History of Balboa Terrace
GARDENS IN THE CITY:
SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENCE PARKS, 1906–1940
HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT - Prepared by Richard Brandi and Denice Bradley - October 2016
"The origins of residence parks can be found in earlier movements to create master-planned communities called “garden suburbs.” Independent, self-sufficient entities with shops and civic buildings, garden suburbs were planned communities with artistic and almost pastoral elements, residential retreats from cities, but connected to work in cities by train, streetcar, or automobile."
"The Western Neighborhoods Project created this historic context statement in order to provide a framework for informed evaluations of San Francisco residence parks constructed during the first half of the twentieth century."
Mount Davidson Subdivision
One of the earliest subdivisions on Mount Davidson, Balboa Terrace, was filed by Baldwin & Howell in 1912. However, most of the homes were built by Hueter Homes and designed by Harold G. Stoner in the 1920s, with Lang Realty Company in charge of promotion and sales. “A pleasant place to go home to, this neighborhood has the respectability of St. Francis Wood at a lesser scale and, one might hope, price. Its homes are set back from the street. Wiring is undergrounded. Streets are landscaped and include some grassy pedestrian ways.”
(source: mtdavidson.org)
• The Mt. Davidson website has a nice history of Balboa Terrace neighborhood with some great pictures. Check out their site!
• The Outsidelands web site, organized by the Western Neighborhoods Project, just launched a new section on Balboa Terrace that’s incredibly informative and interesting. Check it out!
• View excerpt from October 1926 The Home Designer and Garden Beautiful magazine about the new Balboa Terrace subdivision. This document was recreated from an old copy of the magazine, so the pictures are not very clear, but maybe you’ll see your house in this article!
• View Hueter’s original Balboa Terrace Addition map.
• Look at Balboa Terrace neighbor Steve Jeffords’ presentation on The Batchelders of Balboa Terrace a history of the unique collection of Batchelder fireplaces in our neighborhood.
Balboa Terrace Bus Stop