San Mateo Park

San Mateo Park is one of the most beautiful and unique residential communities in the United States: a secluded enclave of early 20th-century homes in a park-like setting of towering trees and lush landscaping.

It sits on the San Francisco Peninsula, 20 miles south of San Francisco and next to the towns of Hillsborough and Burlingame, within a short commute of Silicon Valley and the biotech companies.

San Mateo Park was founded in 1896, during the peak of the City Beautiful movement. Together, architect George Howard Jr., landscape architect John McLaren (designer of Golden Gate Park), E. W. McClellan (founder of McClellan’s Nursery) and city planner Davenport Bromfield (the planner for communities such as Carmel, California) set out to create a residential community that would serve as one of the foremost tributes to the residential design ideals of the turn of the century.

They laid out narrow, gently winding streets, with every intersection meeting at a landscaped circle, crescent or square. Thousands of trees were planted, selected by McLaren and McClellan, and many were transplanted from the San Francisco World’s Fair. Noted architects such as Bernard Maybeck, Willis Polk and Julia Morgan designed magnificent country homes, many in the Arts and Crafts style, most of which have now been restored to their former glory.

More than a century later, San Mateo Park, known as “The Park” by its residents and admirers, has achieved and faithfully kept the vision of its founders and architects. The tree-canopied roads meander through the gently rolling foothills, and the circles, crescents and squares are now sheltered beneath towering palms, pines, oaks and many other trees from around the world.

Park Elementary School, Borel Middle School and San Mateo High School are the public schools closest to San Mateo Park, and private schools nearby include St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School and The Nueva School.

School assignments depend on the address, so check with the San Mateo-Foster City School District and the San Mateo Union High School District for a specific home.