About The Tour

Gather your friends, put on some walking shoes and enjoy a peek into some of the Rose Garden neighborhood's most lovely homes; featuring a delicately-restored, French-style estate that was once a home for unwed mothers; a newly-remodeled traditional house with a modern addition; a lovely family Colonial; and the first floor of a historic Dutch Colonial.

The gardens and pavilion of the historic Dutch Colonial, complete with salvaged bricks and pillars, will also be the setting for our fabulous Boutique and Luncheon.

Ticket Information

$30 Pre-Event or $35 Day-of-Event

$13 Luncheon provided by Zanotto's Market (Sorry, we cannot accommodate luncheon orders requested after October 12th.)

You may also purchase tickets at Willow Glen Home and Garden, Vintage & Vogue, Not Too Shabby or St. Martin of Tours School.  Day-of-event tickets are available for purchase at the event.  Tour begins at 1735 University Way, San Jose.

Homes on Tour

 The Home of Nora Sandoval and Digby Horner
  1175 Randol Avenue

Interior Design by The Homeowners, Floral Design by Hill's Flowers

  When Nora Sandoval first stepped into this house in 1997, lockers lined the entry way, desks were scattered through the living room and baby cribs lined the library. Surely this wasn't a house for sale, she thought. In fact, though, it was a home for some 16 teenaged unwed mothers run by the Volunteers of America. It was time for this 1912 home originally owned by a dentist and his wife and their six children to revert to a single family. But with stenciled rattles painted up the stairway and each bedroom painted in a flower theme (daisy, rose and violet) it needed a lot of work. Still, said Nora, a Realtor with the Sereno Group, "when I came in here, I felt good karma. There was a lot of love in this house."  Over the past 13 years, Sandoval and her husband, Adobe executive Digby Horner, and their now-grown son, Matthew, made it their own. Digby did most of the detail work himself, including stripping hinges, and adorned the ceilings throughout the home with his collections of antique light fixtures and shades. They splurged on Bradbury and Bradbury wallpaper for the living room, which hadn't been produced by the Benicia manufacturer since it ran the 17-color paper for singer Linda Ronstadt 11 years earlier. A century-old pool table from Pennsylvania adds gravitas to the room. The couple recently finished a major kitchen remodel, adding a sunny breakfast room with a beadboard ceiling they had milled to match the original laundry room walls. Upstairs, the house has what appears to be twin master bedrooms connected by a walk-through closet. The couple is waiting to finish the front landscaping until they determine whether their efforts to save the oak tree out front are successful.
  For years after they moved in, people would leave bags of baby clothes and diapers on their front porch. When the mailman left soap samples, he would stuff 20 through the mail slot. 
  "This house has wrapped its arms around a lot of people," Nora said, "and now we're wrapping our arms around this house."

  The Home of Sam Miller and Phil Herlth
  1760 University Way

Architecture and Interior Design by Hindesign, Floral Design by Green Design, Landscaping and Hardscaping by Rodriquez Landscape

  Walk in the front door of this charming 1940 brick cottage and the front rooms are as traditional as you'd imagine: graceful dining room on the left, formal living on the right. But step through the front hallway and the back of the house opens to a modern, light-filled space. Phil Health, who works at Nasa Ames Research Center, and Sam Miller, who owns a Mountain View laundromat, bought the house in June 2009, deciding they wanted to downsize after remodeling their big house on a big lot on the Peninsula. They turned to San Jose architect Steve Hinderberger to update the dated and chopped up space and add a second story with a master suite. The couple wanted sleek, modern lines, but also were adamant about connecting with the rest of the traditional house. Hinderberger used wood detailing in rich stains, but gave modern details, including aluminum accents, on the stair railings and support columns. The kitchen features green, orange and yellow tiles from San Jose's Fireclay Tile. While the windows in the front of the house are divided light, the couple used no panes in the French doors overlooking the backyard. Slate tile floors run from the kitchen through to the outdoor patio, connecting indoors and out. Upstairs, frosted sliding glass doors give privacy to the master suite, but let in light. The master bath was tiled in "boneyard" pieces of tile in different shapes and sheens to give added interest. A neighbor once likened the shower tile to a "bamboo forest." They have decorated the house with artwork collected along their travels as well as local "open studio" events. A prized pair of art deco console tables purchased at a San Francisco auction adorn the living room. 

