The Blue Hills neighborhood in Saratoga is highly regarded for its natural beauty, well designed homes, excellent public schools, parks, and good commute location. From this community it’s a quick jaunt to coffee shops, restaurants, parks, trails, and shopping.
Interested in Blue Hills neighborhood real estate? Scroll to the bottom of this article and you’ll see a list of homes for sale or recently sold in and nearby this corner of Saratoga
Where is the Blue Hills neighborhood?
The Blue Hills neighborhood is found in the northeastern part of Saratoga, close to Cupertino.
Most sources consider the Blue Hills neighborhood to be bordered by Saratoga-Sunnyvale to the west, Prospect Road to the north, Highway 85 to the east, and Cox Avenue and the railroad tracks to the south. Blue Hills Elementary School is found within this area as well. It includes the Greenbrier subdivision and part of the Summerplace subdivision (the other section is north of Hwy 85).
But the boundaries are a little squishy! The Blue Hills School attendance area is much broader, stretching well past Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and encompassing this whole area of Saratoga with Cupertino schools (part has this school as the default, and Lincoln as an option).
Additionally, there is a subdivision named Blue Hills of Saratoga off of Prospect Road with 69 houses. It’s now artificially separated from the rest of the Blue Hills neighborhood by the freeway, which cut through this area in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A large portion of the neighborhood includes the Greenbrier subdivision and homeowner’s association. Adjacent residential areas include Prides Crossing (mostly with the same Cupertino schools, but some of it is in the Saratoga Union School District) and the Golden Triangle, among others.
Commute:
While the schools are a major draw for the Blue Hills neighborhood, so is the easy access to major commuting routes. From Blue Hills Elementry to the onramp to northbound Highway 85 it is approximately 1.3 miles, or a 5 minute drive. It’s about a 15 minute car ride to Apple Park, an 18 minute trip to Google in Mountain View, and about a half hour to Meta headquarters in Menlo Park – times “without traffic”.
Public Schools:
The Blue Hills neighborhood is served by highly sought-after Cupertino schools: Blue Hills Elemenatry School, Miller Middle, and Lynbrook High.
What are homes like in the Blue Hills neighborhood?
There are 504 single family homes, according to Realist, and the neighborhood was developed from 1946 – 2025 by a number of builders and features a few distinctive subdivisions. While there are a handfull of duplexes and conod-townhomes (more on those below), single family homes make up a majority of the area.
The average Blue Hills home is about 2,370 SqFt 4 bedroom with 2 – 3 (over a quarter are 2.5 bath) bathrooms and built around 1970 (or from the 1960s – 1970s). In all, homes range in size from a cozy 896 SqFt to the expansive 4,405 SqFt, from 2 – 6 bedrooms, and 1 – 5 bathrooms.
If you want a feel for the wide variety of homes in this community, take a drive along Sea Gull Way, which has some of the smallest and largest homes in Blue Hills. The smallest homes were almost all built in the 1950s, many on Sea Gull Way. The largest homes are almost all individual rebuilds since the 1980s, although Greenbrier has a high number of larger homes as well.
Like much of Saratoga, the lots tend to be large – the median lot size is 11,200 SqFt. The largest lots are around half an acre (the largest is 22,500 SqFt, so 0.517 Acre). The smallest lots are within the Harvest Lane community, built in 2002, with the smallest listed as 3,204 SqFt. That follows a trend you’ll see across the valley: shrinking lot sizes as property values and demands increase.
Most homes are ranch style, though there’s variety in that, too. You can find classic midcentury ranch as well as contemporary modern-minimalist, Spanish, farmhouse, colonial, and other ecclectic styles. There are 307 single-story and 374 two-story homes, according to the Realist county records. Of those two-story, there are both standard two-story and split-level homes. Some of the single-story homes are U-shaped, featuring a front courtyard.
