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Hanchett & Hester Park, San Jose Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The City's Hanchett and Hester Park Conservation Area between The Alameda and Park Ave: the old county fairgrounds, laid out in 1907 as Hanchett Residence Park, plus the older Hester Park blocks.
Hanchett & Hester Park by the numbers
hanchett & hester park by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Hanchett & Hester Park: The Alameda, Race St and Park Ave (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in hanchett & hester park · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Hanchett & Hester Park
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Hanchett & Hester Park from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Hanchett & Hester Park: The Alameda, Race St and Park Ave (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Hanchett & Hester Park came to be
Before it was a neighborhood, this was the county fairgrounds. From 1859 to 1901, Agricultural Park covered 76 acres between The Alameda, Race St, Park Ave and Hester Ave, run by the Santa Clara County Agricultural Society as a fairground and public racetrack (a 1979 federal Historic American Buildings Survey report puts the tract at 77 acres). Lewis E. Hanchett, a San Jose mining and street-railway entrepreneur, bought the land in 1905. It was surveyed into house lots in 1906 as Hanchett Residence Park, the map was recorded with the county in December 1906, and lots were advertised that same month.
In 1907 landscape architect John McLaren, the longtime superintendent of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, laid out gently curving streets 80 feet wide and lined them with locust and palm trees, according to the HABS report; the City's heritage-tree record for the 83 Mexican fan palms on Martin Ave also credits his original design. Each street was built with gas, electricity, city water and septic tanks under a gravel and cement-rock roadbed, and every deed carried building restrictions meant to keep commercial building out. Buyers chose a lot and hired an architect to meet Hanchett's standards, and most houses went up between 1915 and 1930.
The blocks west of Hester Ave, around Magnolia Ave, sat outside the fairgrounds and carry the Hester Park name. They are the older half: the City's inventory records houses there from the 1880s and 1890s, including a Stick-style house on Magnolia Ave from about 1890 that is a City Landmark, while dates in the old fairgrounds run mostly from 1910 on. Both tracts joined San Jose in the City's December 8, 1925 annexation, and the City now treats them together as the Hanchett and Hester Park Conservation Area.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The grid runs at the same 45-degree angle as The Alameda. Magnolia, Hester, Shasta, Hanchett and Martin avenues run from Park Ave through to The Alameda; Sierra, Yosemite and Mariposa avenues end at Tillman Ave or Race St; and Tillman Ave and Sequoia Ave run crosswise. Martin Ave and Tillman Ave still carry about 80 feet of right-of-way in the City's street data, against about 60 feet on most side streets, and the palms make Martin Ave easy to find. The racetrack is long gone, but the street widths are a 1907 sales pitch you can still measure.
The City's inventory lists nearly 490 properties in the conservation area, with recorded construction dates clustered between about 1913 and 1925. Where it notes a style, Craftsman and bungalow houses lead, with Spanish Eclectic, Mediterranean Revival, Mission Revival, Prairie and Stick examples. HABS documented a row of five bungalows on the 1200 block of Martin Ave built in 1909-1911 with stucco, cobblestone and shiplap siding, two of them designed by the San Jose firm Wolfe & McKenzie; the City made the row a City Landmark in 2019. Other City Landmark houses stand on Sequoia Ave, Martin Ave and Magnolia Ave.
County parcel data puts the median lot near 6,500 sq ft, with the middle half between about 5,300 and 7,000 sq ft. About 260 parcels are zoned R-1-8 single-family and about 150 are R-2 two-family, mostly on Hester, Magnolia, Shasta, Sierra and Mariposa avenues. The Alameda frontage is commercial and mixed-use, with 1920s storefront buildings, and the City's General Plan maps The Alameda (East) Urban Village along it; Race St has neighborhood-commercial lots and Park Ave has some office zoning.
streets in hanchett & hester park
- Magnolia Ave
- Hester Ave
- Shasta Ave
- Hanchett Ave
- Martin Ave
- Sierra Ave
- Yosemite Ave
- Mariposa Ave
- Tillman Ave
- Sequoia Ave
- The Alameda
- Park Ave
- Race St
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Hanchett & Hester Park
- landmark
Martin Ave palms
The City lists 83 Mexican fan palms on Martin Ave as a heritage-tree group and describes them as part of the neighborhood's original design.
- landmark
Towne Theater
The 1920s theater building at 1433 The Alameda has been a City Landmark since 1994; the City's inventory dates it to 1925.
- shopping
The Alameda storefronts
The Alameda edge is a City neighborhood business district with 1920s buildings, including the Bank of America/Gairaud Realtor building (1926, a City Landmark since 1993), the Hester Public Market building (1926) and the University Drug Company building (1928). The Alameda itself is a City Landmark District.
