From Open Fields to Blocks of Houses

This could be the last year that we see Spring in the fields east of Fairview Road, between Hillcrest and Sunnyslope Road.

The Santana Ranch development is in the works. Construction began on the southeast end in 2015. A few of the Anderson Homes are already up and ready for sale. According to the developer's website, it offers five floor plans. Interestingly four of the names reflect a seaside setting—The Carmel, The Monterey, The Cypress, and The Big Sur.

The fifth name is The Bixby. At first, I thought it was chosen to honor Lewellyn Bixby, one of the men who purchased the San Justo Ranch way back when. But, wouldn't there then be houseplans named for the other co-purchasers? You know, like  The Flint (for Thomas and Benjamin Flint) and The Colonel (for William Welles Hollister).  There are none. So, maybe The Bixby is named for the Bixby Bridge.

How did I get onto that subject?

Anyway.

When the construction is all over, 1,100 houses will be standing upon once was open fields. Let us enjoy the unobstructed view while we can.

From the archives: November 13, 2011

From the archives: February 18, 2011

Coming Soon: The Fairfield Inn

A new hotel is going up on Gateway Drive, which is the next intersection after you turn right from Highway 25 towards Downtown Hollister. The Fairfield Inn will have four floors with anywhere between 70 and 90 rooms.

Construction began last April and is expected to be open for business in April, 2016, according to this BenitoLink article. Just in time for the school graduations, rodeo, motorcycle rally, high school reunions, summer and autumn weddings, county fair, olive festival, and other public and private events.

The Soon-to-Be Memory of a Fair View

The first of the 1,100 houses are going up in the Santana Ranch above Fairview Road, between Hillcrest and Sunnyslope. Enjoy the open-space view while you can.

A Sunday Flashback: Not Too Long Ago

Once upon a time, not too long ago, a couple of horses grazed in that narrow field that ran alongside Black Forest Drive (north of Sunnyslope Road). These friendly horses shared the field with the gophers, bugs, birds, and other creatures that roamed the grass.

Today, construction is going on in that field. The last set of houses to be built in the neighborhood with the streets named after WWI battles and agreements, which went up in the late 1980s. Before the housing development? I remember an orchard as far back as the mid-1960s. Someone said a chicken farm was once there, too. And, before that? I don't know. Does anyone recall?

Bulldozers in a Row

It looks like construction of the Santana Ranch development on Fairview Road, between Hillcrest Road and Sunnyslope Road, has begun. Hello, houses. Good-bye, open space. It was nice seeing you.

Quarry–Plant 25

Whenever the Husband and I drove north on San Felipe Road, past the Hollister Airport, we looked to the west and wondered what the tall structures are in the distance alongside the hill. All we knew was that big trucks enter and exit a dirt road off of Bolsa Road on the other side of that hill.

I recently learned that it's a quarry over there and it was established in 1999. So much for imagining it was an archaeological dig or a small city of Oz being built. The Don Chapin Company, an engineering construction company, owns Quarry–Plant 25, which makes ready-made concrete, precast concrete, and other products for different types and sizes of residential and commercial construction projects.