Mary Pope-Handy and Clair Handy 408 204-7673 mary@popehandy.com

Patio Homes or Zero Lot Line Houses in Silicon Valley

by | Jan 26, 2026 | Home Types, Most Popular Articles, Patio Homes or Zero Lot Line Houses

Not everyone is familiar with the term “patio home” or “zero lot line” house when searching for Silicon Valley real estate.  Awhile back, a listing agent of such a property called me for feedback and when I told her that my clients did not want a zero lot line home, she didn’t know what I was talking about. She had no idea that this term applied to her listing!

So I thought maybe this topic deserved a little more attention.

 

Patio home or zero lot line diagram

 

What does zero lot line mean?

With most houses, the structure is set into the lot or land such that the property boundaries are at least a few feet away on all sides – often 5 or 8 feet.  One common exception is garages in older parts of Willow Glen, Los Gatos, downtown San Jose, etc., where often these buildings were set directly against the property line on one or two sides.

When a house is right up against the property line, directly on the line, that’s referred to as a zero lot line and is usually referred to as a patio home.  To view that wall, you’d literally have to go onto your neighbor’s lot to have a look.  Although this is not terribly uncommon in dense, urban areas, it’s fairly infrequent in Silicon Valley.

Why are homes designed on zero lot line properties?  The main reason is to increase the density while providing more yard to the home owner.  Rather than having two 8′ side yards, perhaps you’ll have one much larger 16′ yard.

Interestingly, these houses do not always sell for less with the zero lot line – at least not that I have been able to discern. (That’s counter-intuitive….)

How can you tell if it’s a zero lot line house?

It should be disclosed in the MLS as such, but often isn’t (sometimes the listing agent doesn’t even know), so you’ll have to look carefully at the neighborhood and the property to see.  Here are some clues: (more…)

Glencrest Patio Homes in the Williams area of Almaden Valley

by | Apr 15, 2022 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Neighborhoods in Almaden, Patio Homes or Zero Lot Line Houses, Williams School area

Glencrest Patio Homes in Almaden, Google Satellite map view

Map data: Google Imagery, Airbus, Maxar Technologies.

The popular Glencrest neighborhood in Almaden includes both the Glencrest patio homes as well as the Glencrest Estates properties, which are larger houses on larger lots. Today we’ll focus on the patio homes in particular.

Glencrest Patio Homes – quick facts

  • There are 223 houses in the Glencrest patio homes community
  • There are 4 tracts: 6900, 7711, 7712, and 7713
  • Home sizes run from 1,612 square feet to 3,253 SF – typical is 2,200  – 2,400 SF
  • Lot sizes range from 5,000 SF to 13,440 – typical is around 6,000 SF
  • Construction was completed between 1987 and 1981
  • The patio or zero lot line properties are found on the inside streets (of the pentagram shape) and have about 6,000 SF lots. (The outside is the estates.)
  • Streets included are Quail Creek Circle, Mountain Quail Circle, and Quail Cove Way.
  • Looking for the Glencrest Patios Owners Association? Here’s the link to it!

This corner of Almaden is located at the end of Serenity Way near Glenview Park and Cathedral Park in the Williams area. The Glencrest patio homes area is shaped like a pentagram (a five sided object) so is easy to spot on the map.

The patio homes community enjoys a shared pool with the Glencrest Estates homes. The joint venture is run by Glencrest Recreation. The outside ring of homes are single family houses on large, normal lots of about 10,000 to 13,000 square feet (on Valley Quail Circle, Hollow Lake).

All of the Glencrest homes were built by Shapell, a company which is known for a very high quality. Most were built in 1987 or 1988.

The big draws for these homes are as follows:

  • Top Almaden schools are close by: Williams Elementary, Bret Harte Middle, and Leland High School
  • Shapell is a highly regarded builder, perhaps the most valued in Santa Clara County
  • The Glencrest area homes, whether on normal lots or zero lot line / patio homes, are fairly young by local standards

Glencrest Patio Homes

 

2022-03 Glencrest Patio Homes entrance

 

As you enter the interior part of the neighborhood, a small sign has some important information for anyone in a vehicle:

(more…)

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