Blog > Cupertino Neighborhoods by Their Houses: Age, Lots, Eichlers, Flood and Fire Zones
Cupertino Neighborhoods by Their Houses: Age, Lots, Eichlers, Flood and Fire Zones
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The City of Cupertino’s parcel records list the zoning and the year built for every parcel, and they flag parcels in the city’s single-story overlay and parcels the city identifies as Eichlers. We took the 12,288 parcels zoned for single-family houses (R1, RHS, A1 or P(R1)) that have a year built, measured each lot from its outline, placed it in our neighborhood guide outlines, checked its center against FEMA’s flood map and checked each lot against CAL FIRE’s fire hazard severity zone maps. The parcel layer doesn’t list house size or stories, so this post is about age, lots, the single-story overlay, Eichlers, and flood and fire zones. The figures come from City of Cupertino parcel records, October 2026. There are no addresses or owner details here.
The short answer
- On Cupertino’s single-family-zoned parcels, the median house was built in 1965, on a 7,480 sq ft lot. 24% were built before 1960, and 10% carry a year built of 2000 or later.
- Oldest medians: Rancho Rinconada (1955) and South Blaney (1959). Newest: Monta Vista (1985) and Inspiration Heights (1978).
- Most rebuilt: a full rebuild shows up as a new year built. Among guides with at least 150 houses, the highest shares built in 2000 or later are in Rancho Rinconada (28%), Monta Vista (23%) and Inspiration Heights (20%).
- Single-story overlay: 126 houses citywide (1%) are in the city’s single-story overlay, 117 in Jollyman and 7 in Springarden.
- Eichlers: 220 parcels the city flags as Eichlers, all of them in Fairgrove.
- Flood zones: 82 houses (1%) have their parcel center in FEMA high-risk zones (78 in AE and 4 in A), all inside our guides; Phar Lap has the most (58).
- Fire zones: 1,343 houses (11%) have part of the lot in a CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone: 654 Very High, 337 High and 352 Moderate. All of them are in five guides on the city’s west side, the most in Linda Vista & Deep Cliff (760).
Next steps in Cupertino
- What’s my Cupertino home worth? Request an estimate, and ask us for the recent sales on your street.
- See Cupertino homes for sale, then use Save Search to get new listings by email.
- Book a strategy call with a Property Nerd.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
Oldest first, by the median year built. “Houses” counts single-family parcels with a year built inside each guide’s outline. Each name opens its guide. Oak Valley and Seven Springs are left out: their houses are zoned as planned developments, P(Res), which this count doesn’t include. Northpoint and Cupertino Gardens are townhouse-style homes on the city’s single-family cluster zoning (P(R1C) and R1C), and most of Heney Creek is cluster zoning too, which is why their median lots are so small.
| Neighborhood | Houses | Median year built | Built before 1960 | Built 2000 or later | Median lot | Single-story overlay | In FEMA high-risk zones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Rinconada | 1,611 | 1955 | 53% | 28% | 5,780 sq ft | — | — |
| South Blaney | 1,402 | 1959 | 53% | 5% | 7,200 sq ft | — | — |
| Fairgrove | 220 | 1960 | 0% | under 1% | 6,300 sq ft | — | — |
| Jollyman | 1,243 | 1961 | 26% | 9% | 7,510 sq ft | 117 | — |
| North Blaney & Portal | 862 | 1962 | 9% | 3% | 7,530 sq ft | — | — |
| Autumn Gardens | 444 | 1963 | 7% | 8% | 6,890 sq ft | — | — |
| Springarden | 939 | 1963 | 9% | 4% | 6,250 sq ft | 7 | — |
| Phar Lap | 431 | 1966 | 27% | 5% | 9,630 sq ft | — | 58 |
| Regnart | 769 | 1966 | 4% | 7% | 7,730 sq ft | — | — |
| Creston | 293 | 1968 | 10% | 11% | 10,680 sq ft | — | 16 |
| Garden Gate | 748 | 1968 | 25% | 16% | 9,350 sq ft | — | — |
| Linda Vista & Deep Cliff | 1,065 | 1968 | 2% | 3% | 7,600 sq ft | — | — |
| Heney Creek | 282 | 1972 | 5% | 1% | 3,350 sq ft | — | 4 |
| Homestead Villa | 173 | 1973 | 42% | 8% | 9,270 sq ft | — | 4 |
| Northpoint | 417 | 1973 | 0% | 0% | 1,350 sq ft | — | — |
| Scenic Boulevard & Blackberry Farm | 369 | 1976 | 26% | 14% | 9,490 sq ft | — | — |
| Cupertino Gardens | 106 | 1977 | 0% | 0% | 1,740 sq ft | — | — |
| Inspiration Heights | 316 | 1978 | 34% | 20% | 10,530 sq ft | — | — |
| Monta Vista | 373 | 1985 | 32% | 23% | 7,960 sq ft | — | — |
| All of Cupertino | 12,288 | 1965 | 24% | 10% | 7,480 sq ft | 126 | 82 |
The “All of Cupertino” row also counts the 225 houses outside the neighborhoods above.
