RANDOLPH /Highland Glen
Upscale neighborhood ‘close to so many things’

The Patriot Ledger Area: 10.32 sq. mi.

POPULATION
2000: 30,963
2006: 30,625

Density: 2,878 residents/square mile
Median age: 40
Median household income: $63,959

FINANCES
Tax rate: $9.22 res./ $17.85 comm.
Town budget: $68.36 million
Average water/sewer bill: $697/year

HOUSING
Median home price (# sales)
2007: $306,000 (252)
2008: $279,750 (38 through March)
Median condo price
2007: $209,750 (62)
2008: $187,500 (8 through March)

SCHOOLS
Number of students: 3,450
Number of teachers: 240
H.S. grads to 4-yr. college: 63%
H.S. grads to 2-yr. college: 22%
Median SAT score (2006): 1370

Ann Wickles still remembers her first impression of the garrison colonial on Hemlock Terrace.

“I fell in love with the house the minute I saw it,” she said.

Nearly three decades later, Wickles and her husband, Fred, still live there.

Hemlock Terrace is part of Highland Glen, a neighborhood a short distance from the center of Randolph. The area includes 200 single-family homes which date back to the early 1970s. The northern portion of the area includes apartments, condominiums and senior housing.

William Ander of Kierman Realty in Randolph describes the neighborhood as “luxury, final trade-up homes.”

The houses feature a variety of architectural styles.

Living in Dorchester, the Wickles were looking for something affordable and close to the city, where Fred worked as a carpenter. They found that in Randolph and were able to purchase the eight-room house. “You’re close to so many things,” Ann Wickles said.

Randolph High School, the town’s two supermarkets, and the downtown business district are within walking distance of the neighborhood. Routes 24 and 128 as well as the Randolph/Holbrook MBTA commuter rail station are a short drive away.

The Wickles two children have grown and moved out, as have many of their former neighbors. That’s bringing a change to the neighborhood.

“Now, I’m seeing more younger kids in the neighborhood,” Ann Wickles said. “It’s a friendly neighborhood.”

Growing up in Randolph, Bob Gass remembered when his neighborhood was still woods.

Gass and his wife, Diane, who also grew up in town, were living on North Glenway Avenue and moved to Glovers Brook Road just before the youngest of their three sons was born.

“We moved here because the homes were bigger,” Gass said.

They were the second owners of their three-bedroom, split-level house.

In addition to the location, Gass likes the neighborhood’s racial and ethnic diversity. Residents of the neighborhood “tend to keep their houses up pretty well,” said Gass, and educator who spent 24 years on the town’s school committee.

The split-level on Hemlock Terrace is the third one Richard and Carol Riman have owned.

Richard Riman said they “really got crowded out” of their former house on Michael Road. Then, Rimans’ framing business was home-based, selling their work at area flea markets. The two-car garage on the house was a major selling point, he remembered.

The business grew into The Frame Man, and later moved to its current location on North Main St. The Rimans own it along with their daughter Simone.

The things Riman likes about the neighborhood is “it’s quiet, it’s convenient, and there’s nice people around.”

Ander said the homes in Highland Glen are among the priciest in town. Even with the recent drop in home prices, they would still sell for more than $300,000 and above. “Anyone who has the opportunity and capability, this is the time they should be buying a home,” Ander said.