PHOTOS OF HOMES IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
THEN - and - NOW
This page brought to you by the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association ... www.bvnasj.org

Last Update 10/10/07

In this day and age, photographs are taken of house all the time -- for real estate sales, for neighborhood websites, for appraisals, etc. Houses were photographed less often 30-100 years ago. If you had a camera at all, you took photographs of your family, not your house. In spite of that, I was able to find a few photographs of homes in San Jose. Some of them were taken in the 1930s. Others are merely 20 years old (although the houses themselves are much older).

These are houses that have stood the test of time. Most of them are in downtown San Jose, but there a few from Willow Glen and the Rose Garden area. I'll add more as I find them. If you have an old photo of a home in San Jose that is still standing, send it to me and I'll get the "now" photo and add it to this collection.

All of the "Now" photos were taken by me in 2007. The "Then" photos come from a variety of sources.

The photo of the Naglee Mansion on the left was taken in 1902 but the house was built in 1892 by General Naglee's sister, Mary Naglee Burk. General Naglee's two daughters decided to turn his estate into the housing development now known as Naglee Park. The house still stands at the corner of 14th Street and San Fernando, missing a lot of its ornamental woodwork, and is now an apartment house. (SJHD)
Sometimes it is not the mansion of the wealthy that survives. Sometimes it is a lowly duplex. On the left is one built in 1885 with a very unusual piece of architectural design -- sub-street-level garages. It has survived, albeit with stucco over the wood shingles, concrete steps replacing the original wood, and vinyl windows replacing the original windows (and who knows what else went on inside?). But it has survived!   I found the photo on the left in the Box of Ghosts (SJHM).
276 North Third Street was perhaps originally a single family home, now broken into apartments. (Balunis)
A beautifully maintained and/or restored mansion at 435 North Third (CFBB)
279 San Fernando has been a duplex and apartments, and is now a fraternity house north of San Jose State University. (Balunis)
An early San Jose hotel was the Hotel Dorchester at the corner of Seventh and San Fernando. Today it's the Beta Theta Pi fraternity on the northern boundary of San Jose State University's campus. The tower looming in the background is City Hall. (SJHM)
415 North Fifth Street was once a single family home and, judging from the mail box collection in front, is now apartments. (Balunis)
New landscaping and an eye-popping paint job transform this house at 432 North 5th Street (Balunis)
It looks like this house at 489 North Fourth Street had fallen on hard times in 1985. Someone came along and restored it beautifully. (Balunis)
In 1985, 490 North Fifth Street looked pretty neglected, or at least well-used. Another treasure restored! (Balunis)
Just down the street, at 496 North Fifth is this home. Didn't look too bad thirty years ago either! (Balunis)
This was a bit tricky to photograph because of the new landscaping but this is a home at 530 South Sixth Street, one that didn't get replaced by a big ugly apartment building to serve the students of San Jose State! (Balunis)
The house at 198 North 12th Street has an interesting history. It was originally built at 535 E. Santa Clara Street but was moved to this location in 1947 to make way for the Starlite Drive-in Restaurant. It was originally a single-story home, but a former owner opened up the attic space and put in additional bedrooms. The balcony in front was also removed. Too bad the trees block so much of the view.
This building at 408 S. Eighth Street was built in 19818. It is at the edge of the southern boundary of San Jose State University and has someone survived. While homes around it have been converted to concrete boxy apartment building (see Box of Ghosts for examples), this one still stand, albeit modified. (CFBB)
This 2 bedroom-1 bath house at 898 South Second Street was built in 1905 and stands today. It appears unaltered except for the paint job. (CFBB)
A pair of houses at 96 North Sixth Street have not changed much except for paint and landscaping.(Balunis)
This home on the northeast corner of Empire and 4th is on the historic registry. What a beauty! (MLK)
In 1904, this lovely single-family home was built at 664 South Eighth Street. Today, it's divided into apartments. There were two trees planted out front and one appears to have survived. According to the description in George Espinola's book, that is a hitching post between the trees! (CFBB)
This was in the Box of Ghosts, a house that may have been slated for demolition that somehow survived. It's at 385 South Fifteenth Street in the Naglee Park area of San Jose. (SJHM)
This house is another house from the Box of Ghosts. It may been scheduled to fall to the wrecking ball when 280 was created. The restorer has add some decorative trim, siding, and paint. Nice job! (SJHM)
Another from the Box of Ghosts. At 759 South Third there was a lovely home. According to the records I found it was built in 1890! When I first took this picture in August 2007, the house looked like it could use some TLC. I happened to drive by in early October and it looked it like was actually getting some -- painting being done and landscaping was being trimmed. I will keep an eye on it and update the photo again in a month or two. (SJHM)
From the Box of Ghosts, this one at 1035 Taylor Street. This is close to the Taylor Street overcrossing at Highway 101, and may have been scheduled for demolition for that structure. Some plans were changed and the house was spared. Whew!   (SJHM)
This bungalow is in Willow Glen at 1231 Minnesota. Another survivor! (OWG)
Another survivor in Willow Glen, this one at 1119 Meredith Street, just off Lincoln Avenue. It was built in 1865 approximately where the Garden Theater is today, and moved in 1926 to its present location. It appears to have changed very little. At one time it had been broken up into apartments, but appears to be a single family home again. A substantial hedge on the righth side prevented getting a better angle. (OWG)
A home in The Rosegarden designed by Wolfe & McKenzie, taken from George Espinola book. The home recently got a new paint job. There are hundreds of homes in this area of San Jose that were built between 1910 and 1930, fine examples of the style and craftsmanship of that time period. (CFBB)
This Craftsman-style bunga-mansion (5 bedrooms, a "smoking room," and a huge "billards hall") was built in 1906 at 1794 The Alameda and it stands today, home to DeMattei Construction, which I assume is responsible for the restoration. It's missing that wrap-around front porch and massive balcony, but is still mighty impressive. (CFBB)

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