Menlo Park Vintage Oaks

newer luxury homes, always top end

Vintage Oaks

Look here if you want the newest, most consistently upscale neighborhood in Menlo Park.

Boundaries: Middlefield, Ringwood, Arlington, Coleman, Santa Monica. Map boundaries are approximate due to my limitations as a map maker. Neighborhood boundaries may be subjective. Boundaries and other information on this Web site should be verified before being relied upon.

Overview: A partially walled (but not gated) community of over 100 large and beautiful new homes on quarter-acre lots. Pleasant winding streets showcase architecturally distinctive homes often taking their cue from the past. If you approach Vintage Oaks from Coleman’s apartment buildings or Santa Monica’s small ranchers you may wonder about this neighborhood’s exclusivity, but fear not. Its other neighbors, St. Patrick’s Seminary and rural Menlo Oaks, lend their attractive ambience, and the Vintage Oaks is large and sheltered enough to maintain appearances.

Housing stock: These homes have a generally conservative style that I think will wear well. No Taco Bells here. Built from 1997-99, homes are usually 3000 to 3600 sq.ft. Despite the large size of the homes, backyards are spacious because most homes are two stories. Also a handful of 1500 sq.ft. homes on small lots, perhaps Below Market Rate homes.

Lot sizes: 10,000 to 14,000 sq.ft. although there are a few half-lots in the 4-5000 sq.ft. range, again perhaps for the BMR units.

Affordability: (Although this section is based on 2002 data, the relative rankings of the mid-Peninsula's midrange and top-end neighborhoods, all of them around for at least fifty years, haven't changed significantly since then. In fact, 2002, a seller's market the first half of the year, a buyer's market the second, and prior to the loose underwriting that pumped up values at the low end, may be the most representative of whatever a normal market looks like in this area.)

Vintage Oaks is very pricey and very consistently pricey, as you might expect. In 2002 these homes sold in the 92nd through 97th percentiles compared to other Menlo Park homes. Every Vintage Oaks home sold during 2002 was in the top 10% price range of Menlo Park homes. Approximately 90% of mid-Peninsula neighborhoods are less expensive.

The affordability factor is 18.3.

Schools: K-8 district: Menlo Park City School District, 181 Encinal Ave., Atherton CA 94027. Administration-Superintendent (650) 321-7140. District attendance map. School evaluations.

9-12 district: Sequoia Union High School District, 480 James Ave., Redwood City 94062. Administration (650) 369-1411. Boundary search. School evaluations.

This information is based on district and other sources but may be obsolete by the time you read this. Verify district boundaries and school availability with district offices.

Amenities: Seminary Oaks, Santa Monica (walking paths, benches, open play field, children's playground, tot-lot playground, public art, rock garden).

Shopping: Convenient to downtown Menlo Park.

Neighborhoods with similar ambience: There aren’t many neighborhoods like this on the mid-Peninsula. Large-scale development is rare these days and almost always aimed at the more affordable end of the market. Oak Valley in Cupertino comes very close.

Neighborhoods with similar prices (5% +/-): For the same money you could buy something in one of the top-end communities—although it would more likely be a home in one of the more “affordable” areas—or new construction in one of the premium mid-range communities such as Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Los Altos. See an important qualification regarding price comparisons.

Interested in buying a home in Vintage Oaks or in a similar area? Please contact me at jfyten@cbnorcal.com.