Bracken Brae was founded in 1903 by Bay Area businessmen and women from San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley as a place where they could get away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities.  It was sub-divided to be a summer home resort where the houses were usually single walled and only meant to be occupied in warmer weather. It is one of the oldest summer home resorts to be sub-divided in San Lorenzo Valley, second only to Huckleberry Island in Brookdale.

Prior to Bracken Brae’s founding, Boulder Creek had become a destitute town. A once thriving logging town had seen the surrounding land stripped of any marketable trees until there were no more trees to cut down. Remaining groves of old growth redwoods were becoming farther from the town and more efficient routes to remove the lumber from the mountain were found. Thus there was little purpose to the once thriving town and it looked like it would fade into a ghost town like other towns in the Santa Cruz Mountains such as Wrights, Alma, and Lexington.

There were saloons and brothels lining the streets and drunken patrons passed out on the sidewalks. The lumberman came from the hills to spend their paychecks on debauchery before heading back deep into the mountains.

The town had several things going for it that enabled it to survive. The California Redwood Park (now called Big Basin), had just been opened in 1902 and Boulder Creek was the only entrance to the park. The Southern Pacific railroad ran straight into downtown Boulder Creek. A train from Oakland or San Francisco arrived in Boulder Creek in a couple of hours and ran several times daily.

At this time there were no paved roads, no electricity, and no phones in Boulder Creek.  The Wright brothers had just taken their first flights and were ready to patent their invention. The model T hadn’t been invented yet, only the wealthy had cars, and World War I was more than a few years off.  It was very much the wild west here.

Wealthy venture capitalists from Oakland and San Francisco recognized Boulder Creek’s rustic beauty and had seen the success other people had in founding the resorts in Brookdale but were faced with the problem of removing the undesirable element brought about by the saloons and brothels.

Many of the founders of Bracken Brae were prohibitionist. They wanted Boulder Creek to be a dry town as they had recognized the problems it caused in the city. They believed with their money and power they could change laws and drive out the saloons and make Boulder Creek a respectable town.

They succeeded and within the course of a few years Boulder Creek was a first class resort, where all the rich and famous mingled in the Summer. Neighborhoods such as Bracken Brae, Bonny Brier, Forest Park, Forest Springs, and Wildwood popped up as if overnight and there was a mad rush of building. Everyone wanted to be in Boulder Creek.

Out of all the resorts Bracken Brae was the most extravagant.  It had 9 miles of hiking trails, tennis court, croquet court, and a swimming hole.  This was when a country club was truly a ‘country’ club. It catered to the ultra wealthy and almost every home was built by people of importance.  Although most early members were from San Francisco, Oakland, and Alameda,  country clubs were all the rage in the Victorian era and Bracken Brae had buyers from all across the globe.

Just 23 houses still stand and they are each unique. Five were built by families who were among the founders of Oakland, Ca.  One was built by the son of a founder of Ferndale, Ca.  One was built by a famous female doctor and philanthropist who provided free medical care for the poor and whose hospital so impressed Henry J. Kaiser that he purchased it for the site of his first hospital in Oakland and based all his future hospitals on.  One was built by the wealthiest man in Berkeley whose other home is now a Berkeley Historic Landmark.  Two were famous musicians.  One builder’s father was a famed sculptor and built many significant stone buildings in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley including the Campanile (tower) at UC Berkeley.  Two were built to act as a Boy Scout camp.  Many were contractors building thousands of Victorian era houses, apartments, and industrial buildings in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda.  One Bracken Brae family has been here over 100 years. 

August 20th, 2020 – A horrific forest fire has taken seven houses from us. Of the original 25 only 16 now remain. Seven burned in the forest fire and 2 had been lost to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.