The Shinn House stands in Shinn Historical Park and Arboretum at 1251 Peralta Blvd. in Fremont. Tri-City Voice reports that James and Lucy Shinn’s home was finished in 1876, which makes 2026 its 150th year. The family of seven had spent their first two decades in California in a one-room cottage on the banks of Alameda Creek, built in the 1850s. That cottage can still be seen off the park’s parking lot.
A nursery family
According to Tri-City Voice, the Shinns ran a horticultural nursery in the 1870s and 1880s. They sold fruit trees, roses, berries, vines and ornamentals, including bamboo, irises and tea plants from Japan. After the nursery closed in the late 1880s, the family turned to orchards. Three of the children became known in their own right. Charles was the first head ranger of the Sierra National Forest. Milicent was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, for work in child development. Joseph helped found the Alameda County Water District. The house’s website quotes Charles writing in 1887 that the place was “our bit of Connecticut planted in California.”
National Register nomination
The Historic Shinn House website says the State Historical Resources Commission approved on Feb. 6, 2026, the nomination of the “Shinn Ranch Farmstead” to the National Register of Historic Places. The Big House, Shinn Cottage, Bungalow and Chinese Bunkhouse are listed as contributing buildings.
Tours
Bay Area Historic House Museums and Tri-City Voice list docent-led open houses on the first Wednesday and third Sunday of each month, 1 to 3 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Check the house’s website before you go.
For another Fremont farm with history, see our Ardenwood guide. The Alameda Creek Trail runs nearby.