HERITAGE SITES
From Borges Ranch to the original Central Fire Station on Bonanza Street, Walnut Creek has numerous landmarks that reflect the community’s agricultural, commercial, and cultural heritage.
Enjoy the virtual tour on this webpage, then visit the sites in our downtown and in other parts of the community.
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1
Borges Ranch
1035 Castle Rock Rd.
1901Francisco (Frank) Borges purchased a 700-acre cattle ranch in 1899. The family home, built in 1901, and the cow barn and horse barn, built in 1903 and 1905, are still standing today. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. -
2
Stanley Dollar House
1015 Stanley Dollar Dr.
1933Now the Stanley Dollar Clubhouse at Rossmoor, this ranch house was built by R. Stanley Dollar as the family’s weekend retreat on their property in the Tice Valley. When Ross Cortese purchased the valley to build Rossmoor, Cortese converted the house to a clubhouse in 1963. -
3
James Pomeroy Howe Estate
2950 Walnut Blvd.
1876 James Howe, an Associated Press correspondent, and his wife Mia purchased the seven-acre estate property in 1910 and took up residence in the house upon his retirement in the mid-1930s. Howe called the home “Gopher Gulch” because of the large number of gopher holes on the property. The City acquired the property after his death and turned it into Howe Homestead Park in 1970. -
4
John Marchbank Residence at Heather Farm
1650 Ygnacio Valley Rd.
1920sNow the rectory of the St. John Vianney Catholic Church, the Spanish-style mansion was built by John Marchbank as his home on Heather Farm, where he raised dozens of champion race horses. -
5
Hiram Penniman Residence
2660 Ygnacio Valley Rd.
1903Now the home of the Shadelands Ranch Historical Museum, Hiram Penniman built the stately Colonial Revival-style home in 1903 on his 370-acre Shadelands Fruit Farm. Penniman and a partner had settled on land in the Ygnacio Valley in 1852. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.