October 3, 2005

Historical Haven

Palm Haven opens doors for the fourth annual home tour

By Carol Rosen
Editor

For the fourth year in a row, historic Palm Haven opened a few of its doors for a home tour and to raise money to complete its restoration.

Larry and Liv Ames, left and right, talk with Rosemarie Delson before she takes them on a tour. Delson is vice president of the Palm Haven Restoration Committee and Larry Ames is on the board of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association.

But this year, a special evening tour took place on Sept. 10, the night before the regular home tour. This year’s theme was 1927, just prior to the election to merge Willow Glen into San Jose.

Docents were dressed in period costume and took small groups to each home in the neighborhood. They discussed the homes and the people of that era. The vintage cars, which have always been present for Palm Haven home tours, drove throughout the neighborhood honking at the various groups. Some of the visitors were lucky enough to get rides.

The tour ended with a dinner party. Guests at the party were entertained by Tanaora, a local Brazilian jazz band.

The next day, the annual Palm Haven homes tour took place, and this too featured a new addition. The Arts Guild of Willow Glen opened a many-faceted booth attracting many of the visitors. Other booths included an historical booth, plus people selling key rings of the remodeled pillars placed at various places around the “neighborhood within the neighborhood.”

As has been the custom for the past four years, a Dixieland band played and antique cars drove around the neighborhood tooting their horns.

The Palm Haven area includes homes built as early as 1913 and as late as the 1930s and 40s. The area bounded by Bird and Coe is considered a neighborhood within the neighborhood of Willow Glen. It is tied together by palm trees along its streets. One of the streets, Palm Haven Avenue is like a boulevard, with a grassy median planted with palm trees ending at a park-like plaza.

Many guests took advantage of the beautiful Palm Haven scenic views.

Palm Haven was established in March 1913 as a small residential park on the southern edge of San Jose. In its early days, it attracted some of San Jose’s leading professionals business leaders and politicians. All of the homes were architect-specific in order to unify the neighborhood.

Most of the area’s homes are still occupied today, although many have been remodeled, but continued to keep the architect-specific influence. The neighborhood survived the changes that came with suburban growth and the huge economic swings periodically hitting San Jose and its residents.

The most visible reminder of the Palm Haven is its trees. The grand palms are nearly 100 years old. If they could talk, they would tell us all about the rich and exciting history of living in this area.

The trees are the largest coordinated design and planting of trees on San Jose’s heritage Tree List. There are more trees in Palm Haven than on the entire San Jose Heritage List.

Among the homes on this year’s tour was one at 828 Clintonia Ave. This house, which was remodeled in 1998, began as a two-bedroom. It is now a two-story home with bedrooms on the second level and the public spaces on the first floor. On the outside, the home appears to be Craftsman with eave brackets and tapered window trim.

A Dixieland jazz band played for the crowd who came out to enjoy home tours, art displays and antique cars in the Palm Haven neighborhood. Photo by Julie Davis Berry

The house at 846 Plaza Drive was built around 1920 for John M. Charles. It is currently owned by Michael Borbely, head of the Restoration Committee. Apparently Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Burley Griffin and other architects of the time influenced the architecture. It has a low-slung roof with wide horizontal eaves typical of Wright’s influence. While keeping the 1920s style, the home has been remodeled to reflect today’s needs; it is solar powered and contains high efficiency appliances.

Palm Haven residents formed the Palm Haven Restoration Committee in 2002. Its mission is to restore and preserve the public places and installations that exist in the Palm Haven Historic Conservation Area as defined by the city of San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission. It also continues to build a sense of community by encouraging neighborhood involvement in the care and preservation of its public resources. At the same time, the committee hopes to educate local citizens on those resources and the importance of their relationship to the conservation areas.

For more information, and an in depth history of Palm Haven, visit the group’s Web site at www.palmhaven.info.