The Homestead Husing neighborhood is just south of Aragon and north of 92 and Bovet Road. It’s the most affordable neighborhood that goes to Baywood Elementary School, which is considered to be the most sought after public elementary school in San Mateo. Most homes are two and three bedrooms on typically 6,000 square foot lots, and range in price from $800,000 – $1.3 million.
Antoine Borel’s 100-acre country estate stood at the corner of what is now El Camino Real and Highway 92 from 1874 until 1961, the last of the big San Mateo estates. Borel, a Swiss immigrant, ran his family’s banking company. Like many of San Mateo’s early gentry, he wasn’t averse to selling off pieces of property. By 1961, in fact, most of the Borel estate had been subdivided, paving the way for a neighborhood now known as Homestead (and alternately as the Husing Subdivision). The last piece of land is now an office park — whose main tenant is the Borel Bank and Trust Company – and the Borel Shopping Center.
Homestead/Husing was developed over a period of years, in keeping with Borel’s habit of selling his land piecemeal. As a result, the neighborhood has a slight case of multiple personalities. North of Barneson Avenue and west of Maple Street, Homestead resembles neighboring Aragon, with bungalows, Craftsmans and Spanish-style homes built in the 1920s and 1930s. Some blocks – Quince, Rhus and Shaffer Streets, for example – are easily mistaken for Aragon. If you look closely, however, you’ll notice that the homes are slightly smaller than those to the north – and slightly less expensive.
Homestead real estate sells for wide range of prices. Some of its newer homes, neat three-bedroom ranches built during and after World War II and found closer to the shopping center, can be had for $700,000 to $900,000. Mixed in among them are larger residences of the same vintage, with four bedrooms and up to 2,000 square feet of living space, which sell for around $1 million. Close to El Camino Real are a few apartment and condominium buildings, including 20 Madison Street, an attractive, Craftsman-style complex built in 2007. Two-bedroom units here sell in the $500s and $600s.
Homestead/Husing homes for sale have been commanding more attention lately, as homebuyers recognize the neighborhood as a cost-effective alternative to Aragon. It offers much of the same perks – a location close to downtown, access to Baywood Elementary School, Borel Middle School and Aragon High School and vintage homes on tree-lined streets – at a far more reasonable buy-in price.
© Raziel Ungar, Burlingame Properties
Homestead Husing homes for sale:
Sorry, but we couldn't find any results in the MLS that match the specified search criteria.
