September 2, 2005

Join the fourth annual Palm Haven homes tour

Help restore the historic area

For the fourth year in a row, the Palm Haven Historic Conservation Area of San Jose will be open for neighborhood and home tours on Sunday, Sept.11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The night before, a special Evening Under the Palms tour will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Guests will be taken by docents to five special homes for an evening tour.

VIP passes to this special event are limited and cost $50 for persons 12 or older. Pass holders will each receive a cast-pewter token of the Palm Haven pillars along with info cards on each home and hors’ d oeuvres along the way.
The final tour will leave at 8 p.m.

All VIP pass holders are free to join the party at the end of the tour featuring Brazilian and Latin jazz with TANAORA, a quintet-featuring vocalist Cecilia Engelhart.

San Jose’s most intact historic residence park will be open to all visitors in its central plaza at the intersection of Clintonia and Palm Haven avenues. There will be a first-rate antique auto display, live music from the Port City Jazz Band, work by local artists from the Artists Guild of Willow Glen and general refreshments.

Five homes in the Palm Haven area will be open to tour between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets for the home tour are $20 in advance, $25 on the day of the tour for persons 12 years of age or older. Ticket-holders will receive info-cards on the homes with a sketch of the home by local artist, Kevin Kasik.

Tickets for one or both events may be purchased in advance on Lincoln Avenue at B Civilized, 1180 Lincoln; Casa Casa at 1355 Lincoln; and Details at 1322 Lincoln. They also can be bought on line at Paypal at www.palmhaven.info or on Sept. 11 at the Palm Haven at the ticket booth.

Palm Haven is located at Bird and Coe avenues. Just follow the signs from there.

For directions and more information on the event and Palm Haven, see www.palmhaven.info.

All proceeds from the tour go to the Palm Haven Restoration Committee, which was formed in 2002 by Palm Haven residents. The committee’s mission has three goals. One is to restore and preserve the public places and installations existing in the Palm Haven Historic Conservation Area as defined by the city of San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission. The second is to build a sense of community by encouraging neighborhood involvement in the care and preservation of its public resources. And the third is to educate local citizens on those resources and the importance of their relationship to the conservation area.

On Sept. 8, 1927, the people of a little area near San Jose called “The Willows” voted to incorporate into the city of Willow Glen to stop the Southern Pacific Railroad from splitting the town apart.

The home of the man who led the campaign to incorporate and who fought the railroad all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court led the fight from his home in Palm Haven. This home and four other special homes will be on tour. Surprise visits by “residents” from 1927 driving their 1920s motorcars will visit the tour. Some lucky guests may win an evening ride in some of these vintage motorcars.