The Portos-Harleigh neighborhood is a highly sought after community in Saratoga. Suburban yet centrally located, walkable, and easy access for commuters. Keep reading to learn more about this neighborhood, its homes, the local amenities, possible concerns, and home costs.

Neighborhood Profile: Boundaries and Property Descriptions

This community encompasses a number of streets north of West Valley College, and is named by its most prominent streets: Portos Drive and Harleigh Drive. It’s major borders are Saratoga Ave to the north west, Fruitvale Ave to the west, and Allendale Ave to the south between Fruitdale and Via Alto Ct.

This community lies within the greater Gardiner Park neighborhood (according to NextDoor), which also includes the Saratoga Gardens subdivision, Aspesi / Casa Blanca, and Riverdale communities to the north, and Peremont tract to the east.

It includes multiple tracts and was primarily built up in the 1960s and 1970s, but there are younger homes as well. Kerwin Ranch Ct and the end of Ronnie Wy are two smaller tracts built up between 1987 – 1995. Throughout the neighborhood there have been individual rebuilds over the years.

Most homes are on large, standard lots, but there are a smattering of flag lots as well.

The Average Portos-Harleigh Home

If I pull the data on homes in this mapped area. Here’s what the “average home” would look like:

• built in 1977 (the median year built was 1969)
• 4 bed
• 3 bath
• 2,770 SqFt
• 17,900 SqFt lot

Homes range in size from around 1,500 – 7,500 with a majority being in the 2,000 – 3,000 SqFt range. Lot sizes range from 9,400 – 47,603 SqFt, though a typical lot is more likely in the range of 14,000 – 21,000 SqFt. Newer construction pulled the average age up significantly, but more homes in this area were built in the 1960s than any other decade, at least 50% – 60% of the neighborhood.

About half of the homes have pools. There are a limited number of 2-story homes, mostly homes from the 1970s and younger, but a few older (most likely added SqFt and not original). Some properties enjoy 3 car garages, including most of Kerwin Ranch Ct. You may find various popular luxuries from across the decades in these homes, varying from brick grills for barbequeing and built-in home vaccum systems to more recent upgrades like home solar and smart home systems.

Developers

The majority of this area was built and developed by George Day. As was popular in the era built, designs are primarily single-story ranch and ranch-eclectic (such as Spanish-ranch or more recent “facelifts” giving ranch homes a craftsman or Mediterranean look).

I couldn’t find many other names attached to these tracts, but found a few crumbs. It seems that the Kerwin Ranch Ct homes were designed by Martin Oakley. Sage Ct, built in 2000, has been attributed to Belleterre Home. A few listings on Yerba Santa Ct, built 1974-1975, were attributed to Osterlund. And of course there are a number of custom-built homes, both new and old, as well.

Schools

In large part, the Portos-Harleigh neighborhood mapped above is within the Saratoga Union School District, but it is right on the border.

Two blocks on our map, those on Serra Oaks Ct and east along Allendale Ave and Via Alto Ct, are in the Campbell Union School District, assigned to Marshall Lane Elementary and Rolling Hills Middle. The boundary is different for high schools with the district border falling between Portos Dr with Saratoga schools to the west and Dolphin Dr and Westmont High to the east.

This neighborhood is also close to private schools, sitting kitty-corner to Saint Andrew’s, nearby Sacred Heart School, and a short drive to many more including Challenger School.

But the most prominent school in the area is West Valley Community College, a hub of education and center for community events. The lushly landscaped campus offers a beautiful setting for students and neighbors alike to take a walk and enjoy our lovely weather.

The campus is home to a popular weekly farmers market, art galleries and musical and theatrical performances, West Valley Vikings sports events and facilities like the tennis courts with public access (just check the rules before going), a meetingplace for clubs and community organizations, and of course affordable classes in a wide variety of fields.

While these schools can be major draws to the area, especially with everything West Valley College has to offer to its neighbors, they can also be a source of traffic.

Neighborhood and Nearby amenities

Commuters will appreciate the ease of access to Quito, Saratoga Ave, and 85. While the foothill communities aren’t especially known for easy public transit, West Valley College is a VTA transit center with 4 bus routes making this one of Saratoga’s most connected neighborhoods for non-drivers. You can ride directly to downtown Saratoga, Saratoga High, downtown Campbell, all of the shopping at Westgate Center and El Paseo de Saratoga, De Anza College and beyond without ever needing to make a connection.

