Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood in Cambrian Park

Close to the Los Gatos border but in San Jose with the 95124 zip code, the Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood enjoys a central neighborhood park, great access to major commute routes, the highly regarded Noddin Elementary School adjacent to one border, plus shopping and dining venues nearby.

Where is the Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood?

The Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood in Cambrian Park stretches from Blossom Hill Road to the West Valley Freeway, also known locally as Highway 85, with Camden Avenue to the east and Harwood Road to the west.

From this corner of Cambrian Park, it’s easy to access Highway 85 at Camden Avenue.  Camden becomes San Tomas Expressway at Highway 880, so many commuters may stay off of freeways entirely.  Blossom Hill Road is parallel to 85 and provides a good route to downtown Los Gatos to the west, or many shopping areas in Blossom Valley such as Oakridge Mall.

Just the other side of Harwood Road is the Glenpark subdivision and the Harwood Estates subdivision. These are still generally in the Lone Hill area, but not Lone Hill Highlands. Kitty corner across Blossom Hill and Harwood is the Walgreen’s Shopping Center with a nice new Starbucks, Los Gatos Pizza, and much more. Just behind that is the Belwood of Los Gatos neighborhood.

Public schools assigned are the very highly regarded Lone Hill Elementary, Union Middle, and Leigh High.

What are homes like in the Lone Hills area of San Jose?

Most of this Cambrian neighborhood consists of single family homes. There are 850 houses (single family homes, detached) and 108 attached single family homes in the Lone Hill Highlands HOA area (not detached houses, and actually held in condo ownership – see darker purple area in the map). Additionally, there are some multifamily homes and apartments.

The houses are mostly in either the Lone Hill Highlands subdivision (with 449 houses) or the Harwood Manor subdivision (401 houses). This area was initially all or at least primarily filled with single story, ranch style houses.

Local Realtors may think of much of this area by Camden, Blossom Hill and Harwood as the Drysdale tract with some whimsical features, such as telltale criss-cross windows, sometimes with shutters that seem to feature a telephone handset, and roofline and window frame ornamentation.  They also tend to have courtyard entries, often with half gates, making for more privacy at the front door.  Most of the houses have dual pane windows and have long since gotten rid of the criss-cross windows, but there are still a few to be found here and also in other parts of Cambrian.

The tract houses were built beginning in 1957, heavy construction in the area in the early 1960s and going to about 1973.  One older house is said to date to 1900 and a few properties were built later than 1980.  Most houses have been at least somewhat updated with newer roofs, windows, and interior remodeling. A few have been very extensively remodeled or rebuilt (and look amazing).

Lot sizes for these houses average 7200 to 7800 SF, but there’s a very wide range.  In much of San Jose, a suburban parcel might be just 6,000 SF, so this feels wonderfully uncrowded.  Some streets are tree lined, others have young trees.  A few roads have too many cars, but most do not.

Look at a sample of houses from this part of Cambrian:

The house below has newer windows, but notice the boards just below the roof and how they are scalloped. Charming!

Another sample from the Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood, but I believe this one is not part of the Drysdale tract, as the layout is quite different (no front courtyard, it appears that the kitchen overlooks the front yard, the roof trim is absent the froufrou). Of course, it could just be extensively remodeled, but I suspect a different builder – and perhaps a younger home.

Lone Hill Highlands HOA

Lone Hill Highlands HOA area consists of 108 attached homes, built in 1976, with a common area pool. Some have views of Lone Hill Park, and a few enjoy beautiful valley views.  On the MLS they are usually found under single family homes since they are designed more like duet homes.  The actual ownership type, however, is condominium.  Inside, they really do feel like houses, with spacious rooms and nice, private back yard areas. Square footage runs from 1,691 – 2,258 SF, with an average of 1979.  All but two of these homes have 5400 SF lots, which feels larger since the properties are attached (and there’s no wasted space in a side yard). See the Lone Hill Highlands HOA site. [Update: Lone Hill Highlands HOA no longer appears to have a website. For some information on this HOA please visit the California Homeowners Associations page  (3/4/20)]

These homes have a nice view of Lone Hill Park, where there’s loads of open space, a playground, and picnic benches. The view below is from the opposite side.

What does it cost to buy a home in Lone Hill Highlands?

It’s not hard to spend more than two million on single family homes here, but once in awhile there may be a fixer upper on a busier or less desirable location which may afford a far lower price. But don’t count on it!  The high end of the price point is likely about 3 million at this writing. Check the recently sold homes at the bottom of this article for the most current pricing.

Are there any negatives to the Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood?

Every neighborhood has some issues, and this one is no exception. First, there are high voltage power lines running through the community – see the map above and note the dashed orange line.  As you can see, it also runs alongside Noddin Elementary School (and unseen, also Union Middle  and Leigh High).  Further, there are busy roads and some houses front them directly – primarily Camden and Blossom Hill. The freeway is also close to the northern tip of the neighborhood. Finally, most people buying houses want to be surrounded by other houses (preferably more expensive ones), Here, though, some houses will be next to apartments or multifamily housing. That usually translates to more cars on the street, more noise, more crowding – though not always, so best is to just drive around and look into it yourself (ideally at different times and on different days of the week).  While most people love a good park, others worry that a park may attract problems.  Being near a hill can also create some drainage issues, so watch for that if you are near Lone Hill (or what is now left of it after the top was razed to make room for housing back in the day).

Final note: do you know the history of the Lone Hill Highlands neighborhood? Before 1957 and housing tracts, it was the Lone Hill Vineyard and also a quarry.

Cambrian & nearby homes for sale

(some properties may be in nearby areas of Los Gatos)

See all Cambrian Park San Jose, California Real Estate.
(all data current as of 10/1/2023)

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