Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United States / San Jose / Hayes Mansion San Jose, Curio Collection by Hilton
Hayes Mansion San Jose, Curio Collection by Hilton
San Jose, California, United States · Curio Collection · Near Luxury
George Page's 1905 Mediterranean villa for Mary Folsom Hayes Chynoweth and her sons Everis and Jay is a 62-room Maltese-cross house with double brick walls and third-floor water tanks, built after an 1899 fire. The estate ran its own power plant, post office, and chapel; the Hayes brothers later published the San Jose Mercury. A 1994 restoration and a 2020 Curio flag after a $20 million renovation brought the mansion back as a conference hotel.
- 62 rooms
- Opened 1905
- Neighborhood: Edenvale
- Architect: George Page
About Hayes Mansion San Jose, Curio Collection by Hilton
- The mansion joined Hilton's Curio Collection in 2020 following a $20 million renovation, three decades after its 1994 restoration first reopened it as a hotel.
- Fire-safety engineering included double brick walls, a stucco exterior, and hose cabinets fed by third-floor water tanks.
- The Hayes brothers became San Jose Mercury publishers and figures in the Santa Clara Valley fruit industry.
History
Hayes Mansion in San Jose traces its story to 1905, when architect George Page designed the 62-room, 41,000-square-foot Mediterranean villa for Mary Folsom Hayes Chynoweth and the families of her two sons, Everis and Jay Hayes. Built in the Santa Clara Valley after fire destroyed the family’s earlier Queen Anne house in 1899, the mansion was conceived as a triple residence and engineered with unusual fire-safety precautions, including double brick walls, a stucco exterior, hose cabinets linked to third-floor water tanks, and a separate kitchen connected by a glass-and-marble conservatory. Its plan is shaped like a Maltese cross, with a long central section, an 18-foot solarium, and a loggia joining the wings.
The Hayes family’s estate was more than a home. According to the National Park Service, the grounds operated as a fully self-sustaining complex with its own power plant, post office, railroad station, carriage stop, men’s dormitory for ranch hands, and chapel. Mary Chynoweth died before the house was finished, but the property still became a center of Santa Clara County society, tied to the Hayes brothers’ later roles as San Jose Mercury publishers, political figures, and participants in the development of the Santa Clara Valley fruit industry.
After the Hayes brothers sold the property in the 1950s, the mansion stood empty and deteriorated for decades. A successful renovation in 1994 returned the house to active use, and today it operates as a conference hotel. The National Park Service describes it as one of the finest examples of late 19th-century architecture in the Santa Clara Valley, a reputation that has helped preserve the building’s identity even as its function changed.
The setting
7 miles from downtown San Jose.
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- National Register of Historic Places
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