Blog > Sunnyvale Neighborhoods by Their Houses: Age, Size, Lots and Second Stories
Sunnyvale Neighborhoods by Their Houses: Age, Size, Lots and Second Stories
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Sunnyvale’s parcel records list the year built, living area, lot size and number of stories for every house in the city. We took the 20,951 parcels the records code as single-family homes, leaving out condos, townhomes and apartments. We placed each one in our neighborhood guide outlines and summarized the houses inside each. The counts come from the City of Sunnyvale’s public parcel data as of October 19, 2026. There are no addresses or owner details here.
The short answer
- Citywide, the median house was built in 1959. 55% of Sunnyvale’s single-family houses date from before 1960, and 4% from 2000 or later.
- The typical house has 1,644 square feet on a 6,300-square-foot lot. 19% of houses have two or more stories.
- Oldest neighborhoods by median year built (guides with at least 100 houses): Murphy Park (1942), Fair Oaks Park (1944) and Heritage District & Downtown (1948).
- Newest: Lawrence Station (1969), Sunny Arts & Community Center (1966) and Braly Park (1965).
- Most two-story houses: Cumberland & Las Palmas (39%), Rancho Verde (35%), Sunny Arts & Community Center (34%) and Ortega Park (33%). Fewest: Fair Oaks Park (2%) and Lakewood Village (3%).
- Single-story zoning is rare. 685 houses citywide (3%) sit in a single-story (S) district, almost all of them in Eichler tracts.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
Oldest first, by the median year built. “Houses” counts single-family parcels inside each guide’s outline. Some guides sit inside others, so a house can count in two. Each name opens its guide, with live listings and our notes.
| Neighborhood | Houses | Median year built | Built before 1960 | Built 2000 or later | Median size | Median lot | Two or more stories | In a single-story district |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murphy Park | 576 | 1942 | 88% | 5% | 1,288 sq ft | 6,000 sq ft | 11% | 0% |
| Fair Oaks Park | 130 | 1944 | 100% | 0% | 1,098 sq ft | 5,000 sq ft | 2% | 0% |
| Heritage District & Downtown | 609 | 1948 | 78% | 8% | 1,458 sq ft | 5,610 sq ft | 25% | 0% |
| Sunnyvale Manor & Sunnymount Gardens | 579 | 1950 | 84% | 9% | 1,390 sq ft | 5,500 sq ft | 16% | 0% |
| SNAIL | 1,287 | 1953 | 90% | 8% | 1,274 sq ft | 5,460 sq ft | 10% | 0% |
| Cherry Chase | 1,371 | 1954 | 91% | 2% | 1,483 sq ft | 6,006 sq ft | 8% | 0% |
| San Miguel | 684 | 1954 | 98% | 1% | 1,326 sq ft | 5,252 sq ft | 6% | 0% |
| Sunnyvale West | 927 | 1954 | 73% | 3% | 1,504 sq ft | 5,950 sq ft | 18% | 0% |
| Cherryhill | 484 | 1957 | 57% | 1% | 1,903 sq ft | 7,992 sq ft | 18% | 0% |
| Lakewood Village | 1,573 | 1957 | 97% | 2% | 1,108 sq ft | 5,775 sq ft | 3% | 0% |
| Birdland | 1,123 | 1958 | 70% | 2% | 1,525 sq ft | 6,440 sq ft | 10% | 0% |
| Fairorchard | 54 | 1958 | 98% | 2% | 1,853 sq ft | 7,992 sq ft | 4% | 100% |
| Primewood | 79 | 1958 | 52% | 0% | 2,016 sq ft | 8,549 sq ft | 4% | 44% |
| Fairbrae | 399 | 1959 | 56% | 2% | 1,888 sq ft | 7,462 sq ft | 14% | 63% |
| Serra Park & West Valley | 2,444 | 1959 | 60% | 2% | 1,923 sq ft | 8,250 sq ft | 13% | 4% |
| Rancho Verde | 124 | 1960 | 1% | 31% | 1,825 sq ft | 7,761 sq ft | 35% | 69% |
| Fairwood | 385 | 1962 | 1% | 1% | 1,603 sq ft | 6,696 sq ft | 12% | 31% |
| Ortega Park | 1,085 | 1962 | 18% | 3% | 1,780 sq ft | 6,300 sq ft | 33% | 0% |
| Panama Park | 623 | 1962 | 13% | 3% | 1,671 sq ft | 6,696 sq ft | 16% | 19% |
| Cumberland & Las Palmas | 1,412 | 1963 | 25% | 4% | 1,947 sq ft | 6,480 sq ft | 39% | 0% |
| Ponderosa Park | 1,581 | 1964 | 9% | 5% | 1,685 sq ft | 6,120 sq ft | 27% | 0% |
| Braly Park | 351 | 1965 | 44% | 3% | 1,831 sq ft | 6,710 sq ft | 26% | 0% |
| Sunny Arts & Community Center | 332 | 1966 | 14% | 6% | 1,725 sq ft | 6,208 sq ft | 34% | 0% |
| Rancho Sans Souci | 35 | 1968 | 0% | 0% | 2,308 sq ft | 8,560 sq ft | 0% | 0% |
| Lawrence Station | 636 | 1969 | 14% | 2% | 1,659 sq ft | 6,146 sq ft | 24% | 0% |
| All of Sunnyvale | 20,951 | 1959 | 55% | 4% | 1,644 sq ft | 6,300 sq ft | 19% | 3% |
Sunset Oaks has no parcels coded as single-family homes inside its outline, so it isn’t in the table.
