October 22, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Allied Arts / Stanford Park

by Mari Sapina-Kerkhove

While strolling through the Allied Arts/Stanford Park neighborhood it's hard to believe that frantic Silicon Valley is right on its doorstep.

Dreamy looking cottages with brick chimneys and green shutters peak through a maze of flower gardens and well-trimmed bushes. Parents with strollers share the tree-lined streets with bikers and joggers while the San Francisquito Creek meanders alongside the neighborhood.

Attracted by the tranquility and nature setting of the area between Arbor Road, Middle Avenue, El Camino Real and the creek, Ceevah Sobel moved here 20 years ago. Today she still believes it's a great place to live, partly because numerous shops and restaurants are just a few blocks away.

"I wanted a neighborhood where I could walk to many things," Sobel, who appreciates the proximity of downtown Menlo Park and the Stanford Shopping Center, explains.

"I love the Allied Arts thing here -- I'm glad to see it open again," she says, referring to the Allied Arts Guild, a Mediterranean-style complex of artisan shops and lush gardens that gave the neighborhood its name.

Modeled after a European-style crafts guild, the complex was built in 1929 as a place for artists -- woodworkers, silversmiths, weavers and potters -- to promote their work. In 2001 the guild, which is run by the Woodside-Atherton Auxiliary, closed its doors for renovation and restoration, reopening in early October.

Updated to contemporary safety and seismic standards, and rid of an acute termite problem, the cream-colored Allied Arts Guild buildings now sport their original trim color, a deep green, which blends nicely with the surroundings.

Visitors can once again walk the rose-lined paths paved with stones from San Francisquito Creek, rest in the courtyards adorned with arches and fountains and browse the galleries and shops. All proceeds go to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

Recently, in an effort to increase fundraising, the auxiliary proposed a change in zoning, which would allow for more commercial use with longer opening hours and more special events. This has raised concerns about noise and traffic among residents.

"Neighbors in general are happy about Allied Arts being renovated," says Kim LeMieux, who lived on San Mateo Drive for 13 years. "But we're very unhappy because of the number of events that can be scheduled."

LeMieux says the proximity of the guild was "a big draw" for her when she first moved to the area. She remembers spending many afternoons there with her children, but fears that increased commercial use of the complex would negatively impact the neighborhood - even more than the increasing number of two-story homes that sprouted up alongside the quaint cottages over the past years.

"There's clearly some people that have an issue with new homes being built," she says, "but most people feel that it's OK."

For Sobel one of the best changes in her neighborhood in the two decades she lived there has been the increased number of young families.

Three years ago, the Pintz family and their three children moved to Princeton Road from just several blocks away. Here the many young families living on her street makes for a very close-knit neighborly experience, Keyko Pintz says.

The kids play at each other's houses while parents take turns baby-sitting. Several mothers have formed a book club and there are block parties.

On Halloween, things get especially lively.

"I don't think there's a street that's more vibrant," Pintz says, adding that there are vans of children from other neighborhoods coming to the area for the experience. "It's like Disneyland."

For now she says she couldn't be happier living anywhere else. "I never lived on a street like this," she says. "It's very community oriented."

Editorial intern Mari Sapina-Kerkhove can be reached at msapina-kerkhove@paweekly.com.

Allied Arts / Stanford Park facts:
Child Care and preschools: Menlo-Atherton Cooperative Nursery School, 802 Middle Ave., Menlo Park
Fire station: 700 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park
Park: Nealon Park, 800 Middle Ave., Menlo Park
Public schools: Menlo Park City Elementary School District -- Oak Knoll School, 1895 Oak Knoll Lane, Menlo Park; Hillview Middle School, 1100 Elder Ave., Menlo Park.
Sequoia Union High School District -- Menlo-Atherton High School, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton.
Shopping district: Downtown Menlo Park, Stanford Shopping Center.

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