Mountain House, San Joaquin County, California


Mountain House is a census-designated place and planned community in San Joaquin County, California. A part of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mountain House is 5 miles northwest from the City of Tracy, 2 miles north of Interstate 205 and about 50 miles east of San Francisco.

History

The Cholbon triblet of the Northern Valley Yokuts were the original inhabitants of the Mountain House area. Their territory ran along Old River a distributary of the San Joaquin River.
In 1849 Thomas Goodall erected a blue denim cloth tent to serve as a midway stopover for gold miners headed from San Francisco to the Sierra Nevada foothills via Altamont Pass. Goodall eventually built an adobe house at the eastern edge of the Diablo Range hills, calling it The Mountain House. Simon Zimmerman later acquired the stop and it became known as Zimmerman's Mountain House and became a well-known way station stop on the way to Stockton. The last remaining settlement buildings were leveled in 1940.
In November 1994, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors officially approved the new community of Mountain House. In 1996 the master plan was approved. In August 2000 many of the documents controlling the development and growth of Mountain House were adopted and approved by the San Joaquin Board of Supervisors acting as the Mountain House Board of Directors.
Mountain House was projected to be a small full-fledged city developed over 30-year period by the Master Developer Trimark Communities. The community covers 4,784 acres in San Joaquin County. The town was planned for 12 distinct neighborhoods including 10 family neighborhoods and two age-restricted neighborhoods each organized around a center containing a neighborhood park, a K-8 school, and a small commercial area.
Construction began in 2001, but growth slowed down to about 50 permits per year because of the Great Recession in 2008. Development started again with increasing building permits and small land development projects in 2010 and 2011 and has continued at a high rate through 2019.
, Mountain House includes the established villages of Wicklund, Bethany, Altamont, Questa, Hansen and the developing sixth village of Cordes. Some 15,000 households or approximately 45,000-50,000 people are anticipated when Mountain House is fully completed.

Milestones

MHCSD offices open is Stockton
In November 2008, The New York Times reported that Mountain House was the "most underwater community in America" – the ZIP code with the highest amount of negative equity on its homes. With home values decreasing across the nation, Mountain House was described as the worst-hit, with 90% of its homes worth less than the amount their owners owe in mortgages. The average homeowner in Mountain House was reported to be $122,000 in debt. Many local businesses in the 95391 ZIP code were closing because the homeowners were cutting back on their spending.
CalPERS, an agency that manages pensions for California public employees, invested heavily in Mountain House beginning in 2005, purchasing approximately 9,000 residential lots from Shea Homes. By May 2010, the $1.12 billion investment by CalPERS had been reduced to 18% of that figure: $200 million. Even though home values had dropped significantly, CalPERS determined that they would hold on to the investment, counting on a recovery of the housing market.

Economic recovery

An uptick in economic performance at Mountain House was noted in September 2011 by Big Builder, a trade magazine of major land and housing development published by Hanley-Wood.
Acknowledging the New York Times 2008 article that branded Mountain House as the most underwater community in America, the article chronicled a grassroots commitment by residents to keep their neighborhoods looking well-kept by mowing neglected lawns of homes in foreclosure, short sales or abandoned.
This community spirit helped persuade CalPERS to hold onto its Mountain House investment, despite the drawbacks of a 1994-vintage land plan, termed "out of synch with the realities of the post-housing crash world." Helping to balance the challenges of the land plan was the level of established infrastructure and homebuyers motivated by affordable pricing, proximity to job centers and traditional neighborhoods.
In April 2012, Big Builder again reported on the community, noting more robust first-quarter sales, new lot offers, and flexibility for semi-finished and raw land in future development.

Geography

Mountain House lies on the foothills of the Diablo Range, and close to the Altamont Pass which is over 1000 feet in elevation. It is on the border of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 3.2 square miles, all of it land. The community is bisected by Mountain House Creek. Mountain House Creek originates south of the Altamont Pass and Interstate 580, flowing northeasterly along and crossing under the interstate, then along Grant Line Road to the intersection with Mountain House Road at the historic Alameda County Mountain House. The creek continues northeasterly through the residential communities of Mountain House before emptying into the Old River, a distributary of the San Joaquin River.

Climate

The average temperature in the summer ranges from the 90s to 100s. Heatwaves occur often as Mountain House is located in the western San Joaquin valley. Average lows in winter range from 20° to 30°. Winters are freezing cold and wet. High wind conditions are normal. Average wind speed about 25 mph in the summer, and 20 mph in the winter. Gusts are often above 60 mph.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Mountain House had a population of 9,675. The population density was 3,030.8 people per square mile. The racial makeup was 3,467 White, 903 African American, 45 Native American, 3,830 Asian, 71 Pacific Islander, 663 from other races, and 696 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,637 persons.
The Census reported that 9,675 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized.
There were 2,807 households, out of which 1,676 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,985 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 227 had a female householder with no husband present, 151 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 186 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 31 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 299 households were made up of individuals and 18 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.45. There were 2,363 families ; the average family size was 3.73.
The population was spread out with 3,351 people under the age of 18, 501 people age 18 to 24, 3,780 people ages 25 to 44, 1,676 people ages 45 to 64, and 367 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males.
There were 3,237 housing units at an average density of 1,014.0 per square mile, of which 2,205 were owner-occupied, and 602 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.6%. 7,444 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,231 people lived in rental housing units.

Government

The Mountain House Community Services District is the local government and is governed since 2008 by 5 elected board members who live in the community and a general manager Before 2008, the MHCSD was governed by the San Joaquin County Supervisors. The MHCSD has 18 primary powers which include providing police, fire, library services, water, sewer, garbage, public recreation, road maintenance, street lights, graffiti abatement, CC&R enforcement, etc... Unlike incorporated cities, the MHCSD does not have power over land use or economic development.
The current board members are President Bernice Tingle, VP Andy Su, Directors Dan Harrison, Manny Moreno and Brian Lucid.
The current general manager is Steve Pinkerton who started in August 2019.

Education

Elementary schools

Students in Mountain House are served by the Lammersville Joint Unified School District or LUSD. Mountain House children attend five LUSD K-8 elementary schools: Wicklund, Bethany, Questa, Altamont and Hansen. A 6th school, Julius Cordes Elementary School, is set for construction start in January/February 2019 and completion in August 2020.
Lammersville Elementary is a K-8 school in unincorporated San Joaquin County, that is part of the LUSD.
Mountain House Elementary School, which is a K-8 school in unincorporated Alameda County, with a student body of approximately 50, run by the independent Mountain House Elementary School District.

Higher education

is a new high school that opened in 2014. The school mascot is the Mustang and the school colors are royal blue and silver. Sports teams compete in the Western Athletic Conference. MHHS received the California Distinguished School Award in 2019.
A satellite campus of San Joaquin Delta College opened in August 2009 in Mountain House.

Media

is a monthly publication about Mountain House, its people and activities. It was founded in September 2012 by resident Bryan Harrison and mailed to each house in Mountain House.
The Tracy Press is a weekly newspaper that covers Tracy and Mountain House and has operated since the 19th century.
The Record is a daily paper that covers the San Joaquin County area.

Transportation

The nearest railway station is in Tracy, operated by Altamont Corridor Express. Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority provides bus service to Hacienda Business Park and the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. San Joaquin RTD provides van service to the Tracy Transit Center.