The popular Glencrest neighborhood in Almaden includes both the Glencrest patio homes as well as larger houses on regular lots and streets.

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 community enjoys a shared pool. 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).

The more modest patio or zero lot line properties are found on the inside streets and have about 6,000 SF lots – the streets are Quail Creek Circle, Mountain Quail Circle, and Quail Cove Way.

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

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

“No parking on sidewalk side of the streets.” It’s easy to miss, and some of the no parking signs next to the sidewalks are obscured by vegetation. A drive down these roads, though, is enough to convince most of us that they are too narrow for parking on both sides of the street.  The roads do feel a bit constricted. Having cars park on only one side, plus driveways or garages, sometimes gives this area a congested or crowded feeling.

Because the Glencrest patio homes are smaller, they are more affordable. Many people consider them entry level houses for Williams Elementary School. For this reason, real estate sales in the Glencrest area often command surprisingly high prices given that structures are built on one of the property lines and that there are no windows on that side of the home. In the  houses below, you can see that the walls on the left side of the 3 homes shown have no windows. That side is directly on the property line. (In Evergreen, I’ve seen zero lot line houses that did have glass bricks on the lot line side of the home – at least it brought light in.)

There are some negatives to any area. Here, the interior streets are narrow, and of course a zero lot line is not ideal since it’s harder to monitor what’s happening on the side of the house where you cannot go without entering your neighbor’s yard. And to be frank, staring at a 2 story solid wall of stucco is not very pleasant, either. The houses are close together and in some areas, very very close together.  (Some homes are single story, but many have 2 stories.)

Water and hillside locations don’t help homes, so it’s important to manage drainage effectively.

Most of the houses have a pronounced “garage forward” style, and most of the homes are oriented primarily to the side yard rather than the backyard.

The pros are huge: fantastic schools, great builder, newer construction, underground utilities, shared pool facility, wonderful Almaden location with views of the hills around every corner.

If privacy is a priority for you, you may love it that visitors must first go through a gate to approach your front door. Behind the gate is the side and back yards, though – there’s no separation with this layout.

Glencrest houses and Glencrest Patio Homes for sale and recently sold

See all Glencrest in the Williams area of Almaden Valley, California Real Estate.
(all data current as of 12/6/2023)

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