The Monta Vista neighborhood in Cupertino is well known for its top rated schools, close in commute, and huge percentage of well educated, high tech residents. It boasts incredibly scenic open space, parkland, and recreation opportunities. The Monta Vista neighborhood is probably the most sought after part of the Cupertino real estate market.
Neighborhood basics
Monta Vista, said to be Portuguese for “Mountain View” (though the translation engines don’t agree), is well named as this community sits at the base of the coastal range, and those beautiful, green views are a wonderful plus to an already attractive area.
Many houses enjoy a view of the hills, some are in the low foothills, and others are situated close to or overlooking Stevens Creek and the golf courses or parkland that line it. Generally, the Monta Vista neighborhood is the most scenic part of Cupertino.
As with much of Silicon Valley, this part of Cupertino has agricultural roots and was once part of the Valley of Heart’s Delight with expansive orchards, vineyards, and other produce.
The mild, Mediterranean climate was great for growing fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and for growing grapes and making wine. Just south of the Monta Vista area there continue to be vineyards, wine making, and wine tasting on Montebello Road.
What are the houses like in the Monta Vista neighborhood?
Most of the Monta Vista neighborhood consists of ranch style homes in the flatlands, but there’s some variety, some Mediterranean or Spanish or contemporary homes can be found, too, particularly in the hills to the west. There is a mix of two story or split level houses to be found as well.
Looking for a view home? You will find some in the areas west of Stevens Canyon Road or Foothill Blvd (same road, different stretches of it).
A typical home in the Monta Vista neighborhood has about 1800 – 2300 square feet and sits on a lot of about 7000-9500 SF. Some single family homes are under 1000 SF and others are over 5000 SF. The typical home runs close to $3.1 million. Very few homes sell for under $2.5 mil or over $4 million. Much of it depends on the condition or exact location, though. A home right next to the highway, or near the train track, will not sell for as much as those on a quiet street.
If you are interested in buying or selling a home in this area, please reach out! The best way to have an initial contact is through email, mary@popehandy.com.
At the bottom of this post you’ll find current listings, pending sales, and recently closed homes in this area.
Monta Vista neighborhood boundaries
If you do a web search for this neighborhood’s boundaries, you are likely to come up with multiple and very conflicting answers as to where the edges are.
- Eastern boundary: most Monta Vista maps stop at Highway 85, but a couple go east of there (Neighborhood Scout reaches to De Anza Blvd, which is the high school boundary – not included in my map above).
- Northern boundary: most stop at Stevens Creek to the north, while others stretch to 280 on the east side (on the top west of that section it’s Los Altos). The area sometimes included is in light blue on the upper right.
- Western boundary: some end at the large swathe of open space which consists of the McClellan Ranch Preserve (a park) and Stevens Creek, and many others, including Nextdoor, include the area up to Stevens Canyon – S Foothill Blvd.
- Southern boundary: some stop at Prospect Road, others at McClellan Road.
The City of Cupertino has broken the area into three zones for its purposes: Monta Vista Village, Monta Vista North and Monta Vista South. You will find these on the Engage Cupertino site, not the regular city website that I could find.
The high school boundaries are far wider than the neighborhood’s area and includes parts of Saratoga, San Jose, Los Altos, and Palo Alto as well as some unincorporated areas in the hills.
Monta Vista Village, Monta Vista North, Monta Vista South
Monta Vista Village is the “original” Monta Vista. At least 30 homes were built before 1940, but in 1940 a subdivision was developed there. Many of those have been torn down and rebuilt now, or extensively remodeled, but not all. This was originally unincorporated (a county pocket), on septic, with no sidewalks, curbs, or gutters, but over time it has become part of the City of Cupertino. You’ll find more houses with detached garages here than other places in the Monta Vista neighborhood.
Monta Vista North includes two golf courses and a ton of parkland at the McClellan Ranch Preserve and Blackberry Farm (recreation area and pool). This section of the neighborhood includes the top rated Monta Vista High School, Kennedy Middle School, and Lincoln Elementary School. Much of it is very convenient to the schools, and it’s very highly competitive for buyers trying to purchase here, especially.
