los gatos neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Broadway, Los Gatos Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The street where the town's planned growth began: John Lyndon's 1881 subdivision off South Santa Cruz Avenue, opened in 1883 and now a Town historic district of Victorian and bungalow-era houses.
Broadway by the numbers
broadway by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Broadway historic district: south of W. Main St, west of S. Santa Cruz Ave (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in broadway · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Broadway
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Broadway from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Broadway historic district: south of W. Main St, west of S. Santa Cruz Ave (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Broadway came to be
Before Broadway there was Forbes Mill and a scatter of houses and businesses, but no plan. In 1863 Henry D. McCobb bought a 100-acre tract that included this land and intended to subdivide it into city lots for a town he would call Cobbsville. It never happened. The land went instead to John W. Lyndon, a former Vermonter, who on September 24, 1881 divided it into 48 lots priced from $125. On January 5, 1883 Broadway opened to reach them. The Town calls it the first plotted street and the first residential subdivision in Los Gatos, the beginning of a formally laid-out town.
Lyndon is all over the early record. He was one of the original Town Trustees, a stockholder in the Los Gatos Fruit Packing Co., organizer of a gas company and a bank, builder of the Ten Mile House hotel that preceded the Lyndon Hotel, and the man who deeded the land for the railroad depot where the post office now stands. One of the first buyers, sailor William L. Lingley, paid $600 in gold coin for Lyndon's Subdivision A in 1881; the creek that runs through that area still carries his name. Lyndon's own Victorian mansion stood on Broadway. The cottages built in 1887 for Thomas Hayselden still stand, and Clifton Avenue was once Hayselden Avenue.
The Town designated the Broadway Historic District in the mid-1980s (the district map shows the boundaries set by Ordinance 1648 on April 8, 1985) and updated its findings in 2008. The firehouse at Tait Avenue and Main Street belongs to the district too. It was the first building in Los Gatos built as a fire station, paid for with a bond and opened in 1927 with a 750-gallon American LaFrance pumper. It later housed the town's museums, sat empty after they merged into the New Museum Los Gatos in 2015, and by early 2026 the Town had approved rezoning it for single-family residential use, keeping the historic overlay, so it can become a private home.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Broadway leaves South Santa Cruz Avenue and runs west-northwest; at its west end, West Main Street loops down from the north to meet it, and the street continues west as a narrower lane. Clifton Avenue and Farwell Lane branch south toward the hillside above Wood Road. The roadway is concrete and protected: the district ordinance says it should be kept as it looked in 1992, and the date stamps in the concrete sidewalks need Historic Preservation Committee review before they change. Broadway between West Main Street and South Santa Cruz Avenue was repaved in December 2016 as Phase I of the Town's Almond Grove street project, with more concrete panel repairs in late 2019 and early 2020.
The Town counts approximately 51 structures, many built before 1900, in Victorian, Craftsman/bungalow and Colonial Revival styles, plus one Norman French house designed by Henry Crall as a copy of a house he had seen in Normandy. The ordinance calls out the Waterman House on Broadway as a well-preserved Victorian Italianate. The Town's 2008 contributor list has 20 houses on Broadway, two on Clifton Avenue and four on West Main Street, with estimated construction dates from the 1870s to the 1930s.
The same design guidelines govern all four of the Town's residential historic districts. Additions should match the original house but stay subordinate to it; new porch floors in concrete or masonry are prohibited on Victorian and Craftsman/bungalow houses; existing picket and ornate wire fences, rock walls and front-yard concrete walls should be repaired and kept, and plastic fencing is prohibited. New fences in the front setback should be open, in wood, ornate wire or wrought iron.
streets in broadway
- Broadway
- Clifton Avenue
- Farwell Lane
- West Main Street
- Tait Avenue
- Oak Knoll Road
- South Santa Cruz Avenue
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Broadway
- park
Town Plaza Park
The 0.6-acre town square at Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue, on the site of the old railroad station, about a fifth of a mile from the middle of Broadway. The farmers market runs there Sundays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- landmark
Old Tait Avenue firehouse
The 1927 Spanish Revival station at Tait Avenue and Main Street, with stucco walls, a red clay tile roof and an arched entry. Part of the district, and rezoned by early 2026 so it can become a home.
