san jose neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Palm Haven, San Jose Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A 1913 residence park beside Lincoln Ave and Los Gatos Creek: palm-lined streets around a plaza, 1910s-20s houses in a City Conservation Area, and the Broadway Ave blocks down to Willow St.
Palm Haven by the numbers
palm haven by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Palm Haven: Riverside Dr, Bird Ave and Coe Ave, plus the Broadway blocks (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in palm haven · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Palm Haven
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Palm Haven 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 (Palm Haven: Riverside Dr, Bird Ave and Coe Ave, plus the Broadway blocks (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Palm Haven came to be
Palm Haven opened in 1913 as a residence park, and a local photo history calls it among the first of the subdivisions that turned The Willows' orchards into house lots. The 130-lot tract came with curving streets, a central plaza, entrance pillars topped with electric lanterns, about 300 Mexican fan palms planted 25 feet apart along the parkways, and architect-designed houses that each had a garage. History San Jose's guide to the Palm Haven Tract Association records credits many of the houses to architect Frank D. Wolfe.
Palm Haven also ran itself for a few years. A 2013 local history says the subdivision incorporated as its own small city in 1917, and the History San Jose guide says property owners were part owners of an incorporated entity that maintained the public spaces, paid for by a tax levy. Palm Haven voted to be annexed to San Jose in 1922, five years before The Willows incorporated as the City of Willow Glen, and the City declared it a Historic Conservation Area in 1987.
The palms are still the main event. The City's heritage-tree list counts 324 Mexican fan palms along the streets and 24 Canary Island palms in the Palm Haven Ave median, all recorded as planted around 1913, plus weeping mulberries and deodar cedars in Palm Haven Plaza. A 2016 photo history puts the fan palms at about 100 feet tall and notes that the entrance pillars were rebuilt, and their lanterns relit, in 2004.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The conservation area is only about a quarter mile across: Palm Haven Ave, Plaza Dr, Clintonia Ave and Hartford Ave inside a loop of Riverside Dr, with Bird Ave on the east and Coe Ave on the south, and Los Gatos Creek just past Riverside Dr. County parcel data counts 120 parcels there, with a median lot of about 6,400 sq ft and the middle half between about 5,600 and 7,200 sq ft.
The City's inventory lists all 120 properties, and about 70 percent of the recorded build years fall in the 1910s and 1920s, with some 1930s houses and a handful from later decades. Styles on record include Prairie, Craftsman, Mission Revival and Spanish/Mediterranean Revival, matching the mix the Preservation Action Council describes. A Prairie-style house on Plaza Dr is an individual City Landmark (designated 2008), and the council's district map shows a c1885 house on the west side that predates the tract.
South of Coe Ave the City's neighborhood map adds Broadway Ave, Broadway Ct, Ramona and Merle avenues, Patricia Way, Chabrant Way, Leona Ct and Iris Gardens Ct, down to Willow St and the Lincoln Ave storefronts. These blocks are outside the conservation area. They hold about 290 parcels on similar-sized lots, River Glen School on Broadway Ave, and a stretch of the Three Creeks Trail that crosses on a diagonal from Coe Ave toward Willow St along an old rail corridor. On Bird Ave the City's inventory lists a row of 1910s-1920s houses and an 1894 Eastlake Victorian that became a City Landmark in 2007.
streets in palm haven
- Palm Haven Ave
- Plaza Dr
- Clintonia Ave
- Hartford Ave
- Riverside Dr
- Coe Ave
- Bird Ave
- Broadway Ave
- Broadway Ct
- Ramona Ave
- Merle Ave
- Patricia Way
- Chabrant Way
- Leona Ct
- Iris Gardens Ct
- Lincoln Ave
- Willow St
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Palm Haven
- park
Palm Haven Plaza
The 0.71-acre landscaped triangle at the center of the tract, kept by the City as an ornamental garden, with heritage weeping mulberries and deodar cedars.
