History

Perhaps because of Beverly Terrace’s architectural diversity – and because it offers quiet and seclusion, Beverly Terrace has become one of San Carlos’ most desirable addresses, though some would argue it’s always been that way. Nathanial Brittan, son of early San Carlos pioneer John Brittan, certainly thought so. In 1872, Brittan, then a member of the Bohemian Club (and later club president), built an octagonal “party house” at 125 Dale Avenue, in what is now Beverly Terrace, after a failed attempt at building a club lodge at Elizabeth and Orange Streets in Howard Park. The home at 125 Dale wasn’t an official Bohemian building, but the club did hold meetings there for several years. It still stands and is on the National Register of Historic Properties. (Brittan Avenue is now a main street running through San Carlos and begins at the 101 exit near REI and heads west up to Alameda.)

Tellingly, the rest of the 100 block of Dale Avenue includes homes built in the 1920s, 1930s, 1970s and 2000s. Within that one block, the street goes from flat and straight to narrow, winding and uphill. Meanwhile, across Devonshire Canyon, view homes fetching $1.5 million and up share the grounds of the former Timothy Guy Phelps’ estate with moderately-priced apartments and condominiums. This area was also once the site of the Devonshire Club, whose Tudor-style clubhouse burned to the ground in the late 1940s. During World War II, it was also where the U.S. Army trained military dogs.

That’s Beverly Terrace in a nutshell – a large neighborhood with wide real estate parameters and a long, rich history.