The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Haven's Guardians: Dozens of palms tower over Palm Haven's historic homes. Developed in 1913, Palm Haven has long been a sought-after neighborhood.

Palm Haven continues to stand out as a community treasure

Historic homes and palm trees set the neighborhood apart

By Cecily Barnes

In the early 1900s, dozens of palm trees were planted on the edge of Willow Glen in a neighborhood that would later become known as Palm Haven. No one knows for sure why the trees were planted or how big they were when they first arrived, but today the thick-trunked trees tower over Palm Haven like giant umbrellas.

"There's a hundred different stories about when and why the palm trees were put in," said 85-year-old Jack Guerra, a native Palm Haven resident. "I wouldn't even begin to tell you one, there are so many different stories."

Today, the trees set Palm Haven apart as one of San Jose's most unusual communities. Palm Haven, which sits between Bird and Coe avenues and the Los Gatos Creek, was built in 1913 by real-estate developer Thomas Herschbach. While living just a few blocks away on Cherry Avenue, Herschbach purchased the land covered with fruit orchards and farmhouses and turned it into a prime residential neighborhood.

Palm Haven wasn't just a good investment, it was a great one. San Jose Real Estate Board member "R.C." Kost says home sales in Palm Haven this year averaged $384,000 compared to $343,000 in Willow Glen and $292,000 in the greater San Jose area.

"There's never a house on sale for more than a week or two weeks," said Mary Herrera, a Palm Haven resident since 1956. "Every time somebody new comes to visit me, they just marvel at the whole area."

Despite the fact that Palm Haven is today considered a part of Willow Glen, it has always been a unique area. The city of San Jose annexed it in 1922, five years before the town of Willow Glen incorporated in 1927.

Palm Haven's looming trees weren't the only feature which set it apart from Willow Glen. Until the 1930s, the neighborhood was blocked off from downtown Willow Glen by Los Gatos Creek, longtime residents recall. Lincoln Avenue ended at what is now Coe Avenue, and Palm Haven residents had to either walk across a foot bridge or drive around.

"If there was anything in the town you needed, you had to walk or go to Race Street and then down Willow," Jack Guerra said. "Lincoln Avenue was not a through street."

Guerra remembers only two stores back in the 1920s in downtown Willow Glen.

"One was the Red and White, a general grocery store on the northeast corner of Lincoln and Minnesota, and then there was another little store in the middle of the block," Guerra recalled. "And then the old firehouse was right across from where La Boulangerie is now."

Many prominent individuals were among the first to live in Palm Haven. Charles Allen, born in 1864, moved to Palm Haven in 1914 from Michigan. He was the president of the San Jose Board of Education in 1937, as well as an editorial writer for the San Jose Mercury Herald.

Louis Dan Bohnett grew up in Campbell before he moved to Palm Haven. Besides being a well-respected attorney in the area, Dan Bohnett was a California state legislator from 1908 to 1914.

Today Palm Haven flaunts dozens of historic houses. Palm Haven homes are included in the Willow Glen Homes Tour each year and in the historical walks on Founders Day. The residents who live there love it.

"From my kitchen window, I can see all the palms in Palm Haven," Mary Herrera said. "It's a beautiful sight."

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