While most homes have a standard 2-car garage, there are some 3-car garages, mostly within Greenbrier, as well as a few homes (less than 3%) with no garage, a carport, or a detached garage (mostly 1950s).
You can also find a lot of pool homes within Blue Hills: about 40% enjoy a pool and spa, according to the Realist county records.
Many or most of the streets have underground utilities, which really makes the neighborhood feel more uplifted.
Saratoga is a semi-rural city, so here, as with most of the city, there are no sidewalks and few, if any, street lamps. If you love seeing the stars at night, you will appareciate it!
Named Subdivisions and HOAs
As you can see in the map above, there are a number of named subdivisions within Blue Hills, including: Greenbrier, Summerplace (split by 85), the Azule Homesites, Kirkmont of Saratoga, Saratoga Estates, Blossom View of Saratoga, Harvest Lane, and three townhome communities including Park Saratoga.
Worth noting, the Blue Hills of Saratoga subdivision is not within the area we’re covering as the Blue Hills neighborhood. When built, the Blue Hills of Saratoga Subdivision was probably interwoven with the area we think of today, though. With Highway 85 present, though, they are distinct.
Both Greenbrier and Harvest Lane are HOA communities. The HOA fees appear to be relatively small, based on past sales information, and neither are tied to a cabana or clubhouse or other facility, though Harvest Lane is a private road. Common facilities for the condo-townhome communities are touched on in the next part.
Townhome Condos
There are 3 townhome complexes in Blue Hills, all enjoying attached garages, indoor laundry, and private yards:
The Park Saratoga community is the largest with 65 townhomes built in 1979 along Atrium Drive, Atrium Circle, and a little bit on Kirkmont. Homes in this community are 2 or 3 bedroom (1,170 – 2,010 SqFt, median 1,562 SqFt) and mostly 2.5 bath. The single story units, which comprise about 37% of the community, don’t have a half-bath. Patio sizes vary, but some are quite large, and a few single story units have a small private courtyard in addition to the backyard. All units were built with a fireplace and 2-car garage (some with long driveways). Units enjoy indoor laundry, and many owners have added A/C. Community amenities include pool and spa, park-like green belts, and dedicated guest parking spaces.
Built in 2014 / 2015 the Marigny Place complex by TimeSpace Square LLC with 12 townhome-style condos on the north side of Marigny Pl. There are just 2 floorplans, the smaller 2,153 SqFt 3 bed 2.5 bath and the larger 2,292 SqFt 4 bed 3.5 bath. Surprisingly, these also have the smallest garages of the 3 complexes (though they still fit 2 cars).
Built in 2017 the Saratoga Lane complex by SummerHill Homes has a total of 12 townhome-style condos with private yards. These are on the south side of Marigny Pl. (2,320 – 2,335 SqFt) just the 2 floorplans, larger is the 4 bed 3.5 bath, smaller is the 3 bed 2.5 bath
All 3 of these communities are close to commercial and office buildings along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd. Although the younger communities have larger homes and fresher features, they are more tightly packed together with no community features. As of today, both Park Saratoga and Saratoga Lane have approximately 66% owner occupancy, while Marigny Place is around 83%.
Duplexes
There are a handfull of duplexes on Zorka Ave in Azule Homesites 02, mostly built in 1953. Most are not owner occupied. The original floorplan appears to have been 1,536 SqFt, single story with attached 2-car garage and fireplace. There’s little information about the features of these properties (the records don’t even indicate how many bedrooms and bathrooms they have), and all recent sales have been off-market.
Parks and trails
This corner of Saratoga has a lot to offer for those wishing to spend time outdoors! Right in the neighborhood is the Azule walking park, and a footbridge over 85 connects it to the much larger Kevin Moran Park in Prides Crossing (see that article for many photos of Kevin Moran Park). Additionally, there’s a 1.6 mile pedestrian and bicycle path along the train line: Joe’s Trail at Saratoga De Anza. (There are two disconnected sections of the trail due to some right of way issues between the segments.)
