Rancho Rinconada, Cupertino, California
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Rancho Rinconada is a residential neighborhood in the eastern part of Cupertino, California. It is bordered by Saratoga Creek (just west of Lawrence Expressway), Stevens Creek Boulevard, Miller Road, and Bollinger Road. Cupertino High School, Sedgwick Elementary School, and Hyde Middle School serve Rancho Rinconada.
The homes in Rancho Rinconada were originally low cost single-story houses built in the 1950s by builders Stern and Price based on a Cliff May modular design. Similar projects were later undertaken in Palo Alto and Long Beach, CA.
In the 1990s, a portion of the neighborhood bordering San Jose along Lawrence Expresway was annexed by the city and construction started on large, executive homes. Rancho Rinconada then became a target for wealthy Silicon Valley executives, as the county's development laws, to which the rest of the neighborhood was subject, allowed remodeling or rebuilding a home up to the size of the largest home in the immediate area. Additionally, the county did not have community input or review of building plans. As a result, families employed in high-tech industries bought property in unincorporated Rancho Rinconada and demolished the existing houses to build new "monster houses".
In March 1999, the residents of the unincorporated part of Rancho Rinconada voted to be annexed to Cupertino, with the promise of more restrictive property development procedures and improved services to the neighborhood. Later that month, the Cupertino City Council voted into law a bill that required neighborhood comment and reduced the percentage of a lot that could be covered by a building.
The neighborhood is bordered by the West San Jose neighborhood to the east and south, central Cupertino to the west, and the city of Santa Clara to the north.
[edit] References
- Rancho annexation complete, Cupertino Courier, March 10, 1999
- Invasion of the Monster Homes, San Francisco Chronicle, November 8, 1999
- where to look in Cupertino by John Fyten
- Full text of "The California ranch house oral history transcript" Retrieved on September 22, 2009
- Long Beach Cliff May Ranchos Doug Kramer's Rancho Style, Retrieved on September 22, 2009
