Creekside Almaden

Creekside Almaden is one of the most affordable neighborhoods of single family homes offering the very most sought after Almaden Schools. For those wanting to purchase a home in a scenic area of San Jose 95120, have a decent sized back patio or yard, but not wanting to buy a condo or townhome, this pocket offers great options!

What are the homes like in Creekside Almaden?

There are 75 single family homes, built in 1985 by KB Homes (Kaufman and Broad). Many of them are detached houses on zero lot lines (also known as “patio homes”). The rest are duet homes, or single family attached, so one adjoined neighbor. (Duet homes are not the same thing as duplexes. You can read about the difference between duet and duplex homes here.)

The zero lot line homes have one wall with no windows (since the house is directly on the property line). Depending on the orientation of the structure, it may feel darker inside than usual. Similarly, since the attached homes have one wall in common, they may also be a little dark feeling, depending on which side faces south or west. If the wall with no windows is north facing, you may  not feel this way at all.

The Creekside Almaden neighborhood properties all have 2 full bathrooms, some also enjoy a half bathroom, and either 2 or 3 bedrooms. Home sizes range from 956 SF to 1538 SF (the U.S. government refers to houses up to 1500 SF as “starter homes”). Some have lofts, many or most enjoy vaulted ceilings and fireplaces. Closets are a decent size due to the relatively younger age of the homes.

Most lots are between 3000 and 4000 SF, with the smallest lot being 2881 and the largest being 4980. The average lot size is 3571. With small lots, there are small frontages, so not a lot of room in front of any given house for cars. Some of the areas feel a little congested with automobile parking for that reason.

A big plus is that all of these houses have 2 car garages and full sized driveways. All are on public streets, with sidewalks, so there’s no HOA and no HOA dues. For many, those are HUGE plusses.

The Creekside Almaden neighborhood area is scenic, with hills visible east and west.

Where is Creekside Almaden?

This neighborhood is located in southern Almaden, just off Almaden Road, south of the expressway but north of the New Almaden community. The streets are Big Sur Drive, Minoru Drive, and a few homes on Martwood Way. On Google Maps, when zoomed out a bit, this area has the label “Creekside South” on it.

There are two tracts that make up Creekside Almaden: Tract 7177 and Tract 7166. I’ve outlined them in the Plat Map below. (Wondering how to make out all the numbers for each parcel? Check out my article: “What is a plat map, and what can you learn from it?“)

Nearby there are other less expensive homes but those have 1 car garages and they do have an HOA (Kiser, Sleepy Creek, and other streets). Those appear to be constructed by the same builder, KB Homes, and are called Creekside Almaden II. I believe that they sell for a little less than this subdivision since there are just 1 car garages and monthly HOA dues which must be paid.

Some other adjacent streets are larger homes on larger lots, they are younger, and they have bigger price tags.

This area is right on the edge of where suburbia hits agricultural land. Directly south of Minoru Drive is a large parcel with 18+ acres which is zoned for agricultural use. (Translation: there may be farm odors, pesticides, etc. now, and in the future, it may be rezoned and turned into houses, condos, or other types of homes.)

What schools serve this Creekside South area?

Per the San Jose Unified School District map, the elementary school is Graystone for Creekside Almaden and nearby streets. Almaden Road appears to be the border between Graystone and Williams. The neighborhood is also goes to Bret Harte Middle and Leland High.

What are the concerns for houses in and near Creekside Almaden?

Every area has pros and cons. Here are a few things to be aware of and check out (or possibly improve, if you are a homeowner there, in some cases) in Creekside Almaden.

This is a hillside area. Drainage is super important to protect your patio, driveway, and the house itself.

I believe that all of these homes were built with Federal Pacific Electric main and sub panels. For a long time, it was not known that some of these could have problems, but now many home inspectors will suggest replacing them since there were some fires.  You can read more about the panels issue here. This is, of course, fixable!

Many (maybe all) of these homes were built with acoustic or popcorn ceilings. Acoustic ceilings pre-1978 or so may have had asbestos in them. Asbestos was no longer allowed when manufacturing that type of material as of 1978, but builders and contractors were allowed to use up supplies that they had, and who knows how long it took them to use all of those materials. The only way to know if asbestos is present is to test it. Aesthetically, the popcorn ceiling look is not loved, so home owners wanting to update their properties may want to get it professionally removed either way.

The parcels are not large, so there’s not a ton of frontage, and sometimes the street can feel crowded with cars. Driveways are full size, and garages are usually big enough for average cars, so some areas look more crowded with autos than others.

Something else to mention is that behind Minoru is agricultural land (not just the adjacent 18 + acre parcel, but several other parcels next to it), and with that kind of land there may be issues. For instance, there could be noise from farm equipment or farm animals. There could be odors if farming is done and the land is fertilized. Pesticides may be present. If horses are present, horse flies may also be present. Be sure to investigate. Because there is a lot of open space, there may be more wildlife issues – everything from rattle snakes to mountain lions.

Additionally, over time large parcels of land sometimes or maybe often convert to housing. Before 1985, this subdivision was probably an orchard or a ranch. We cannot predict what might go in, whether large estate properties or dense townhomes.

What do Creekside Almaden homes cost?

Prices are often on the move, and the list price often is not closely related to the sale price in today’s market. Here are any listings which are active, contingent, pending, or sold within the last 12 months in Creekside Almaden. This is a small K & B development with just 75 homes, so there won’t usually be all that many. As of this writing, many homes are selling 20-30% over list price throughout Almaden if they sell within the first two weeks or so of hitting the market. (Sometimes the list price is a mirage and the delta between list price and sale price will be even more.)

See all Creekside Almaden.
(all data current as of 6/8/2023)

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Interested in buying or selling a home in Creekside Almaden, or anywhere in Santa Clara County? Please reach out to us! We are very diligent and take our fiduciary responsibility seriously with our seller and buyer clients. Best is to email me first, please: mary@popehandy.com.

Related reading
What to consider when buying a hillside home in Silicon Valley
Glencrest Patio Homes in the Williams Area of Almaden Valley
The Almaden Winery neighborhood of San Jose (3 subdivisions, some zero lot line homes included)