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Three Woodside families donated nearly $9 million to the Woodside School Foundation to buy a historic Victorian house next-door to the elementary school. The foundation plans to transfer the 3.4-acre property to Woodside Elementary School for a potential campus expansion.
Beth Nash, president of the Woodside School Foundation, said that when the house went on sale, it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The house, located at 3215 Woodside Road, was formerly owned by Elwood Veliquette and Norma McArthur Veliquette, whose parents built the property in 1900, according to previous reporting by The Almanac. The McArthurs settled in Woodside around 1870 and are considered one of the town’s pioneering families.
The land was known for its flourishing garden of over 400 rose bushes, fruit trees and vegetables maintained by Elwood, who died at age 94 while working in the rose garden in 2006. While the once-thriving rose garden is now gone, there are still a few fruiting apple and persimmon trees that stand tall on the property.
In recent years, the house was owned by Judith Rice, Veliquette’s daughter, who died in late 2025. The house was passed down to her children and put up for sale in March, according to Nash.
After Rice died, members of the foundation began to discuss what they might do if the house was put on the market. When the for-sale sign went up, school board members and administrators toured the property and realized they had an opportunity to expand the campus, Nash said.
The red barn on the grounds of the Woodside Elementary School Foundation House in Woodside on Sept. 18, 2026. Photo by BeBe Khue Jacobs. 
The school playground is visible through the small red barn on the Woodside Elementary School Foundation House property in Woodside on Sept. 18, 2026. Photo by BeBe Khue Jacobs. 
The Woodside Elementary School Foundation House as seen beyond the school’s tennis courts in Woodside on Sept. 18, 2026. Photo by BeBe Khue Jacobs. 
The grounds of the Woodside Elementary School Foundation House, part of a 3.5-acre property that provides room for the school to expand, in Woodside on Sept. 18, 2026. Photo by BeBe Khue Jacobs.
Prospective buyers had only days before offers were being accepted so the foundation set up an emergency board meeting. A day before the board was set to vote on how they would fund the purchase, three local families approached Nash with a donation of $8.9 million, she said.
“It was incredible. Parents just have such a strong love of the school and want it to be the best that it can be,” Nash said.
After the board voted to accept the donation, an offer on the Veliquette property was quickly made. By April, the Woodside School Foundation were the new owners. The families who donated the money remain anonymous.
As enrollment at Woodside Elementary School continues to grow, acquiring the adjacent 3.4 acres can “significantly change the school’s landscape,” Nash said.
This year, the school welcomed 420 students, about a 13% increase from the 369 students enrolled at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Nash said the district is currently at full capacity, with all classrooms being used, including a newly built wing that opened in August with two transitional kindergarten and three kindergarten classrooms.
Foundation members think the land could be used as an outdoor classroom, for afterschool programs or to expand the school’s existing garden, but discussions about the future use of the property are still preliminary.
For now, the house will be used for foundation board meetings and PTA gatherings.
Nash said the foundation has submitted permits to the town to gauge the possibility of demolishing a few run-down barns behind the house, along with a historical analysis of the property.
