Articles about ‘Foothill Areas’
Saturday, June 11th, 2011
If you arrived into Silicon Valley via Highway 101, driving south from San Francisco, you might believe that the Santa Clara Valley, the San Jose area and Silicon Valley as a whole has got to seem to be the ugliest place on earth. Although heavily traveled, that is not the “scenic route”.
So, too, if you are looking for a place to live and are groping to find a place that is reasonably priced, fairly safe and not a terrible commute distance. You might not even have “is nice looking” on your wish list. You might not think it’s possible if all you ever see are the ugly concrete tilt-up buildings in north San Jose, Santa Clara, Alviso, or anywhere along the 237 corridor. That area is an architectural wasteland.
Let me assure you: there are a lot of beautiful places in Silicon Valley where you can rent or buy a home. But how do you find them? It helps a lot to have a local give you a few pointers. I’ll give you some tips today on finding a scenic place to live.
Hills – An easy way to find a scenic location to make your home is to settle near the hills, especially those in the west valley (the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Coastal Range) as they are green year-round. Communities at the base of the west valley foothills include, in Santa Clara County, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, and the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. All of these areas are adjacent to the hills or mountains and offer far better than average schools (many of them qualify as great – compare costs between these areas). (more…)
Tags: almaden valley, Almaden Valley (SJ), California, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Monte Sereno, san jose, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, Saratoga, Schools, silicon valley, Silicon Valley real estate, Willow Glen (SJ)
Posted in Almaden Valley (SJ), Alum Rock, Alviso (SJ), Berryessa (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Buying Tips, Cambrian Park (SJ), Cupertino, Evergreen (SJ), Foothill Areas, Local History, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Los Gatos Mountains, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Relocation, Renter tips, Rose Garden area, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Cruz, Santa Teresa (SJ), Saratoga, Senior Living, Willow Glen (SJ) | No Comments »
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the San Jose area has now had more than a “normal” amount of rainfall.
Is that it? After 14 solid days of the wet stuff and most every day in March bringing those fabled showers, it seems like we should be well over the normal amount of rainfall year to date.
Santa Cruz is 110% of normal for rain year to date, according to the National Weather Service. Mount Hamilton is 129%. The San Francisco Airport is 121% of normal.
The Santa Cruz Mountains and nearby western foothill areas of Silicon Valley ike Almaden Valley (San Jose), Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Cupertino, Los Altos Hills and on up the Peninsula all got walloped over these last 2 weeks especially. It’s hard to believe that we are at “just normal”.
But the good news is that this week is supposed to be dry and by late this week temps are supposed to hit the high 70s. Bring it on!
Tags: almaden valley, Almaden Valley (SJ), Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, san jose, Saratoga, silicon valley
Posted in About the Valley of Hearts Delight, Foothill Areas | No Comments »
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
With our 300 sunny days per year in Silicon Valley (at least most years!), golf is a sport enjoyed year round here in the San Jose area. Living near a golf course, or having a golf course view, is highly desirable as it provides scenic open space as well as convenience for avid golfers.
Silicon Valley Golf Homes, Silicon Valley Golf Properties
There are beautiful courses throughout the South Bay Area and it’s possible to find small condos with views of them at fairly affordable prices (Sunnyvale’s Sunken Gardens area is one of them). Today, though, I want to provide a list of homes for sale near golf courses in the foothill areas of Silicon Valley. Many of these will also be luxury homes. So the MLS list of these houses on the market which you can browse includes these areas:
San Jose areas including Evergreen & Silver Creek, Santa Teresa, Blossom Valley and Almaden; Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Cupertino, and Los Altos.
There are golf courses to be found in other parts of Santa Clara County too (Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and more) – let me know if you are interested in these parts and I can send you a link for searching them for similar residential real estate.
Tags: almaden valley, Almaden Valley (SJ), Blossom Valley, condo, Cupertino, homes for sale, house, houses, listings, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Luxury Homes, Monte Sereno, Real estate, san jose, Santa Clara County, santa teresa foothills, Saratoga, silicon valley, Silicon Valley real estate
Posted in Almaden Valley (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Cambrian Park (SJ), Cupertino, Evergreen (SJ), Foothill Areas, Golf Course Area, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Santa Teresa (SJ), Saratoga | No Comments »
Friday, March 4th, 2011

On Tuesday of this week I was showing some nice folks around the San Jose area. As part of our tour, we stopped in at Valley Christian High School (south San Jose – Santa Teresa area). The sky was clear and the views spectacular! (Disclaimer – in this photo, the sky ended up looking white, so I did tinker with the color.)
From here we were looking at the Santa Teresa Foothills ((lowest, closest hills). In front of them are the Santa Teresa & Blossom Valley areas of San Jose. Behind them is Almaden Valley.
