Live Oak Manor Park & west Carlton area

There is a small pocket of Los Gatos with Los Gatos High School (Los Gatos schools) close to Ace Hardware and Live Oak Manor Park just off of Los Gatos-Almaden Road and Los Gatos Boulevard. It’s sometimes called the Live Oak Manor neighborhood. Some may call it the Carlton area, after the major street that runs through it. I have heard Realtors refer to it as “the Garcia tract” after the main builder in that neighborhood. For our purposes, I’ll call it the Live Oak Manor Park & west Carlton area to distinguish other parts of Carlton which have a different school district (Union School District) or are in the Cambrian area of San Jose.

Live Oak Manor Park & west Carlton area: location, location, location

This area is super convenient for commuters. It’s only about a half mile to the on ramp to Highway 17, and about 1 mile to Highway 85. If the freeway is backed up, it’s easy enough to get to alternate routes, such as Highway 9 or San Tomas Expressway. For those who work at Good Samaritan Hospital or one of the nearby medical offices, work is a short walk or bike ride away.

It’s not so close to downtown Los Gatos that it gets socked in with beach traffic on summer weekends. It’s easy to get to restaurants and shops along Los Gatos Boulevard, a short jaunt to the Los Gatos Creek Trail, and a quick trip to get to the JCC on Oka Road. Need groceries? Nob Hill is only a half mile away, as is the Los Gatos Cafe Uptown, Una Mas, and several other tempting destinations.

A huge plus, of course, are the highly regarded Los Gatos schools. This area is a little less expensive than nearby neighborhoods such as Blossom Manor to the south.

For many, being close to a neighborhood park is another important perk – a place to run the dogs, for kids to play, or just to get out of the house without needing a car.

Something else that should be noted is that this is a scenic pocket and most of the streets are tree lined, making it a pleasant place to be even if none of the neighborhood amenities are enjoyed.

What are homes like in the Live Oak Manor Park & west Carlton neighborhood?

In the area I mapped out above, there are 194 single family homes, or houses. (Not included are the multi-family homes on Carlton.) Most of the neighborhood was not given a subdivision name, but tract # 320 is Terreno del Sol (12 houses) and tracts 1664 and 2884 are Oak Park Estates (12 houses). The vast majority, though, are either tract #1945 (with 98 houses, mostly south of the park) or tract #1855 (72 houses, north of the park). From the architecture, I believe that Garcia built both of these tracts.

It appears that except for the multi-family homes along Carlton, this was a neighborhood of exclusively single story ranch style homes when built. Some have been expanded or rebuilt and are now 2 story homes, but that’s just 21 of 194 properties,or 11%, which are 2 story. If you love back yard privacy, you will appreciate that there are not many tall houses in this area.

Most of the houses (169 of the 194) were built in 1958. The range for all but a couple is 1948 to 1961. It is likely that this area was an orchard before the development was put in.

Houses average 1670 SF and the median size is 1476 SF (half are smaller, half are larger than this number). They range in size from 1080 SF to 3930 SF, but most were built at under 2,000 SF. There are only 4 with 3,000 SF or more.

Lot sizes average 7508 SF and have a median size of 6631 SF. Most are around 6,000 to 7,500 SF, but the range for all but one is 5868 to 14,776. One lot is a whopping 20,637 SF.

A typical house was built in 1958, is single story, has around 1476 – 1670 SF and sits on a lot of 6631 SF to 7508 SF.

Live Oak Manor Park in Los Gatos

Live Oak Manor Park is partly owned by the town, and is partly a PG&E easement for the high voltage power lines that the public is allowed to enjoy. The address is 220 Carlton Ave in Los Gatos. There’s a nicely paved trail and a tot lot as well as basketball hoops, too.

What does real estate cost at the Live Oak Manor Park & west Carlton area?

Real estate pricing for the Live Oak Manor Park & west Carlton neighborhood is less than many other areas with Los Gatos schools, likely because it’s not super close to downtown.

This is a low turnover neighborhood, and as of this writing, there’s only been one house sold in the last 6 months. To keep this article “evergreen”, I’ll include the recent sales below, so you can check back anytime and see listings which are available, pending, or sold / closed in the last 12 months.

See all Live Oak Manor Park and west Carlton.
(all data current as of 9/25/2023)

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