Monta Vista South is adjacent to the huge Fremont Older Open Space Preserve on one side, Saratoga and San Jose on the other.
Monta Vista neighborhood open space, parks, and golf courses
This community has an extraordinary amount of parkland and open space, including these larger areas:
- Deep Cliff Golf Course
- Blackberry Farm Golf Course
- McClellan Ranch Preserve
- Linda Vista Park
- Blackberry Farm Pool and Recreation Area
- Nearby: Stevens Creek Canyon County Park, Fremont Older Open Space Preserve
Recently we spent some time at the McClellan Ranch Preserve. It has fabulous hiking trails, a community garden, some llamas and goats, and I’m sure much more that we didn’t see on our first visit. If you’ve never been, I’d highly encourage a visit there!
If visiting the preserve, be sure to swing by the areas with farm animals!
Are there any special concerns or things to watch for in Monta Vista?
This gorgeous part of Cupertino does have a few things to be aware of. Every area has some type of hazard or nuisance of some kind.
A general issue everywhere: living too close to busy roads or freeways can have health consequences, so do research when considering living next to a freeway or major road.
Hazards and risks for areas in or near the hills
In areas near the hills or open space, residents need to be vigilant about wildlife. Cougars, bobcats, and other animals will often follow waterways and then find themselves in suburbia. The deer are voracious and will ruin rose gardens and other well tended landscaping. Squirrels, possum, and raccoons can strip your fruit trees. If you are close to Stevens Creek, be aware of this and don’t leave small children or pets outside alone, especially at twilight or after dark.
For homes on or near hills anywhere in the Bay Area, water is an issue as drainage needs to be done properly to protect the foundation, and it’s very easy to get this wrong and end up with expensive foundation repairs. See What to Consider When Buying a Hillside Home. Monta Vista stops at Foothill / Stevens Canyon, but there are nice view homes just beyond this neighborhood boundary (I’ve sold there and it’s gorgeous).
Also near or in the Cupertino mountains and hills there are two quarries, which will generate noise and dust, and also a shooting range near the reservoir. A train runs to the Permanente Quarry on occasion, but we are unaware of how often or what time of day that might be.
Along Stevens Canyon Road there may be motorcyclist noise, particularly on nice days.
Risk from inundation from dam failure
The city of Cupertino wisely turned most of the areas adjacent to Stevens Creek into some kind of open space. This is smart design for heavy rainfall so that flooding risks are minimized. Additionally, the creek is downstream of Stevens Creek Reservoir and dam. If the dam should fail for any reason, there will be flooding downhill. In the Monta Vista neighborhood, there are some homes in that zone.
See the flooding risk from dam failure map here or click the image below.
Fire risk
With all of the open space, what about the fire risk? Luckily, most of this community is out of the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Only a tiny sliver is in that zone, over near the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve in South Monta Vista, though other hilly areas are in the High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. (There is a much higher percentage of homes in the red zone in Saratoga and Los Gatos than Cupertino.) Click on the image below to see the Cal Fire map for the whole state – you’ll need to zoom in a lot.
For those not so worried about the risks from fire, do be aware that Allstate and State Farm have stopped writing new policies in California. This means that getting insurance in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone will be VERY expensive.
Monta Vista neighborhood real estate: homes for sale, under contract, or recently sold
If there aren’t enough homes on the market, recently pending or sold properties will appear below. Click the link at the bottom to see many more. For this search, I did include areas just west of Stevens Canyon Road and Foothill Blvd, though technically they are not part of the Monta Vista neighborhood.
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Looking to sell or buy in Cupertino or anywhere in the South Bay? We have sold in several parts of Cupertino, including Monta Vista, and cover the majority of Santa Clara County – please reach out!
Related Reading – Monte Vista, CA
Monta Vista home design guidelines
City of Cupertino interactive zoning map
Cupertino Union School District – school boundary map
St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron saint of students and test-takers (on the Silicon Valley Catholic blog)
