by Mary Pope-Handy | Jul 18, 2023 | East Los Gatos, Los Gatos Neighborhoods
A view of Lilac Way in Blossom Manor Neighborhood
Blossom Manor, originally named Blossom Hill Manor, is one of the most sought after Los Gatos neighborhoods as it has great proximity to schools, shopping, parks and the highly acclaimed Los Gatos schools. There are many gently winding roads, a few very minor hills and some perfectly tree lined streets. It’s a tidy area where homes old and new all tend to be well kept.
Where is the Blossom Manor Neighborhood?
Located in east Los Gatos, Blossom Manor is bordered by Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos Boulevard, Los Gatos Almaden Road, and Longwood Drive.
Below, please find an enhanced map of the area. I added the location of the shopping centers (3 grocery stores between them, many restaurants, coffee places, video rental, Noah’s Bagels, drug store, banks, etc.) and I added the two nearby public schools for this area.
Map of Blossom Manor neighborhood in Los Gatos, CA
There are many shops, stores, and restaurants along Los Gatos Boulevard, and especially at the intersection of Los Gatos Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road, but also at Los Gatos Blvd. For instance, there are three grocery stores all within a few blocks: Nob Hill, Lunardi’s, and Whole Foods are all along the border of The Manor. There’s a great variety of coffee shops (3 of them nearby), eateries (mostly casual), and stores.
Video drive through
A Little History of The Manor
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 7, 2023 | East Los Gatos, Homes & Housing Market, Los Gatos Neighborhoods
Approximate boundaries of Los Gatos Village
Where can you find a 1 story townhouse which is only connected to its neighbor at the garage? This description fits many of the homes at Los Gatos Village, a tidy townhome community in east Los Gatos set alongside Los Gatos-Almaden Road.
Built in 1972, these comfortable homes are well designed both inside and out. There are 163 units and of them, 57 have 2 stories and the rest are single story homes.
How big are the interiors and lots of town houses at Los Gatos Village?
These homes are modest in size, ranging from 1015 to 1494 square feet, generally (one home has 1648 SF – I would love to hear how that happened!). They have 2 or 3 bedrooms and 2 baths (there may be a few with 2.5 or 3 bathrooms, but most have 2). The lots likewise have a range between about 1563 SF and 4520 SF. I believe that every one of them has a 2 car garage.
Los Gatos Village is a Los Gatos real estate bargain
Homes in Los Gatos Village represent a bit of a bargain for Los Gatos housing prices as they are available for under $2 million and often closer to $1 million.
Dues are in the high $300s for the smallest units but includes quite a lot – painting, roof, beautiful lawn areas, and a pool. The incredibly good pricing might be why turnover is so low, usually only about 3% per year.
If you want to watch for these properties in your home search, these are the streets in which Los Gatos Village homes are located: Milmar Way, Los Gatos-Almaden Road, Escobar Court, Escobar Avenue, and Camino del Cerro.
The good and the bad
Very very good: Every home and every location has good and bad elements to factor in. Here there’s a whole lot of good – the price point (esp. for the schools), very private townhomes, many barely attached at all and more like “patio homes” than town houses. The floorplans are smartly designed with good use of space and flow. Many enjoy vaulted ceilings. Outside patios are also fairly spacious as townhome living goes. It’s very hard to find a single story townhome, but there are more than 100 of them here! The complex is very scenic with lots of lawn area and graceful sidewalks inviting a good stroll into the neighborhoods nearby.
What newcomers may miss is the very convenient foot bridge where Camino del Cerro would seem to go through but is stopped by Ross Creek with two points of the road which do not actually connect for cars. But people on bike, skateboard, foot, or otherwise motor vehicle free can get across on the pedestrian bridge. This is very convenient if your goal is to get to Alta Vista Elementary School, which is just 1115 feet or so from the other side of the creek.
And in case you didn’t know, Alta Vista Elementary and Union Middle School are both very highly scoring with API scores well into the 900s. This alone is a major draw for homes in this price point!
But wait, there’s more! From this community it’s less than a mile’s walk to nearby Safeway, a coffee shop and all kinds of little stores at The Downing Center at Los Gatos-Amaden Road and Union. I measured about 6/10 of a mile from the front of LG Village to the shopping center. For those who cannot or do not want to drive, this is a pretty sweet location for taking care of the essentials!
Good schools, walkable area, more accessible homes (single story) set in a quiet, campus like setting – Los Gatos Village does have something for everyone and appeals to home buyers of all ages.
The not so good: The pricing and location is so good that you just know there had to be something making this so affordable, and so there is. High voltage power lines cut pretty much through the middle of this pretty community, far closer to the homes than many home buyers would like. And there’s nothing that can be done about it.
