When my family moved to San Jose several decades ago, we sought an area where “the trees were taller than the houses.” At that time, San Jose, once known as the Valley of Hearts Delight for its vast orchards blanketing the Santa Clara Valley, was fast replacing trees with tracts, and ranch-style homes with barely- planted trees were the order of the day.

Willow Glen quickly became our neighborhood of choice. Custom homes from many generations form the heart of the ZIP code 95125. The Willows, as it was once called, was one of the earliest settled areas of San Jose. Many homes date from the early 1900s and before. For a short time in the 1920s Willow Glen even incorporated itself as a town. The City of San Jose now protects the vast majority of its trees through a Tree Ordinance, but until recently Willow Glen was one of the few neighborhoods where the trees were actually taller than the homes they shaded.

Posted By: Colleen Badagliacco