Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood

The Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood in central San Jose is much beloved for its architectural charm and close-in location. There’s a wide variety of architectural styles to be found there – and not many ranch style houses. A large percentage of the houses have front porches, some with deep overhangs. Together with tree lined streets and sidewalks, it’s a welcoming feeling community and a scenic one.

What are the homes like in the Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood?

Home styles include Craftsman of various kinds (Bungalow, Prairie), Victorian, Spanish Eclectic, Mission Revival, Cottage, Tudor, Art Deco, Colonial, and some that look almost like ranch but defy a neat category. Some areas will feature several of the same style homes in a row. Part of Shasta Avenue, for example, has a group of Victorian homes. Many homes look much the same as originally intended from the front but have been extensively remodeled inside, and the county may show the construction date as  2002 or something  similar.

Some of the homes have basements. Many have detached garages. In some cases, the power lines are in front by the sidewalk, but most of the time they are along the back fences.

Most of these Shasta Hanchett neighborhood houses were designed as middle class homes. The houses and lots are not as large as some of the homes found along University Avenue in the Rose Garden.

The Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood (and the Hester area) includes about 1165 single family homes, 128 condominiums or townhomes, and 78 other residential buildings, including small apartment buildings, duplexes – fourplexes, etc.  I pulled this data from the county records and it is approximate.

Seventy percent of the houses in this part of the city were built in the very late 1800s through the 1940s per my study of the county records. One is said to have been built in 1890 and 38 were said to be built in 1900. By the way, often when the county records say 1900 it’s code for “1900 or older, we don’t really know”.

Development continued through the forties, fifties, and so on. While there’s a mix of ages, it’s a large contingent of historic homes. Most are in beautiful condition and impeccably well tended.

Some of the streets are narrow, and parking on both sides is disallowed for that reason. Martin Avenue enjoys a long stretch where it’s both extremely wide and also is lined with tall palm trees. Other streets offer a variety of trees and some feature a deep canopy of sycamore trees.

Subdivisions in the Shasta Hanchett neighborhood

There are quite a lot of subdivisions in this part of Central San Jose. Sometimes there are several variations on a name (perhaps a recording abbreviation or error, or perhaps another tract in the same or related subdivision?). The list of subdivisions includes these:

• Hester Park
• Hanchett Residence Park
• Hanchett Court (not the street name)
• And all kinds of typos for many of these subdivisions. Here’s a sampling of official errors with the Hanchett name:

  • Hachette Residence Park

    Hancehtt Court

    Hanchat Residence Park

    Hanchatte Residence Park

    Hanchet Residence Park

    Hancheti Residence Park

• Chace Park Avenue Lots / Las Coches
• Herschbachs Sub/Sierra Park or just Herschbachs
• J B Randols Addition/Chapman (also called Randols Addition)
• Santana (homes from the late 1920s to mid 1930s)
• Schiele 02
• Saveker 02
• Phelan (and variations of Phelan, such as Phelan/Alameda Schieles )
• Marion
• Manchett Residence Park (just 1 residence, but one other with Manchett in it)
• Los Coches Rho
• Di Fiore, Di Fiore Estates, Di Fiore 02
• G A Oberg
• Plus many others which were small or where there was no subdivison name, only tract numbers

Where is the Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood?

This neighborhood is set in San Jose between downtown San Jose and Santa Clara University. It’s just about 1.5 to 2 miles west of downtown San Jose via The Alameda or Park Avenue., and 2-3 miles to Santa Clara University and Mission Santa Clara, which access to Highway 880 just 1-2 miles away.

I’ve mapped out the approximate boundaries below. That said, if you check 5 or 10 websites you may find significant differences. For example, most find The Alameda to be one border, other sites include the Garden Alameda, St. Leo’s, and Cahill Park areas as included. Some will place both sides of Race Street in the St. Leo’s boundaries.

The major streets that ring the Shasta Hanchett neighborhood are West San Carlos Avenue, Race Street, The Alameda, and Naglee Avenue (on this map that name doesn’t show up, but it’s an extension of Forest Avenue). Most of it is in the 95126 zip code, but the section closest to West San Carlos is in 95128.

The immediately adjacent neighborhoods are the Rose Garden, Burbank, Buena Vista, Sunol Midtown, St. Leo’s, and Garden Alameda (sometimes references as Alameda Garden).

It should be noted that not only are many places for shopping, dining, and entertainment located just 1 – 3 miles from the Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood, there are also shops along West San Carlos, Race, and the Alameda that residents may access without the use of a car. Among my favorites are Greenlee’s Bakery and the J Lohr Tasting Room.

Neighborhood History

Although we occasionally do history posts, and this neighborhood has a particularly rich history, this post is not going to focus on the history of this neighborhood. If you’d like to read about the history, I recommend checking out the History San Jose’s Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood page.

As a quick summary only, we’ll share that this district began as a couple or more Residence Parks. These were planned developments with parks (designed by landscape architects), sometimes neighborhood gateways or arches, architectural standards and CCRs (covenants, codes, and restrictions). The CCRs were likely the precursors to zoning laws, which did not yet exist – at least not here.  And, unhappily, the CCRs in those days often contained racial and religious exclusions which are now illegal, of course.

Unlike today’s tract neighborhoods with a standardized  city park in the middle, the residence parks were artistically and professionally designed by landscape architects. When lots were sold to buyers or developers, the plans had to be approved by the architectural committee, and very few homes looked exactly alike.

The Hanchett Residence Park was begun in 1907 by Lewis E Hanchett largely on land that previously was an amusement park. There were some Victorian homes which were built in the late 1800s to just past 1900 in place already. Read more on Wikipedia.

What do homes cost in the Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood?

Here’s a look at what’s for sale (if anything), under contract, or recently closed in this very pretty neighborhood in San Jose California.

See all Shasta Hanchett.
(all data current as of 6/8/2023)

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Related Reading to Shasta Hanchett Park San Jose:

Cory neighborhood

On Nextdoor, the area is part of Greater Rose Garden

Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood association website: http://www.shpna.org/

Rose Garden Farmer’s Market

Looking to sell or buy a home? Mary Pope-Handy and Clair Handy sell throughout Santa Clara County,  including this neighborhood, and sometimes into nearby counties also. Please reach out to us by email if you’d like to set up a time to talk by phone for an initial appointment. The best email to use is mary@popehandy.com – thank you!