These ‘very special’ homes are for sale right next to Hyde Park. Take a look
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- Two historic homes on Boise’s 13th Street near Hyde Park listed for sale in 2025
- Smaller 1896 home pending sale for about $800K; larger 1910 home listed at $1.3M
- Location attracts families, investors and locals drawn to nearby shops and parks
It’s not every day that two homes in one of Boise’s most iconic neighborhoods go up for sale at the same time, right across the street from each other.
But that’s the case on 13th street in the North End, where two houses are listed. Both are well over a century old and bordering the restaurants, cafes and shops in the historic Hyde Park district.
The smaller of the two, a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house painted light blueish-gray with maroon and off-white trim, was built in 1896. The house is shaded by a “champion” bur oak tree in the front yard with a plaque declaring its age — 127 years — to pedestrians passing by on the sidewalk.
Just steps away, on the other side of Alturas Street, is Goody’s Soda Fountain, an old-time ice cream and candy parlor.
The larger home, a blue four-bedroom, four-bathroom house built in 1910 at the corner of 13th and Alturas streets, faces the smaller home on one side and Hyde Park Pub & Grill on the other. It has the original hardwood floors and doors and a detached garage with a 900-square-foot loft apartment above it.
In the yard is a wrap-around treehouse. The 3,144-square-foot home is listed for nearly $1.3 million.
The smaller, 1,936-square-foot home is listed for just under $800,000. But if that’s the one that catches your eye, you’ve may have missed your chance. Its sale is now pending.
Shaun De Yager, managing broker at NextHome Treasure Valley and the listing agent for both homes, said Wednesday that buyers are closing on the smaller house in two weeks. The home had been on the market for about a month and a half, according to De Yager. It was a rare opportunity, he said.
“There’s been some listings on adjacent streets, on 15th there’s one for sale now, and of course Harrison Boulevard every so often has a listing, but they don’t come up for sale very often right on 13th, right next to Hyde Park,” De Yager said by phone. “It’s a really great location.”
De Yager said some of the weekend open houses have been jam-packed with families, prospective buyers and long-term neighbors who have lived in the area for decades, including one who purported to be a descendant of the man who planted the bur oak tree in 1897.
Both homes have close access to Camel’s Back Park and the Foothills. Plus, for families with grade-school kids, North Junior High School is just a few blocks away.
But the proximity to the hustle and bustle in Hyde Park might not appeal to everyone.
“It does take a special kind of buyer to want to live right by all that stuff,” De Yager said. “We’ve had people come by who are like, ‘Oh, I love the house, love the history, but it’s just a little too close to the restaurant.’ And then you have some people who are like, ‘This would be awesome, to sit out on the front porch, get the smells of the restaurants and read a book or people watch.’”
People stop by the tree daily to read the plaque, De Yager said.
“It is such a people-centered area,” he said. “Just the idea of getting out and walking around and meeting and talking to people — that’s what this area is all about.”
Both houses are for sale by the same family, De Yager said. He had originally helped the family, a mother-son duo, buy the homes about a year and a half ago.
He said the adult son lives in the larger house with his family, and the mother lives in the smaller house. But they plan to move out-of-state together, since she helps out frequently with the grandchildren. De Yager joked that they should’ve built a sky bridge across the road to the treehouse.
De Yager said either home would be great for a family, a small business or an investor.
The area is zoned residential, he said, but a buyer could apply to City Hall for a conditional use permit to run a business. The loft apartment in the bigger house could be turned into an Airbnb, he said.
“These are not your normal, cookie-cutter neighborhood homes,” De Yager said. “They’re very special, and not only the historical piece, but the location as well.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
