December 11, 2003


Street Scene: Mancuso Street

By Candy Richter
Staff Writer

Driving down Mancuso Street in Alamaden, the first thing many people notice is the breathtaking backdrop of Mount Umunhum. It’s when you spend a little time in this tidy neighborhood of single and two-story homes that you realize that the true beauty of Mancuso is in its residents.

When Tony and Eileen Vierra decided to move from their Cambrian area home four years ago, it was the aesthetics that brought them to the area.

“When we drove up, it was just so beautiful,” said Eileen Vierra. “This is such a quaint area with a real small town feel.”

Viera mentioned that she and her husband, Tony has visited many small towns around the US and noticed that many neighborhoods has easy access to open trails and creeks. As a triathlete and lover of the great outdoors, Eileen was attracted to the many trail and parks so close to the Mancuso neighborhood. “We have three parks so close to us, and I use the trails to train. We just love living here.”

The neighborhood is a mix of “original’ owners from the mid-1970’s when the first phase of the housing tract was built, to long-term residents (10-15 years), to the newer families like the Vierras.

As members of the “old guard” Van and Mary Helen Lalumonbier have watched the evolution of their street for the past 26 years. “We came here from Ohio with two high school daughters,” recalled Van Lalumonbier “And for the first nine years we lived here, not a single person moved away.”

It was back in the mid 1970’s that Mancuso’s tradition of three summertime block parties came into being. “On Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day we would all bring out the picnic tables and something to eat and get together and catch up,” said Lalumonbier. “We’re a neighborhood that watches out for each other. It’s a real caring community.”

According to Lalumonbier, the individual that really set the stage for the area’s sense of community was the same person responsible for the tract in the first place.

Known to all as Mr. Kogan, it was a parcel of kogan’s prune orchard that was sold off as the original section of Mancuso. But what made this development different was that Kogan decided to keep a modest portion of his holdings and original homestead. In effect placing himself right smack in the middle of the new neighborhood.
“He had his old 1940’s farmhouse and even after he sold off his land, he just kept everything as it was,” said Lalumonbier.

Although Kogan never attended the block parties or other social functions on the street, he always came around with a great story and some of his special vegetables or delicious prunes.”

He would tell all kinds of wonderful stories – and he knew so much about the history of this area, of San Jose, things you’d never heard before. And his prunes were about the sweetest I’ve tasted,” remembered Lalumonbier. “He was a like our patriarch. We felt that he cared for the neighborhood, and we all respected him.”

In fact, Kogan’s prune orchard stayed operational until his death in the late 1990’s, making it one of the last functioning prune orchards in the Almaden area. After Kogan’s passing, his heirs sold off the remaining land and a number of larger homes were built on the site, adding yet another chapter to Mancuso’s history.

While the generations of children have come and grown and come again, the common thread through Mancuso’s history has been the caring attitude of its residents. “These people really care about their home,” said Pam Baker, whose small court – Corte de Belleza – faces Mancuso. For Baker, one of the defining moments of community support came about 2 years ago when the neighbors rallied together to protest the management of a sober living home around the corner on Meridian. “It’s what happens in the tough times that really shows you the value of great neighbors,” said Baker. “That experience brought us together and made us a closer group.”

Mancuso Street has homes ranging from 2,000-square-foot ranch-style houses with generous backyards to larger, more modern homes on the surrounding courts, to the new, two-story, 3,000-square-foot plus houses. Based on current sales process, homes on Mancuso range from the mid-$700K to $1.25 million.