- park
Hummingbird Park
A 0.45-acre pocket park with a tot lot across Bird Ave at Fisk Ave.
- trail
Three Creeks and Los Gatos Creek trails
The Three Creeks Trail runs through the Broadway Ave blocks and, just northwest, crosses Los Gatos Creek on a steel truss bridge to meet the paved Los Gatos Creek Trail.
- shopping
Lincoln Ave business district
The City-mapped business district runs along Lincoln Ave from Coe Ave south past Willow St, so the shops start at the tract's west edge; the Saturday farmers' market at Willow Glen Elementary is about 0.7 mile straight-line south.
- landmark
Roberto-Suñol Adobe
The c1836 adobe and 1847 brick house at 770 Lincoln Ave, a California Historical Landmark and museum, is about 0.3 mile straight-line northwest of the plaza.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census maps put all of Palm Haven in San Jose Unified School District. River Glen School, a San Jose Unified school at 1088 Broadway Ave, is inside the outline, and Willow Glen Elementary on Lincoln Ave and Gardner Elementary on Illinois Ave are each under a mile straight-line away. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
Getting around
- VTA light rail: Race station (Green Line) is about 0.55 mile straight-line from the plaza and Virginia station (Blue Line) about 0.65 mile.
- Caltrain: Diridon station is about 1 mile straight-line north and Tamien station about 0.9 mile east.
- I-280 has ramps at Bird Ave, under half a mile straight-line from the plaza; Highway 87 is reached from Willow St at Lelong St, about a mile east.
- The Three Creeks Trail and Los Gatos Creek Trail start at the edge of the tract, and Lincoln Ave has bike lanes through the business district.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Palm Haven: what we check
Buying here
- North of Coe Ave you are in a City Conservation Area: exterior work that needs a building permit generally also needs a Single-Family House Permit and is reviewed against council-adopted design guidelines. South of Coe Ave, check whether the house itself is on the City's Historic Resources Inventory.
- The street palms, the median palms and the plaza trees are City heritage trees; talk to the City before any driveway, sewer or foundation work near them.
- Houses here date largely from the 1910s-1920s: budget for foundation, sewer-lateral and electrical inspections, and ask before replacing original windows, since that can fall under historic review.
- Check the FEMA flood map for the parcel. The conservation area is mapped Zone D (hazard undetermined), while a corner of the Broadway Ave blocks near Bird Ave and Willow St is in Zone AO, a special flood hazard area.
- Visit on a school-day morning and a Saturday: River Glen School on Broadway Ave and the Lincoln Ave shops both bring traffic to the blocks south of Coe Ave.
Selling here
- Lead with the plaza, the 1913 palms and the conservation-area status, and include the City inventory record for the house.
- Gather past historic and building permits so buyers can see which changes were already approved.
- List the original features that survive, such as windows, built-ins and the garage, along with any approved changes.
- Put real walking times in the listing: Lincoln Ave, the creek trails and the light rail stations are all close.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Palm Haven questions, answered
Where exactly is Palm Haven?
At the north end of Willow Glen's Lincoln Ave. The conservation area is Riverside Dr, Bird Ave and Coe Ave around Palm Haven Ave and Plaza Dr. The City's neighborhood map also includes the Broadway Ave blocks south to Willow St.
Was Palm Haven really its own city?
Briefly. A local history says it incorporated in 1917, and owners shared in an entity that maintained the public spaces. It voted to join San Jose in 1922.
Are the palm trees protected?
The City lists 324 Mexican fan palms and 24 Canary Island palms here as heritage trees, recorded as planted around 1913, along with trees in Palm Haven Plaza.
Can I remodel a house in Palm Haven?
Yes, with review. In the conservation area, exterior work that needs a building permit generally also needs a Single-Family House Permit. Talk to City Planning before you design.
Which school district serves Palm Haven?
San Jose Unified School District. River Glen School is on Broadway Ave inside the area; confirm the address with the district, since attendance boundaries change.
next door
More San Jose neighborhood guides
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