- park
The Beautiful Way Park
A 0.16-acre City park at 1343 The Alameda, near Hanchett Ave, opened in December 2024.
- park
Municipal Rose Garden and Cahill Park
The Municipal Rose Garden is about 0.75 mile straight-line west at Naglee Ave and Dana Ave, and Cahill Park (about 4 acres) is about 0.55 mile east toward Diridon. City parks data also lists a future park site at 199 Race St, just past the southeast corner.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Hanchett & Hester Park is in San Jose Unified School District. No public school sits inside the conservation area; the nearest San Jose Unified campuses are Hoover Middle School (1635 Park Ave), about 0.4 mile straight-line west, and Trace Elementary (651 Dana Ave) and Lincoln High School (555 Dana Ave), each about 0.6 mile west. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
Getting around
- San Jose Diridon station (Caltrain, ACE, Amtrak Capitol Corridor and the VTA light rail Green Line) is about 0.7 mile straight-line east of the neighborhood's center.
- VTA's Race light rail station is about 0.9 mile straight-line south.
- VTA Rapid 522 stops at The Alameda and Hanchett Ave, route 22 also runs on The Alameda, and route 64B runs on Race St and The Alameda.
- City bikeway data shows bike lanes on Race St and Park Ave.
- I-880 is about a mile straight-line west, reached at The Alameda; I-280 is about a mile straight-line south.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Hanchett & Hester Park: what we check
Buying here
- This is a City Conservation Area, and nearly every house is on the City's Historic Resources Inventory. Before you plan exterior changes, an addition or a teardown, ask the City's Planning Division what review applies; exterior changes to inventory-listed houses can need a Single-Family House Permit or another planning permit with historic review.
- Some houses are individual City Landmarks, and five carry Mills Act contracts in the City's inventory. A Mills Act contract can lower property taxes in exchange for preservation work, runs at least 10 years, renews each year and passes to the new owner, so read it before you buy.
- Check zoning lot by lot: about 150 parcels are R-2 two-family and the rest mostly R-1-8. SB 9 duplex and lot-split rules exclude landmark properties and, under AB 1061 (in effect January 1, 2026), parcels with a contributing structure in a local historic district, so ask the City how that applies here before counting on a split or second home.
- Houses are mostly 95 to 115 years old. Budget inspections for foundations (some early houses here have brick), original wiring, galvanized plumbing and the sewer lateral; the 1907 streets were first built with septic tanks, so confirm how the house connects to the sewer today.
- FEMA maps this area as Zone D (possible but undetermined flood hazard); check the address and ask your lender how it treats Zone D. Lots backing onto The Alameda sit next to The Alameda (East) Urban Village, where the General Plan allows more intensive mixed-use building.
Selling here
- Gather the City inventory record for your address, any landmark resolution or Mills Act contract, and permits for past exterior work; buyers in a conservation area ask early.
- Document original features (porches, cobblestone, shiplap, gable details, built-ins), since they define the house's era and matter for any future historic review.
- Pick comparables from inside the conservation area: the MLS calls these blocks Hanchett Residence Park and also uses a wider Shasta Hanchett Park area that crosses Park Ave.
- If the lot is zoned R-2 or has a permitted second unit, say so and have the permits ready.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Hanchett & Hester Park questions, answered
What is the Hanchett and Hester Park Conservation Area?
A City of San Jose historic designation for the neighborhood between The Alameda, Race St, Park Ave and the rear lot lines west of Magnolia Ave. It covers nearly 490 properties on the City's Historic Resources Inventory. It is not a National Register district; check with the City's Planning Division what review applies to a project.
Who designed Hanchett Park?
Landscape architect John McLaren, superintendent of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, laid out the streets in 1907 for developer Lewis E. Hanchett, according to the Historic American Buildings Survey report on the neighborhood. The City's heritage-tree record for the Martin Ave palms also credits McLaren.
What was here before the houses?
Agricultural Park, the county fairgrounds and public racetrack, from 1859 to 1901. Hanchett bought the land in 1905 and had it surveyed into lots in 1906.
Is Hester Park the same as Hanchett Park?
No. Hester Park is the older set of blocks west of Hester Ave around Magnolia Ave, with houses back to the 1880s and 1890s in the City's inventory; Hanchett Residence Park is the old fairground east of Hester Ave. The City combines them in one conservation area.
Which school district serves Hanchett & Hester Park?
San Jose Unified School District. The nearest campuses are Hoover Middle School, Trace Elementary and Lincoln High School, about 0.4 to 0.6 mile west; boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
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