The Portos-Harleigh neighborhood is about 1.5mi from both downtown Saratoga to the south and the Westgate Center, Westgate West, Westgate Corner, and El Paseo Saratoga shopping centers to the north. Locals can take care of everything from groceries, banking, and dental care, to a great day or night out with coffee, wine, music, and movies. The nearest grocery store is about a mile away, and as mentioned earlier there is a popular farmers market at West Valley College every week.

Residents enjoy Gardiner Park, a neighborhood park with walking path, extensive play structures for different age groups, a sunny lawn, oak groves, benches, and BBQ centrally located within the community.

Just across Fruitvale Ave is Saratoga’s public library, part of the Santa Clara County Library District. It’s a great spot to get some work done, check out a movie, or participate in some community events. The library building sits within Saratoga’s Heritage Orchard. You can walk through the almost 14 acres of stone fruit trees, but please do not take the fruit which is harvested annually by community volunteers and donated to local food banks.

South of the orchard is Joan Pisani Community Center, City Hall, Warner Hutton House (a historic home and rentable venue for events), and a post office.

There are many places of worship nearby as well. Immediately bordering Portos-Harleigh are St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Saratoga’s Church of Latter-Day Saints, and St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church, and you’ll find more a short drive away.

Things to Be Aware Of

Wildcat Creek runs through the neighborhood  north of Harleigh and along the southern edge of Gardiner park. There is a small pedestrian connector trail along the waterway between Harleigh and Springhill Ct, and another between Harleigh and Gardiner Park. Homes adjacent to waterways may face issues with moisture, soil errosion (if there is a steep bank), and unwanted foot-traffic, but that doesn’t stop buyers or owners from admiring the views, wildlife, and privacy that creekside living can also offer.

Some homes and some blocks will have more or less sound and air pollution from the freeway, train, and busy roads.

Like most of Saratoga, a majority of these streets do not have sidewalks or street lights. What does that mean? Front yards may feel a little larger, and the communities feel a little more remote and rural, which many people enjoy about Saratoga. But it also means everyone shares the road with no buffer between the people walking their dogs and the cars driving by, and with no street lights you’ll want to take extra precautions if you’ll be walking or cycling after dark.

What a home costs

As of the initial publication of this article, October 17^th, 2023, there is 1 home listed for sale in the neighborhood listed for $4,388,000. It’s a 2-story home on a larger lot (over half an acre) with a pool.

In the last 3 months (last 90 days as of 10/17/2023) there have been 5 sales in this neighborhood. Every home sold in 8 days or less and over-asking.

• List price ranged from $2.898M – $3.798M, averaging $3,336,400
• Sale price ranged from $3.33M – $3.925M, averaging $3,665,000
• Sale to list price ratio ranged from 103% – 115%, averaging 110%
• All were 3-4 bed with 2 or 2.5 bath
• Home size ranged from 1,913 – 2,471 SqFt
• Lot size ranged from 9,929 – 14,600 SqFt

The lowest priced home mentioned above appeared to have been in clean, but completely original condition (the sellers purchased it in the 1960s). That’s a good indicator for what’s “entry level” in this market.

Buyers can expect to pay upwards of $3M to get a foothold in the neighborhood, but are more likely to pay near $4M for a home that’s had recent remodeling and updates. Still, the price can go well over that for the largest properties with more luxury features. This year, June 2023, 2 luxury homes in the neighborhood sold for over $5M.

Related Reading

Saratoga Real Estate Market Update – edited monthly, with live weekly updates!
Saratoga Neighborhoods & Neighborhood Map

A sample of other Saratoga neighborhoods:

• Prides Crossing Neighborhood
• Parker Ranch neighborhood
• The Bellgrove neighborhood in Saratoga
• Saratoga Parkside townhomes

And some Saratoga fun:

• For history buffs – Congress Springs Road, Saratoga’s Historic Toll Road and What it is Now
• Saratoga Blossom Festival!

Current Listings and Recent Sales in the Neighborhood

See all Portos-Harleigh Neighborhood.
(all data current as of 12/6/2023)

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