The Rose Garden Neighborhood

The San Jose neighborhood known as The Rose Garden was once part of pear and prune orchards owned by, among others, Food Machinery Corporation, headed by John Crummey.   At that time a picnic in the hills meant a view of the valley which was covered with blossoms from the fruit trees.  The orchards grew into a neighborhood when Crummey subdivided his 25-acre pear orchard in 1937, offering his five children lots of their choice.  Crummey sold the remaining lots for $5,000 each.

 

Over the next several decades, as San Jose stretched from a farming community to a sprawling city, the Crummey land and the surrounding area became a choice spot for the city's civic and business leaders who enjoyed its proximity to downtown.  Residents carefully crafted and built their unique homes.  They raised a couple of generations of children, many of whom have returned to buy their own homes in the area.

 

Only two of Crummey's children took him up on his offer, Beth Chinchen and Faith Davies. The two married women built expansive houses just a short walk from their father's gray mansion on University Avenue and Park.  After building the home with husband Art Chinchen, Beth Chinchen became actively involved in area events.  Her husband planted the oak trees on University that now tower over the wide street.

 

Today, Chinchen, son Stan, and a granddaughter live in the neighborhood.  They are the remaining Crummeys.  The patriarch's mansion has been converted into an office building that houses Prodis Associates, an architectural firm.  Davies died in 1996 at age 91, and her house was sold to a young family that spent months refurbishing it.

 

The pear trees are slowly being returned to the area and ornamental pears encircle the Rose Garden Park.  In 1996, the Hawthorne trees that surrounded the park were dying one by one. Residents agreed to replace the trees with the ornamental pear tree that doesn't bear fruit but blooms with flowers in the spring and has deep red leaves in the fall.

 

 

The Rose Garden Park & Surrounding Area

Once a part of an eleven-acre prune orchard, the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden today is the centerpiece of one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Silicon Valley, the Rose Garden.

 

The 5½ acre park was built in 1927 at the urging of early members of the Santa Clara County Rose Society and is devoted exclusively to shrubs of the rose family — featuring more than 3,500 rose bushes from 189 varieties.

 

Surrounding the Rose Garden is a mix of bungalows and stately mansions, with the strictest neighborhood boundary limits defined as Bascom Avenue to  The Alameda and Naglee Avenue to Hedding Street.  However, the Rose Garden Neighborhood Preservation Association (RGNPA) boundaries includes more of the surrounding streets —and accepts members from anywhere.

 

The few undeveloped parcels still existing are slowly being filled in as housing prices steadily climb.  The attractive older, established character of the Rose Garden, however, remains untouched.  Between The Alameda and Park Avenue are several houses built before the turn of the century.  Many of the homes along University Avenue between Park and Bascom resemble country homes of European gentry.

 

The Rose Garden fosters a feeling of community.  Area families raised their children and those children attended Trace, Hoover, and Lincoln and graduated in the Rose Garden.

 

There's something about the Rose Garden that appeals to people's sense of civility.  It's quiet and clean.  People go the park to get married, have birthday picnics, and attend graduation ceremonies.  The garden area of the park features a reflection pool, wooden benches, and a two-tiered water fountain, all donated through the years by the community and the Rose Society.

 

The park has a natural grass stage surrounded by a grove of redwood trees separating the two areas.  The park has about 187,000 annual visitors, including the more than 8,000 people who attend six graduations, and the 40 to 50 weddings that take place in the park each year.

 

The park is operated and maintained by the City of San Jose.  Periodically, gardeners replant roses supplied by the All America Rose Selections, a national independent rating organization.  New varieties are sent to San Jose for testing before release to the general public, allowing Rose Garden visitors to preview varieties that will soon be available in local nurseries.

 

Near the garden is one of the most imposing pieces of architecture in the area — Hoover Middle School at the corner of Park and Naglee.  Built in 1931, Hoover School was designed by William H. Weeks, architect of the De Anza Hotel in downtown San Jose.  The 70-year old school was closed to students in 1971 because it did not meet state  earthquake safety requirements.  Until 1995, the building was used for a variety of purposes including adult education and San Jose Unified School District office space.  The building has recently been renovated and converted into a much needed community center and a theater area that will house the San Jose Children's Musical Theater.

At the Naglee and Bascom end of the Rose Garden neighborhood is Zanotto's Family Market, the area's unofficial town hall.  A charming neighborhood market offers farm fresh produce, hand cut meats, as well as an extensive selection of hard to find gourmet items. All of Zanotto's thirteen children have worked at this store at one time or another.  Also near the Rose Garden and across from the Old Hoover School is one of San Jose's most unique landmarks, the Egyptian Museum and Planetarium.  The gardens of the Rosicrucian Park contain buildings inspired by ancient Egyptian architecture with papyrus-lined paths passing statues of Egyptian gods, clustered lotus columns, and walls covered with hieroglyphics.  The museum itself is modeled after the Temple of Amon at Karnak.  Visitors are free to wander around the grounds.  Always a popular destination for school field trips, the museum has recently become a venue for receptions, meetings, lectures, and private parties.

 

…. And Where is ROSEGARDEN?