Condos and townhomes
The same records list 8,110 condo and townhome parcels, each a separate unit in the county’s records. They are much newer than the houses. Their median build year is 1994, and 42% were built in 2000 or later. More than half of those newer units, 1,880 of 3,421, sit in two guides: Fair Oaks Park (median 2015) and Lawrence Station (median 2006). Guides with at least 30 condo and townhome parcels are listed, most first. Rental apartment buildings aren’t included.
| Neighborhood | Condos and townhomes | Median year built | Built 2000 or later | Median size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Station | 1,323 | 2006 | 57% | 1,368 sq ft |
| Fair Oaks Park | 1,208 | 2015 | 93% | 1,743 sq ft |
| Sunny Arts & Community Center | 578 | 1974 | 4% | 1,352 sq ft |
| Ponderosa Park | 418 | 1988 | 0% | 1,191 sq ft |
| SNAIL | 403 | 1985 | 27% | 1,078 sq ft |
| Braly Park | 337 | 2004 | 55% | 1,298 sq ft |
| San Miguel | 318 | 1996 | 13% | 1,160 sq ft |
| Cumberland & Las Palmas | 292 | 1987 | 48% | 1,564 sq ft |
| Panama Park | 236 | 1987 | 25% | 930 sq ft |
| Sunset Oaks | 223 | 1974 | 7% | 1,300 sq ft |
| Murphy Park | 136 | 1996 | 33% | 1,150 sq ft |
| Heritage District & Downtown | 128 | 1999 | 49% | 1,610 sq ft |
| Serra Park & West Valley | 57 | 1973 | 0% | 1,144 sq ft |
| Cherryhill | 41 | 1973 | 0% | 1,374 sq ft |
| Rancho Verde | 40 | 1978 | 0% | 1,494 sq ft |
| All of Sunnyvale | 8,110 | 1994 | 42% | 1,378 sq ft |
What stands out
- The largest typical houses are about 75% bigger than the smallest. Among guides with at least 100 houses, the largest median houses are in Cumberland & Las Palmas (1,947 sq ft), Serra Park & West Valley (1,923 sq ft), Cherryhill (1,903 sq ft) and Fairbrae (1,888 sq ft). The smallest are in Fair Oaks Park (1,098 sq ft), Lakewood Village (1,108 sq ft) and SNAIL (1,274 sq ft).
- Lots follow a similar pattern. The largest median lots are in Serra Park & West Valley (8,250 sq ft), Cherryhill (7,992 sq ft) and Rancho Verde (7,761 sq ft). The smallest are in Fair Oaks Park (5,000 sq ft), San Miguel (5,252 sq ft) and SNAIL (5,460 sq ft). The small Eichler tracts of the late 1960s, Rancho Sans Souci and Primewood, have some of the biggest houses and lots of all, at about 2,000 to 2,300 square feet on 8,500-square-foot lots.
- Most of Sunnyvale is still its first houses. Only 4% of single-family houses citywide carry a build year of 2000 or later, which is how county records show a full rebuild. Rancho Verde’s outline is the exception: it includes a 2009 group of 39 two-story houses on Pumpkin, Pistachio and Wilmington terraces, so 31% of its houses are that new.
- Second stories cluster in the 1960s neighborhoods. Cumberland & Las Palmas, Sunny Arts & Community Center and Ortega Park, all with median years in the 1960s, have the highest two-story shares among the larger guides. Lakewood Village and Fair Oaks Park, with small 1940s and 1950s houses, have almost none.
Reading it right
- County records lag remodels. Living area and stories come from assessor data, which can miss recent additions. Check permits for any house you’re buying.
- “Year built” is the record’s year. A house that was torn down and rebuilt shows the rebuild year, and an older house with a big addition keeps its original year.
- Houses and condos are counted separately. The main table covers single-family houses; condos and townhomes have their own table, and rental apartment buildings aren’t in either.
- A median isn’t a verdict on a neighborhood. It describes the houses, not which neighborhood is right for you.
Go deeper
Our count of every Sunnyvale Eichler breaks out the 1958–1973 Eichler tracts, and Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Ranked by Price per Square Foot shows what recent sales in each guide sold for. Sunnyvale Flood Zones by Neighborhood uses the same parcel records to show where homes sit in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones. Sunnyvale Houses by Bedroom Count shows how many bedrooms they have, guide by guide. Homes by Decade sorts today’s listings by the decade they were built, and the Sunnyvale city guide links all 26 neighborhood guides.
Thinking about a second story or a rebuild?
A Property Nerd can pull the zoning, the lot 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.