One corner of the community is “kitty corner” from the cemetery, the Los Gatos Memorial Park. There is a crematorium there, too. For some home buyers, that may be a deal killer, but many will not take issue with the quiet neighbors.
These townhomes are older and some have “popcorn” or acoustic ceilings that today’s buyers do not want. If you otherwise like the home, I would suggest not eliminating it from your wish list because of the ceiling. You can hire someone to do it before you move in and it’s not nearly as costly as most Silicon Valley home buyers would think.
Los Gatos real estate, homes for sale and housing prices
Below please find a list of condos and townhouses which are for sale – as of the date of this article being written, none were for sale in Los Gatos Village.
- List View
- Map View
- Grid View
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$1,380,000
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Lot Size
1,800 sqft
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Home Size
1,494 sqft
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Beds
3 Beds
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Baths
2 Baths
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Year Built
1972
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See all Los Gatos Village townhome community Los Gatos, California Real Estate.
(all data current as of
9/27/2023)
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
Related Reading
Rinconada Hills (gated community in West Los Gatos)
Los Gatos Woods townhome community
Belgatos Park in east Los Gatos
Guadalupe Oak Grove Park in Almaden Valley
by Mary Pope-Handy | Feb 1, 2023 | East Los Gatos, Los Gatos Neighborhoods
Do you know the Santa Rosa and Sierra Azule neighborhood in east Los Gatos? This area enjoys large luxury view homes on beautiful streets. If this scenic corner of town is new to you, you’ll want to get to know it!
About seventy five to eighty spacious homes sit along the scenic eastern ridge tops of Blossom Hill along or just off of Santa Rosa Drive. It’s a stunning neighborhood which enjoys views both of the Santa Clara Valley on one side and the Santa Cruz Mountains on the other. That part of the coastal foothills located south of highway 17, including Loma Prieta and Mt. Umunhum, was once known as Sierra Azul, or Blue Mountain. Hence one of the streets in this Los Gatos community is Sierra Azule (why an extra “e” is added, I do not know).
These are gorgeous Los Gatos luxury homes!
Not only are there stunning views of the mountains and Silicon Valley, but there are trail heads that connect here, too. Love to mountain bike, hike, or just take photos? You will love the network of trails that weave between the Santa Rosa Open Space Preserve, the Shannon Valley Open Space Preserve, and the paths that lead to Belgatos Park and the Heintz Open Space Preserve, which begins in the Heritage Grove neighborhood.
One other neighborhood perk is that the roads here are really not hard to drive. With many view homes, the streets in the neighborhood can be hair pin and scary. This is a newer tract or subdivision, and the area is not hard to drive once you are inside of it. (The street leading up from Shannon Road is a little steep, so going downhill for a new driver might take some practice.)
What are the houses like in the Santa Rosa and Sierra Azule neighborhood?
The bulk of the neighoborhood is found on Santa Rosa and off of it on the east end of the area: Madera Court, Alta Tierra, Auzerais Court, and Colorado Court. These properties were mostly built in the 1980s and 1990s, though a few were before or after that period. There are just a dozen homes on Sierra Azule, most of them a little younger, built between 1995 and 2000. In general, they are not ostentatious or pretentious, but they are fairly large. (more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Dec 3, 2022 | East Los Gatos, Los Gatos Neighborhoods, Maps of Los Gatos, Parks, Schools Serving Los Gatos, Videos of Los Gatos
The Belwood, Belgatos, and Surmont neighborhood in east Los Gatos is a tidy community at the base of the hills and close to beautiful Belgatos Park. It includes 4 subdivisions which all share access to the Belwood of Los Gatos cabana. They include:
- Surmont, the oldest section of the neighborhood, with semi custom homes (“Class D” optional cabana membership)
- Belgatos, which was built next and is on the west side of Belgatos Road (“Class D” optional cabana membership)
- Belwood of Los Gatos, a large tract neighborhood with the cabana at its heart (mandatory cabana membership, many homes now extensively remodeled or rebuilt)
- A small subdivision with 14 homes built between 1977 and 1979 that wasn’t given a name, unfortunately: Tract 5921 (10 homes) and Lots A – D. (“Class D” optional cabana membership)
Where is the Belwoood, Belgatos, and Surmont neighborhood?
The community is located on the south side of Blossom Hill Road, generally between Westhill Drive and Harwood Road.
Nearby public landmarks are Belgatos Park and the Walgreen’s shopping center (corner of Blossom Hill and Harwood), with a Mountain Mike’s Pizza and a newly added cake shop.
