Here are a few to consider for classic, older properties:

In central San Jose there are quite a few areas to check out:

(1) Downtown San Jose generally, but within that area
Naglee Park
Japantown
Vendome areas
(2) the Shasta-Hanchett neighborhood
(3) the Rosegarden area (close to Shasta Hanchett, both in “central San Jose”)
(4) Alum Rock in east San Jose – up into the foothills there are lovely, older Spanish style homes
(5) Willow Glen – close to downtown SJ, features all sorts of architectural styes, from mid-century modern to Spanish, Victorian, Tudor – you name it. Within Willow Glen, The Palm Haven neighborhood has the added charm of so many palm trees (very visible when flying into the San Jose airport)

There are many more scattered throughout San Jose and nearby suburbs, even in places like Cambrian Park or Almaden (away from the old mercury mining area), where it seems all the houses were built from the 1950s to the 1980s.  When we see a hundred year old house in this area, it’s very likely that it used to be the house on a large ranch, orchard or farm.

Los Gatos

The town of Los Gatos is far smaller than neighboring San Jose, but has a great assortment of historic districts that are beautifully maintained and tastefully updated, most of them right in downtown.  I’ve written about these on my Live in Los Gatos blog, so here are a few links to those neighborhood posts:

Edelen District

Almond Grove District

Broadway – first subdivision in Los Gatos

Overlook Road

Fairview Plaza

Palo Alto

Palo Alto enjoys some of the most beautiful, gracious older houses in Silicon Valley, particularly the Professorville and Old Palo Alto areas, but others too.  Drive the neighborhoods between Stanford University (El Camino Real) and 101 and you’ll find lots of historic homes to love!  The challenge is affordability, as these are the most expensive historic homes in the region.

There are many more lovely older homes throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties and nearby.  If you enjoy these classic beauties, watch for a series of spring home tours which become available beginning in around March each year.  Most of them will cost a few dollars, with proceeds going to a worthy local charity.  If you’re interested in purchasing an historic property, visit my “search by map” page and enter a “built before” year and then scroll around the valley to see what is available.