Conceived as an entry-level to middle-class option for families looking to flee the city in favor of quiet suburbia — and later for G.I.s returning from the war — Mills Park has remained true to its founders’ original vision, even as local housing prices edge toward the $1 million mark.

For a number of reasons, Mills Park real estate is among San Bruno’s most popular. It is convenient to downtown, El Camino Real, the 380 freeway, BART, and Caltrain and its curving, quiet streets easily makes it the kind of suburban neighborliness that is often missing from urban and rural settings. The locals keep their homes in good condition and their yards trimmed and their gardens well-tended. Perhaps this is why Mills Park homes soared past the $1 million median mark recently, with the most recent sales falling in the $1.38 to $2.4 million range.

Schools

Mills Park students attend one of two K-5 elementary schools; students living closer to downtown attend Decima M. Allen Elementary School (371 students, Great Schools rating of 6 out of 10, API of 826). Students living closer to the 280 freeway attend John Muir Elementary School, with 359 students, a Great Schools rating of 8 out of 10 and a recent API of 897. Like all students in San Bruno, they then move onto Parkside Intermediate School, which has 516 students in grades 6 through 8, a Great Schools rating of 7 out of 10 and an API of 785, then finish at Capuchino High School (API 796) or Peninsula Alternative High School.

History

The history of Mills Park is one of sudden, complete growth. Start to finish, the area’s transition from cattle lands to completely built-out subdivision took 15 years — and included in that are four years of inactivity, due to World War II.

There is one thing San Bruno has in common with its neighbors Millbrae and Burlingame: large swaths of it were once owned by Darius O. Mills and his brother-in-law Ansel I. Easton. At one time, Mills and Easton-owned land stretched from El Camino Real to Skyline Boulevard (east-west) and from beyond San Bruno’s southern border to Sneath Lane (north). Unlike some of The Peninsula’s other land tycoons, Mills and Easton subdivided slowly, holding on to much of their land well into the 20th century. It wasn’t until 1940, shortly before the U.S. entered World War II, that their San Bruno holdings, previously used for cattle grazing and rented out to flower growers, were put up for sale.

On December 6, 1940, a developer named George W. Williams submitted plans to the San Bruno City Council that called for development of the land, subdivided into 50-by-100-foot lots, to be called Mills Park Additions. 40 one-story homes, selling for approximately $6,000, were completed within a year, at which point the attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent declaration of war on Japan brought the operation to a standstill. In April, 1945, after an almost four-year layoff, American Homes, Inc. announced plans to add 225 homes to Mills Park. By the end of 1955, according to local historian Darold Fredricks, “Mills Park was essentially completed.”