- park
Fairview Plaza
The 0.3-acre landscaped island of the Fairview Plaza cul-de-sac, a Town park in its own historic district just northwest of Broadway.
- shopping
Downtown Los Gatos
The storefronts of the National Register commercial district start at Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue, a short walk east.
- landmark
Forbes Mill and the Los Gatos Creek Trail
The 1880 annex of the flour mill the town grew up around sits on Los Gatos Creek about 0.4 miles east, where the creek trail heads north toward Vasona Lake County Park and Campbell.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Broadway is served by the Los Gatos Union School District (TK-8) and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District. There is no public school in the district itself; Los Gatos High School is about 0.6 miles east, across Highway 17. Attendance boundaries change, so confirm the exact address with each district's school locator before you count on any school.
Los Gatos Union guide · Los Gatos-Saratoga high schools · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Walk: Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue is about a fifth of a mile from the middle of Broadway, and the Civic Center about half a mile (approximate straight-line measurements).
- VTA Route 27 stops at Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue and runs to Winchester light rail station in Campbell, about 4.5 miles away in a straight line.
- Highway 17: northbound drivers can take the left exit to the south end of South Santa Cruz Avenue; the Highway 9 interchange is about three-quarters of a mile northeast.
- Caltrain: San Jose Diridon is about 9 miles away in a straight line.
- Los Gatos Creek Trail: reach it near Forbes Mill on the east side of downtown and ride north to Vasona Lake County Park (about 1.6 miles straight-line) and Campbell.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Broadway: what we check
Buying here
- Check the parcel's status first. Everything in the district is under the Town's historic overlay, and any house built before 1941 is treated as a potential historic resource. Doors, windows, porches, siding, roof lines, fences, rock walls and exterior colors are all protected elements subject to review.
- On the hillside lots south of Broadway, look at slope, drainage and retaining walls, and run the floor area math with the slope deduction: the Town reduces the net lot area used for the floor area ratio when the average slope is over 10%. Ask Planning whether any hillside standards apply.
- Mind the demolition line: for a historic house, removing or enclosing more than 25% of street-facing walls or 50% of all exterior walls counts as demolition, and contributing structures can't be demolished except after a disaster or when needed for a proper restoration.
- Get an inspection suited to a house that may be well over 100 years old: foundation and seismic connections, wiring, plumbing, the sewer lateral and lead paint. Ask for permits and past Historic Preservation Committee approvals.
- The concrete roadway and the date stamps in the sidewalks are protected district features. If you want a new curb cut or driveway approach, ask the Town what review applies before you design around it.
Selling here
- Have the history ready: the house's Historic Resources Inventory status, estimated construction date, permits and any HPC approvals. On a street the Town calls its first, buyers ask.
- Repair in kind before listing. Like-for-like repairs need only a building permit, but new window types, siding changes or porch alterations trigger review.
- Disclose the historic district and overlay clearly and show what a buyer could realistically add (floor area, setbacks, the Town's cellar policy) so the plan survives due diligence.
- If the lot slopes, have a survey or topographic information ready; the slope deduction can change the allowable floor area, and buyers will want to know it before they make an offer.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Broadway questions, answered
Is Broadway really the first street in Los Gatos?
The Town calls it the first plotted street and the first residential street. Forbes Mill and scattered houses and businesses came earlier, but Broadway, opened on January 5, 1883 to serve John Lyndon's 1881 subdivision, was the first formally laid-out residential street.
How many homes are in the Broadway Historic District?
The Town counts approximately 51 structures. Its 2008 design guidelines list 26 contributing buildings: 20 on Broadway, two on Clifton Avenue and four on West Main Street.
What is happening with the old firehouse at Tait Avenue and Main Street?
The 1927 station later served as the town's museum and has been vacant since the museums merged in 2015. By early 2026 the Town had approved rezoning it for single-family residential use with the historic overlay kept, so any exterior work for a conversion will go through historic review.
Can I add on to a house on Broadway?
Usually, with review. Additions should match the original but stay subordinate to it, new second stories go through the Historic Preservation Committee, and the Town's floor area formula and setbacks still apply.
Which school districts serve Broadway?
Los Gatos Union School District for TK-8 and Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District for 9-12. Confirm the exact address with each district.
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