Along the coastal range in back, the peak on the far right (with a flat area) is Mt. Umunhum. To the far left, the higher peaks are where you’ll find Loma Prieta.
Tags: almaden valley, Blossom Valley, Mt Umunhum, san jose, Santa Teresa, santa teresa foothills, South San Jose
Posted in About the Valley of Hearts Delight, Blossom Valley (SJ), Foothill Areas, Santa Teresa (SJ) | No Comments »
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
Often I have clients who are interested in purchasing a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in a good school district in Silicon Valley, particularly in the South Bay and West Valley areas. Tonight I did a study on the MLS of homes that have sold and closed escrow in the last 3 – 6 months with these characteristics:
- single family home (house)
- 4 bedrooms
- 2 bathrooms
- 1800 to 2200 square feet of living space
- 6000 to 10,000 sf lot
Disclaimers aside, here are the numbers as I shook them out for select West Valley Communities in the San Jose area with good schools (the first number is the average sales price per square foot, the second number is the average sales price):

The home prices tend to run with the school district API scores. You can check the 2010 API scores in Santa Clara County for both the districts and the individual schools online here. (more…)
Tags: almaden valley, Almaden Valley (SJ), Cambrian, Cambrian Park (SJ), Campbell, Cupertino, home buying, house, listings, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Real estate, real estate market, san jose, Santa Clara County, Saratoga, silicon valley, Silicon Valley real estate
Posted in Almaden Valley (SJ), Cambrian Park (SJ), Campbell, Cupertino, Foothill Areas, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Market Info, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Saratoga | 4 Comments »
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
The Williamson Act, also known as the California Land Conservation Act, was passed by our California Legislature in 1965 in order to encourage rural & agricultural lands to remain undeveloped longer. When land owners enter into a contract under the act, they benefit from lower property taxes, which are based on the property’s current use, rather than paying market value based tax rates. In exchange, the property is to remain undeveloped and continue to function the same way for the duration of that contract. The contracts run for 10 years and are automatically renewed unless the farmer or rancher cancels it.
Why does the Williamson Act matter?
According to the Committee for Green Foothills, there are 362,000 acres of land in Santa Clara County under the Williamson Act (that article appears to have been written in 2003, so the numbers may have changed a little since then). Much of it is in the east foothills of east San Jose and the south county areas near Morgan Hill and Gilroy, but there are patches of it in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley and throughout Silicon Valley. The tax breaks make it possible for many farmers and ranchers to stay in business and not feel forced to sell their land for development. If they were paying “market rate” taxes, it would not be long before most or all of our rural and agricultural uses gave way to housing and other development.
(more…)
Tags: almaden valley, Cupertino, farm, Gilroy, Los Gatos, morgan hill, open space, orchard, ranch, san jose, Santa Clara County, Williamson Act
Posted in About the Valley of Hearts Delight, Almaden Valley (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Businesses in Silicon Valley, East San Jose (SJ), Foothill Areas, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County (all) | No Comments »
Saturday, October 9th, 2010
What makes a Silicon Valley house a luxury home? How is high end real estate different from the rest of the market? When is a property not just a home with land, but an estate?
In other parts of the U.S., spending $700,000 may fetch a 4000 square foot home, new construction, in an upscale gated community with country club amenities such as a golf course, tennis courts, and more. Here, that same $700,000 will procure an entry to mid-level single family home in many parts of Santa Clara County.
Luxury connotes a combination of qualities, features, and amenities. And it includes pricing (relative to the nearby market), condition, land, design.
Pricing Luxury Homes in Silicon Valley: What Do They Cost?
Expensive Silicon Valley homes are not necessarily luxury homes. Depending on the city or town, the price tag could be higher or lower. For instance, a fabulous house on a large lot in Gilroy’s Eagle Ridge might sell for 1/3 as much as the identical type of home, land and neighborhood found in Saratoga, Monte Sereno, or Los Gatos, or Los Altos, if a similar home happened to be available. Generally, though, luxury homes could cost as little as $1,000,000 or so in some parts of Silicon Valley or in neighboring counties, but in most parts of Silicon Valley, a true estate type property will be valued at $2,000,000 or $3,000,000 or more. In some areas, such as Palo Alto, that $2 million doesn’t go too far and the home you can purchase at that price tag may need major updating – or it could be “land value”. For our purposes today, we’ll use $2 million as the bottom number for estate properties, but it may or may not be the case in some areas.
(more…)
Tags: almaden valley, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Luxury Homes, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, san jose, Saratoga, Silicon Valley real estate, Silver Creek
Posted in Almaden Valley (SJ), Cupertino, Foothill Areas, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Luxury Homes, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Palo Alto, Saratoga | 1 Comment »