  The Home of Liz and Mark Page
  1735 University Way

Interior and Garden Design by Willow Glen Home and Garden, Floral Design by Jose Ibarra, Landscaping and Hardscaping by Jose Ledesma

  Liz Page was pregnant with their first child in 2002 when she and her husband Mark first laid eyes on this charming New England-style home. Liz grew up in Massachusetts and the traditional home with the formal entry hall and central staircase just felt right. She wrote a "tear-stained letter" to the owner saying "this is where we want to raise our family." The house became their home on Halloween, the night the neighborhood comes to life with hundreds of children trick or treating. While the house had great bones, it was in its original 1940 condition and needed updating. Construction began two days after her son, Douglas, was born. They ripped up wall-to-wall carpeting to reveal mint-condition hardwood floors, and redid electrical and plumbing. To add a master suite, they built over the existing living room. The kitchen was remodeled and a mudroom added. And just recently, they pushed out the back, adding a family room behind the living room, and an office on top, an extension of the master suite, for Mark, a marketing executive. In the end, they got exactly what they wanted: a charming family home that maintained the look and feel of the original. Both their children, Douglas and Anna, attend St. Martin of Tours elementary school. Liz sought out Willow Glen Home and Garden to help choose comfortable family furniture paired with fun accessories as well as designing the back garden area with patios, trellises, stone walls, a fountain, umbrellas and patio furniture.

  The First Floor and Garden of Brent Riedberger and Chris Johansen
  1156 McKendrie Street

Interior Design by Julie Riera Matsushima, Floral Design by Bloomster's, Garden Design by The Homeowners

  When Brent Riedberger and Chris Johansen offered their backyard for their neighbor's wedding in late summer, they shifted into high gear to get it ready. And as they have with much of their Dutch Colonial house, they did most of the work themselves - and with vintage materials. "It's been a hodgepodge of resalvaged this and repurposed that," Brent said. Whenever they noticed piles of old bricks being pulled out of neighbors' yards to make way for stamped concrete and pavers, Brent would ask if he could take it off their hands. "We've salvaged 9,000 bricks since March." And one by one, he recovered what had been a broad black asphalt motor court with old bricks, which made for a perfect area for dinner tables for the wedding guests. They also asked the owner of a house around the corner for the discarded pillars that had been removed from a port cochere. With them, they built a lovely pavilion at the back of the property. "The bride, groom and parents came over and whitewashed all the arbors so it will look crisp and white for the wedding," Brent said. He even transplanted an ancient rhododendron from a Los Gatos house. Along with the garden, Brent and Chris graciously opened the first floor of their 1920s Dutch Colonial to the tour, which includes a remodeled kitchen and grand living and dining rooms. "She's a great old girl with good bones," Brent said.

Check out a sneak peek of the kitchen here on Lookiloos!  The second floor will also be available for you to view soon on  www.lookiloos.com, where you can see a full slide show and read the fascinating backstory.  Check back here often!

History of the Tour

Beginning in 1996, our well-organized cadre of parent volunteers began showcasing the elegance of the Rose Garden with a tour of local homes.  Generous parents and neighborhood homeowners have supported the effort to raise money for local children attending St Martin of Tours by graciously opening their homes for a weekend tour. The event draws support from throughout Silicon Valley as many visitors hope to catch a glimpse inside the homes in our Historic Rose Garden Neighborhood.  In addition to raising funds to allow local children to have access to Art, Music and Technology, the Rose Garden Homes Tour promotes the beauty and charm of our local neighborhood and invites the community to experience all the vitality that the Rose Garden Community has to offer.