What stands out
- Rancho Rinconada has the oldest houses and the most rebuilds: its median house was built in 1955 and 53% were built before 1960, yet 28% carry a year built of 2000 or later, the highest share of any guide.
- Fire-zone houses cluster in Linda Vista & Deep Cliff: 760 of its 1,065 houses (71%) touch a zone, 355 of them Very High. That’s 57% of the city’s fire-zone houses.
- Flood-zone houses concentrate in Phar Lap: 58 of its 431 houses (13%), all in zone AE.
- Lot sizes. Outside the cluster-zoned guides, neighborhood median lots run from 5,780 sq ft in Rancho Rinconada to 10,680 sq ft in Creston.
The single-story overlay
Cupertino’s single-story overlay is the “i” at the end of a zoning code (R1-6i, for example); houses there are generally limited to one story. The city’s parcel records flag 126 houses in it: 117 in Jollyman, 7 in Springarden and 2 outside our guides. Check the zoning for a specific address before planning a second story.
Eichlers
The city flags 220 of these parcels as Eichlers, and all 220 are in our Fairgrove guide, so every house there carries the flag. The neighborhood’s median house was built in 1960, and under 1% of its houses carry a year built of 2000 or later, against 10% citywide. Its lots are zoned R1-6e, so new work there follows Eichler design rules.
Fire hazard zones
CAL FIRE maps how severe the wildfire hazard is across California, in three classes: Moderate, High and Very High. Houses inside each guide’s outline, by the highest zone that touches any part of the parcel; most High and Very High first. Only these five guides have any; the other 14 in the table above have none.
| Neighborhood | Houses | Very High | High | Moderate | Not in a zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Vista & Deep Cliff | 1,065 | 355 | 215 | 190 | 305 |
| Inspiration Heights | 316 | 178 | 34 | 13 | 91 |
| Regnart | 769 | 121 | 51 | 86 | 511 |
| Heney Creek | 282 | 0 | 20 | 12 | 250 |
| Scenic Boulevard & Blackberry Farm | 369 | 0 | 17 | 51 | 301 |
| All of Cupertino | 12,288 | 654 | 337 | 352 | 10,945 |
What the fire zones mean
- Hazard, not risk. CAL FIRE’s Office of the State Fire Marshal says the maps describe hazard: the physical conditions, like vegetation, terrain, fire history, embers and typical fire weather, over 30 to 50 years. They don’t count home hardening, defensible space or fuel reduction, which change the risk to a particular home (OSFM).
- Two kinds of map. Inside city limits (Local Responsibility Areas) we used CAL FIRE’s 2025 map; where the state is responsible for wildfire protection (State Responsibility Areas), its State Responsibility Area map. Land outside the three classes is shown as non-wildland or unzoned (OSFM).
- What a zone can bring. Depending on the zone and the kind of area, stricter building standards for new construction and additions, defensible-space rules, and a line on the seller’s natural hazard disclosure. Cupertino’s building department can say which apply to a specific address.
What the flood zones mean
- Zone A: a 1%-a-year chance of flooding, where FEMA hasn’t set a base flood elevation.
- Zone AE: the same 1%-a-year risk, with a base flood elevation set.
- Zone X: moderate to minimal risk, outside the 1%-a-year floodplain.
- Insurance: if the house itself is in an A or V zone, lenders on federally backed mortgages require flood insurance; a flood zone determination for the address settles it. In zone X it’s optional.
Reading it right
- Sources. Single-family houses, zoning, year built, the single-story and Eichler flags and lot outlines from City of Cupertino parcel records, October 2026 (parcels zoned R1, RHS, A1 or P(R1) with a year built); flood zones from FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at the center of each parcel; fire zones from CAL FIRE’s current fire hazard severity zone maps, October 2026.
- Zoning isn’t use. A few of these parcels may hold a second unit, and houses in other districts, like the planned-development zoning in Oak Valley and Seven Springs, aren’t counted.
- “Year built” is the record’s year. A house torn down and rebuilt shows the rebuild year; an older house with an addition keeps its original year.
- The flood zone covers the land, not the house. A house can sit above the flood level even in a high-risk zone; an elevation certificate settles it. FEMA revises its maps, so check the current map for the exact address.
- The fire zone describes the land around a house, not how the house is built or how the lot is kept. CAL FIRE’s zone viewer shows any parcel, and a seller’s natural hazard disclosure report states the zones for that property.
- A median isn’t a verdict. It describes the houses, not which neighborhood is right for you.
Go deeper
Cupertino Housing Market by the Numbers covers prices and bidding, The Most Expensive Streets in Cupertino goes street by street, and our Cupertino sales shows the homes we’ve sold there. Single-Story Overlays in Silicon Valley and the Peninsula compares the overlay rules city by city, and Flood & Fire Zones by Neighborhood compares every guide we write. The Cupertino city guide links every neighborhood guide.
Thinking about a rebuild, an addition or a house in a fire zone?
A Property Nerd can pull the zoning, the lot, any overlay, the flood and fire zones and the recent sales on your street before you plan. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.