Hayward's Historic Houses Close for November, Then Open Together in December
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Both October open days at Hayward's two museum houses have passed. McConaghy House on Hesperian Boulevard is closed in November, and so is Meek Mansion on Boston Road. Then the first week of December brings three free lighting evenings on three nights in a row, three Saturdays of garden tours at Meek Estate Park, and extra holiday hours at both houses.
Two organizations run that December week. The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, known as H.A.R.D., owns the grounds and runs the lights evenings. The Hayward Area Historical Society, HAHS, runs the interiors at McConaghy House and Meek Mansion. If you want to see the lights and also go inside, you need to follow both calendars.
The regular schedule at both houses is lean. McConaghy House opens for self-guided tours of the first and second floors on the second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a suggested $5 donation. Its 2026 open days ended October 10. Meek Mansion offers self-guided first-floor tours on its own monthly dates, also 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a suggested $5 donation. Its last regular 2026 date was October 3.
The only scheduled way inside either house in November is the Paranormal Investigation at Meek Mansion, run by HAHS from 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, to 1 a.m. Investigators lead attendees through all non-restricted areas of the mansion. Tickets must be bought in advance, and the event is for ages 18 and up.
H.A.R.D.'s seasonal programming begins on Saturday, November 21, with a Pop-Up Holiday Boutique from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kenneth C. Aitken Senior & Community Center. After that weekend, the next dates on the calendar are the lighting nights.
H.A.R.D. lists all three evenings as free, family-friendly, and rain or shine, with live entertainment, festive music, crafts, and refreshments.
| Night | House | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Dec. 1 | Mt. Eden Mansion | 2451 W. Tennyson Road | 5:30–7:30 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Dec. 2 | McConaghy House | 18701 Hesperian Blvd., in McConaghy Park | 5:30–7:30 p.m. |
| Thursday, Dec. 3 | Meek Mansion | Meek Estate Park, 240 Hampton Road | 5:30–7:30 p.m. |
The events fall on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and each runs two hours starting at 5:30. That fits after work or school. The three sites are spread across Hayward, from West Tennyson Road up through the Hesperian corridor to Cherryland, so you can attend one, two, or all three.
The 2026 listings from H.A.R.D. describe the outdoor program: lights, music, crafts, and refreshments. They do not say whether visitors can go inside any of the houses.
Past years have included interior access, but each year's arrangement has been announced separately. For the 2025 lighting at McConaghy House, HAHS invited visitors to take a self-guided tour inside the houses, have hot cocoa, and play games while waiting for the lights to come on. That event was a partnership with H.A.R.D. In 2024, H.A.R.D. said Mt. Eden Mansion would be open for tours during its lighting.
Neither of those notices carries over to 2026. If going inside matters to you, watch the HAHS calendar as December gets closer. HAHS also lists "additional hours in December for the holidays" at both McConaghy House and Meek Mansion but had not posted the dates as of mid-October.
The three houses tell different stories, and the Meek story is the one most tied to the streets around it.
Mt. Eden Mansion, December 1. H.A.R.D. operates and maintains this building, and it also rents rooms there for events. The facility page notes on-site parking. Since it is a rentable venue and not a house museum, the lighting night is one of the few public evenings scheduled there.
McConaghy House, December 2. Neal McConaghy had the house built in 1888, and his family lived in it until 1972. The parks department acquired it in July 1973, and HAHS restored it and opened it for docent tours in July 1976. That means one family lived there for more than 84 years, and the house has been a public museum for 50 years. According to HAHS, free parking is next to the house and along Hesperian Boulevard, and the house is not wheelchair accessible.
Meek Mansion, December 3. William Meek built the mansion in 1869. By then he owned about 3,000 acres, from what is now Mission Boulevard to Hesperian Boulevard and to just past Winton Avenue. The area became known as Cherryland because of the many cherry trees he planted. The HAHS history page says that in 1964 the mansion was slated to be razed for a housing development. H.A.R.D. bought the estate with citizen backing, and the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Inside are 23 rooms on three floors, plus a watchtower. HAHS describes the house as generally Italianate, though it notes the style "does not have one word." HAHS also says restoration has begun but is "still years, and dollars, away," with full restoration estimated at about $2 million.
Two addresses apply at Meek. HAHS lists the house at 17365 Boston Road, and H.A.R.D. lists Meek Estate Park at 240 Hampton Road. HAHS notes free parking in the lot and on nearby streets. H.A.R.D. finished renovating and expanding the park's parking lot in summer 2020. The mansion is wheelchair accessible on the first floor only.
The lights nights are on weekdays. The Saturdays that follow bring the farm history at Meek into daylight.
H.A.R.D. lists garden tours at the Alameda County Agricultural History Center in Meek Estate Park on Saturdays, December 5, 12, and 19, each from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The program covers the Carriage House Museum and Demonstration Garden: antique farming equipment, a horse carriage, food history and growing practices, vermicomposting, and seeds you plant and take home. Those exhibits sit on part of the same land Meek once farmed with cherry, apricot, plum, and almond orchards.
December 5 also has a second H.A.R.D. event, The Holiday Drop: Youth Maker's Market, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at San Felipe Community Center. Here is one way to fit both into that Saturday:
If December 5 doesn't work, the garden tour repeats on December 12 and December 19.
Bookmark both haywardrec.org and the HAHS calendar before Thanksgiving. HAHS will post the interior hours, and H.A.R.D. posts the outdoor events.
Most of Meek's 3,000 acres were sold off gradually in small parcels before 1940, and that land ran from what is now Mission Boulevard to Hesperian Boulevard. If a December evening on Hesperian or Hampton gets you wondering about the house you own nearby, and you'd like a clear, no-pressure picture of what your Hayward home is worth this season, Bert Aranda will put one together for you. Get a Free Home Valuation.
Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact me today.