Other neighborhood amenities
Along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd you will find a variety of restaurants, medical offices, spas and salons, art schools, dance and martial arts studios, and more. Just a stones throw north or south and you get other amenities like Safeway, CVS, Saratoga Hardware, HMart, Trader Joes, and Home Depot, or local favorites like Yamagami’s Nursery.
Blue Hills neighborhood – what’s the history behind the name?
There’s not a lot of information that we could find on the reason for the name. One that came up several times is that there’s a bluish tint to the low hills. There are many “blue” area names nearby, including Azul and Azule (blue) names. The oldest reference that we could find was to the Azule Mineral Springs that used to exist off of Mt. Eden Road in around 1900, you can see a historic photo here.
The Blue Hills Shopping Center has been at the southwest corner of Prospect Road and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road since at least the 1950s. It has housed businesses like Blue Hills Realtors (1950s). The Blue Hills Pharmacy may have been there as well.
Axule and Azul (both meaning blue) are found in nearby names, too, such as Azule Park, the Azule Homesites, and Azule Crossing (commercial buildings).
Are there any issues or negatives to consider?
Every home, lot, and neighborhood has both pros and cons. The pros for the Blue Hills neighborhood are numerous: great schools, easy commute location, great parks, nearby shops and eateries, and neighborhorhood perks. The negatives for real estate there are also location-based and will vary depending on where in the community someone lives or visits.
While there are a number of cul-de-sacs, which many buyers and homeowners love, these tend to be along the outer edge of the neighborhood, so closer to buys streets or the freeway, to the high voltage lines and train tracks, and / or closer to non-residential neighbors (restaurants, office complexes, schools).
Negatives: Busy Roadways, Railroad, High Voltage Lines, Water
The freeway is usually the first negative a visitor will notice when visiting Azule Walking Park or one of the freeway-adjacent homes. Noise and air pollution are both very real concerns for those living next to any freeway, and even other busy roads, like Prospect, Cox, and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Roads.
But the roads aren’t the only transit through this community. Union Pacific Railroad’s Vasona Industrial Lead may seem defunct because it’s so rare to see a train, but it’s still an active rail line. Trains are infrequent and slow – it’s a frieght line with a maximum speed of 5-10mph. There are crossings at Cox and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd, both with crossing gates and bells.
A more obvious nuissance along the tracks are the towering PG&E high voltage (230kV) transmission lines, which follow the Union Pacific tracks. Smaller high voltage lines (60kV) run along Cox and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Roads adjacent to the neighborhood.
Two creeks pass through the neighborhood: Rodeo Creek, which cuts right through the middle, and Calabazas Creek, which just touches the corner at the southeast corner of Prospect and Saratoga-Sunnyvale. Rodeo Creek runs across the backyards of about 30 homes and passes beside, or in front of, over a dozen more. There are pros and cons to living in front of, or beside, creeks which we cover in our “Creek behind the house?” post.
And commercial neighbors can also be a source of noise, smells, bugs, and pollution. Restaurants may put out the smell of barbecue or cooking oils, and commercial dumpsters could be a feeding ground for rodents and cockroaches. Back-up beepers from early morning deliveries at hardware and grocery stores might become your wake-up alarm. And gyms and studios might be a source of noise from amplified music or enthusiastic coaches. A quieter neighbor across the street on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd is the Alameda Family Funeral Home with an on-site crematorium.
Lastly, it is surprising, but many of the front yards and particularly the lawns in this area are not well kept. This may be an eyesore and may potentially reduce the value of homes impacted by it. Some buyers may not care, of course.
The negatives listed aren’t all found throughout the area, they are just things to be aware of when shopping for a home there.
Real estate and homes for sale in and near the Blue Hills neighborhood
(Our mapping program is a little off, but these homes below should all be in Saratoga and with Cupertino schools.)
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Related reading:
Saratoga (an intro, this website)
The Bellgrove neighborhood in Saratoga (this website)