There’s a fair amount of confusion about what is or isn’t in this neighborhood or who can use or join the pool. Adding to the location confusion, The Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police cert map identifies the whole region plus the Strathmore neighborhood, which is across Blossom Hill Road, as “Belwood” generally.
What are the schools for this neighborhood?
The public schools for this area are Noddin Elementary, Union Middle, and Leigh High School.
What’s the neighborhood like?
The terrain is nearly level, with very low, gentle hills over most of the area. For those looking for an arduous climb on foot or bike, though, Harwood Road provides a nice challenge. At the top, you’ll see a fantastic view of downtown San Jose and Silicon Valley for your trouble. There are some challenges to be found in the open space trails, too.
With winding, mostly tree-lined roads and tidy houses as a rule (there are only a very few exceptions). It is a very attractive neighborhood overall.
Some streets have sidewalks, but many do not. There are not a lot of street lamps, which makes for wonderful night sky viewing.
Something fun: in the summer, private and group swim lessons take place at the cabana.
Park and trails
At the middle of this community is the very inviting Belgatos Park, a scenic, setting which includes a playground near the parking lot, picnic areas, restrooms, trails into the hills (with some wonderful valley views), and access to the Heinz Open Space Preserve and its network of trails also. (And it’s not far to the Santa Rosa Open Space area either.)
One hill attracts kids who enjoy sliding down it on bits of cardboard, and thus has been nicknamed “cardboard hill” for decades. Most of the time these cardboard sledding enthusiasts are pretty good about picking up their “sledding vehicles” when done.
The paths are popular with people on foot, but also those on mountain bikes or horseback. As there are a few larger properties which are zoned for horses in the area, this is a very nice equestrian option. There are 2 nearby places for horse boarding, too.
For photographers, the park has abundant worthy subjects year round, both of the open space and the valley views below. In the early morning hours, or near sunset, you may see some deer too. But be careful: bobcats and mountain lions are in these hills also.
What are homes like in this part of town?
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by Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy | Nov 18, 2022 | Los Gatos Neighborhoods, East Los Gatos
A handful of streets on and off Blossom Hill Road make up the Winterbrook Rochin area. Residents there enjoy the highly acclaimed Los Gatos Union School District and a close proximity to Blossom Hill Elementary School, Blossom Hill Park, and much more. Many properties can boast a view of the coastal range, too.
Not every neighborhood in Los Gatos has a name, and I could not locate one for residential part of town, either, so I’m calling it the Winterbrook Rochin area as those streets bookend these homes.
Where is the Winterbrook Rochin area?
This pocket sits just a little east of Blossom Manor in east Los Gatos, separated from the Manor by Ross Creek, and it hits the eastern boundary of the Los Gatos Union School district for this part of town (a snippet of Los Gatos schools can be found in Almaden Valley off of Camden and Coleman in the farther side of the Campagna subdivision – that is the very far east boundary!).
The streets include Winterbrook Road, Stephanie Lane, Linda Avenue (south of Ross Creek), Costances Court, Rochin Terrace, Rochin Court, and part of Blossom Hill Road.
What are homes and streets like in the Winterbrook Rochin area?
This area has a lot of variety in home age, size, style and more. I pulled the data up in Realist, which provides MLS members info from the county records, for the following statistics.
Quick stats:
- There are 76 single family homes in this neighborhood.
- 49 of them are single story, the rest are 2 story homes.
- The most modest homes have 2 bedrooms and 1 or 2 bathrooms. The largest has 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms.
- The houses have living space square footage from 850 SF to 6828 SF. Most houses have between 2,000 and 3,000 SF. (Three homes are under 1,000 SF. The three largest have 3,951, 4,646, and 6828 SF.)
- Lot sizes range from 7823 to 65,213 SF
- The oldest house was built in 1925, and the newest in 2020. The two oldest homes are on Linda. The three youngest are tear downs that were built new.
- The newest subdivision is on Constaces Court. There are 7 houses there, 6 built in 2014 and 1 constructed in 2018.
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Sep 15, 2022 | Equestrian, East Los Gatos
While south county has many equestrian centers, Harwood Farms horse boarding is right in Los Gatos and conveniently close to trails – and home!
This is in a gorgeous setting among Los Gatos luxury homes, many of them gated and some with views.
Where is the Harwood Farms horse boarding?
Harwood Farms horse boarding is located at the corner of Harwood Road and Alerche Road in Los Gatos. (Alerche is a loop road, and this stable is at the upper one, further from Blossom Hill Road.)
This location is excellent for accessing the trails at Belgatos Park, which in turn lead to a network of trails: Heintz, Shannon Valley open space, and Santa Rosa open space.
Equestrian land in a residential setting with many nearby trails
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