Curtis Park Neighborhood
Hilary Buchanan
Call: (916) 397-7502
Email: homesbyhilary@gmail.com
Sacramento, California | Realtor DRE#01359213
Curtis Park Neighborhood
From Sierra2.org
Curtis Park advocates will resoundingly tell you there is no other place to live! Curtis Park is bordered on the north by Broadway, on the west by property owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, on the east by Highway 99 and on the south by Sutterville Road.
The homes in Curtis Park boast their beginnings as early as 1910’s. You can appreciate the beautiful California Highwater Bungalows, the Tudors and the Craftsman style homes. As with all of the older neighborhoods, Curtis Park homes are continually being remodeled and upgraded. The majority of the lots are from .10 of an acre to .20 of an acre. Homes vary in size from 800 square feet to over 3000 square feet. The central attraction is Curtis Park and many of the larger homes face this beautiful landscape.
Curtis Oaks was the first Curtis Park subdivision established in 1907. This subdivision reflects the early 20th century home styles of Prairie, Arts and Crafts Bungalow, and Four Square along with a smattering of later styles. South Curtis Oaks subdivision #1 is where J.C. Carly realized his long term dream of incorporating architectural character with natural surroundings and a major park. The subdivision is bounded by William Curtis Park east to Franklin Boulevard, and from Donner Way south to Sixth Avenue.
The land had been part of the Curtis family farm, dating from the 1850’s. In 1919 the eastern portion was sold to the South Curtis Oaks Company, controlled by J.C. Carly and his son-in-law, Curtis Cutter. Carly was a prominent local realtor and developer who earlier had developed several streetcar bungalow subdivisions in Curtis Park. Carly and Cutter formed a novel integrated operation to develop the land: a real estate firm, a building company, and a lumber mill. They began developing Curtis Oaks subdivision #1 in January of 1920.
Carly and Cutter hired architects Charles and James Dean to design the first houses, a pleasing row of 16 modest English and Colonial style homes on south Donner Way, opened for sale in May of 1920. In June of that year, Carly staged a grand real estate promotion, an aero circus, featuring planes from the South Curtis Oaks airfield located between the park and 24th St.
The majority of Curtis Park was developed in the 1920s with homes built in popular and very distinctive European Revival styles. Some of Sacramento’s best examples of European Revival architecture are found here.
Profits from the smaller homes on Donner Way funded further building southward, street by street, and the Dean and Dean designs flourished. Carrie Curtis (daughter of William Curtis) and her husband George commissioned a French Revival style home on the east end of Curtis Way, taking full advantage of the mature trees of the Curtis farmstead. By 1923 Carly’s long time dream of showpiece homes on Montgomery Way was well into development. Carly moved into to his landmark Spanish Mediterranean Revival home at the east end of the street in 1922. Curtis Cutter and his wife Leita took the home next door to the west.
In 1923 the Better Homes contest week came to Curtis Park for the first time. The Anne Hathaway Cottage on Montgomery Way and the Better Electrical Home on Sixth Avenue were two of Sacramento’s contest homes. The Anne Hathaway Cottage won sixth-place honors nationwide.
Developed in 1928, South Curtis Oaks Hill was the last subdivision, with its lots sold out in a matter of weeks reflecting the real estate boom of the period.
The Curtis Park neighborhood has been home to numerous Sacramento mayors, founders of local businesses, and people like writer Joan Didion and mid-century designer Ray Eames. Many of them went on to make their mark on our state and country.
The limited number of Curtis Park retail stores are at the north and east ends of the Curtis Park neighborhood. Gunther’s Ice Cream is a favorite of the locals. The Sierra II Neighborhood Association is a strong advocate of Curtis Park and has kept it the desirable neighborhood that it is.
Area Features:
Beautiful Diverse Architecture | Rich History | 18-acre Curtis Park |
Close to Grocery Stores | Gunther’s Ice Cream | Close to Downtown
HOMES FOR SALE IN CURTIS PARK
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