History

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.