by Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy | Jul 30, 2024 | East Los Gatos
For Belwood, Belgatos, Surmont, and nearby areas in east Los Gatos: Clair and I did research on the neighborhood’s home sales history and just completed the 40 page study. The data spans sales from 1998 through July 2024. You can request the Belwood area home sales data on our Belwood of Los Gatos blog:
There is no fee for the Belwood area home sales data report. We are asking that you share your name and email address with us. We won’t add you to any newsletter, we won’t spam you, we won’t sell your info to anyone. Clair was raised here and I’m a neighbor. Hope that you find it valuable! We’d love your feedback – my email is mary@popehandy.com
by Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 29, 2024 | Los Gatos Real Estate, East Los Gatos
SOLD!
Closed March 29th, 2024. Recieved 15 offers!
Listed at $2,250,000
Sold at $2,800,000
Clair and I are happy to present 103 Panorama Way, Los Gatos, an extensively remodeled home for sale in east Los Gatos close to shops and schools but situated on a quiet street with no through traffic. This is not a flip! Work was done by the long time homeowner with the beautiful kitchen, bathrooms, and interior work done with permits and finals.
This property features 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1675 SF of living space and over 8200 SF lot (some records show more than 8500 SF lot). The house was built in 1960 and it sits on a beautiful cul-de-sac with low traffic. The home is offered at $2,250,000.
The home is located in the beautiful Strathmore neighborhood off of Anne Way and Union Avenue in east Los Gatos, but it is not part of the HOA (no HOA dues, no pool access).
The highly regarded schools are Alta Vista Elementary, Union Middle, and Leigh High.
MLS # ML81955874
Open house dates / times:
Wednesday, May 6 9:30 – 12:30 (broker tour also)
Saturday, May 9 2 – 4 pm
Sunday, May 10 2 – 4 pm
103 Panorama Way – extensively remodeled home!
Interior remodeling done with permits and finals
- Kitchen provides
- New stainless-steel appliances, including new double wall ovens and solid surface cooktop / oven combo, new hood, new fridge, new dishwasher, and new disposal
- White shaker style cabinets
- Quartz countertop and subway tile backsplash
- New dual pane window
- Fully remodeled bathrooms
- Copper plumbing replaced in the walls to kitchen and bathrooms
- New recessed lighting throughout
- Freshly painted inside and out
- New flooring and baseboard throughout
- New raised panel interior doors
- Living room hearth newly tiled
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by Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy | Feb 3, 2024 | East Los Gatos, Los Gatos Neighborhoods
Take in a view of the hills from the Strathmore neighborhood of Los Gatos. Beside Blossom Hill with the coastal range rising behind it, homes here enjoy a beautiful backdrop and nature close by with plenty of access to parks and trails. But the beauty and nature is only one part of the wonderful neighborhood.
Despite its quiet charm, this neighborhood is anything but rural. Easy access and practicality are another major draw. Both the freeway and plenty of shopping are within a mile, and shopping on The Boulevard (Los Gatos Boulevard) is only a little farther (about 2 miles by car). A pedestrian friendly area with sidewalks and tree lined streets, Strathmore is a popular spot for locals to stroll, walk dogs, jog, bike or otherwise enjoy a little of California’s pleasant climate.
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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!).
Map data: Google. Neighborhood boundaries and overlay by Mary Pope-Handy.
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 | Mar 10, 2022 | Los Gatos History
The other day, my husband, Jim Handy, found a photo of Ralph Heintz’ QSL Card on a history website and requested permission for me to share it with our readers here. Permission given – I hope you enjoy this step back in time!
Ralph Heintz’ QSL Card
Credit Engineering and Technology History Wiki (used by permission)
QSL cards are postcard sized collectibles used by ham radio hobbyists to record when they have communicated with each other. Traditionally they will include cartoon drawings related to the ham who sends them out.
Ralph Heintz’ QSL Card has three cartoons: His miniature train (ridden by him, wife Sophie, and their dog, Gilmore, and parrot, Shorty), his observatory, and his home with a big ham radio antenna over it.
The Heintz Open Space in east Los Gatos still has remnants of all three landmarks.
- There’s grading for the long-gone railroad and a tunnel entrance. The tunnel entrance is closed up for safety reasons, of course.
- The round concrete foundation of the observatory is still there.
- And there are remnants of a house next to the observatory.
- Another part of the trail appears to have been the driveway leading up the hill.
The one thing I’m not sure of is the location of the house when Ralph and Sophie lived there. Previously I thought it was the large farmhouse now within the Heritage Grove neighborhood. It makes sense that the ham radio antenna would be higher up on the hill, though, and if the house was next to that antenna it wouldn’t be the farmhouse lower down. When I find out, I’ll correct this post. If any of our readers have more insight on any of this, please email me and I’ll update this post.
Ralph Heintz’ QSL Card is a fun step back in time. I wish I could have seen his railroad, tunnel, observatory, and antenna.
Related reading:
The Heritage Grove Neighborhood in Los Gatos and the Heintz Open Space Preserve (more photos on the Valley of Heart’s Delight blog)
QSL Cards on Wikipedia
More local history articles here on the Live in Los Gatos Blog
Heintz and Kaufman manufacturing business
