Mountain House is a planned community in San Joaquin County, California. Mountain House is northwest of Tracy, 15 miles east of Livermore, 0.5 miles from Interstate 580, and about east of San Francisco. The population was 24,499 at the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Mountain House as a census-designated place (CDP).
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 a 30-year period by the Master Developer Trimark Communities. The community covers 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 and still continues at a high rate.
As of today, Mountain House includes the established villages of Wicklund, Bethany, Altamont, and Questa, along with the developing villages of Hansen, Cordes, and College Park. Some 15,000 households or approximately 45,000–50,000 people are anticipated when Mountain House is fully completed.
Milestones
November 10, 1994 – Mountain House project approved by San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. May 14, 2001 – Trimark breaks ground on Mountain House project. January 18, 2003 – First home foundation poured. August 24, 2004 – Wicklund Elementary School opens. MHCSD opens an office at Wicklund Elementary School. November 6, 2007 – Mountain House votes to form an independent board for the MH Community Services District (MHCSD). December 7, 2007 – The San Joaquin Delta College satellite campus site is annexed to Mountain House CSD through a public-private partnership with developer Gerry N. Kamilos. November 2008 – Noted for having the highest percentage of underwater mortgages in the U.S. November 2008 – First independent board of the MHCSD was elected. August 17, 2009 – Delta College Mountain House Campus opens. June 8, 2010 – Voters approve unification of Lammersville Unified School District. January 2011 – 15-year-old resident Thia Megia becomes youngest finalist ever on American Idol. July 2012 – Mountain House High School breaks ground. March 2013 – New development announced for Questa and Altamont Villages. August 2014 – Mountain House High School opens. June 2015 – Drought conditions place Mountain House water supply at risk. September 2018 – Mountain House breaks ground on town hall complex. March 2020 – Town Hall and Library opens June 2021 – Safeway breaks ground on the town center, which is a retail shopping center. January 12, 2022 - A large retail center opens in Cordes Village, which would be including a pizza place, sandwich shop, dental office, and jiu-jitsu studio, since new businesses have moved there and lots of changes happened. December 2022 – Safeway opens a 55,562-square-foot supermarket in Mountain House.