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palo alto neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
College Terrace, Palo Alto Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A 12-block strip of houses from the 1880s onward between Stanford Avenue and California Avenue, where the cross streets are named for colleges and Stanford land sits on most sides.
College Terrace by the numbers
college terrace by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for College Terrace: Stanford Ave to California Ave, El Camino Real to Amherst St (city neighborhood outline). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in college terrace · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in College Terrace
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in College Terrace 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 (College Terrace: Stanford Ave to California Ave, El Camino Real to Amherst St (city neighborhood outline)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How College Terrace came to be
College Terrace is older than the university next door. In 1870, farmers Frederick Weisshaar and Peter Spacher each bought 60 acres of former Robles ranch land here, and about a decade later they turned down Leland Stanford when he tried to buy them out, according to Palo Alto Online's 2023 history of the neighborhood. In 1887 they sold to developer Alexander Gordon, who planned a subdivision aimed at faculty and fraternities from the university about to open across the road.
Gordon's map, recorded in 1888, called the tract "Palo Alto," borrowing the name of Stanford's stock farm. Stanford, by then a U.S. senator, sued; he ended up paying Gordon a $1,000 settlement for the right to use the name on his own University Park lots, and Gordon renamed his tract College Terrace. Rather than join Stanford's dry town, the neighborhood joined neighboring Mayfield in 1891, and it became part of Palo Alto when the city annexed Mayfield in 1925.
Gordon's plan also set aside four small parks in 1888, placed symmetrically and first named Berkeley, Hollywood, Hampton and Eton. Today they are Mayfield, Cameron, Werry and Weisshaar parks; Hollywood became Mayfield Park in 1968, in honor of the former town, per the city. The original business strip ran along El Camino Real and included block-long Staunton Court, named for a Virginia military academy. A 1910-era wooden storefront at 560 College Avenue is described as the last piece of it.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The plan is a long rectangle about 12 blocks deep from El Camino Real, split down the middle by College Avenue. The cross streets carry college names and run roughly alphabetically from Amherst Street, on the higher ground toward the Stanford hills, to Yale Street near El Camino: Amherst, Bowdoin, Columbia, Dartmouth, Hanover, Harvard, Oberlin, Princeton, Cornell, Wellesley, Williams and Yale. On today's map Cornell is the one that broke ranks, sitting between Princeton and Wellesley. Near El Camino you'll also find short Oxford and Cambridge avenues and Staunton Court.
The architecture is mixed. Palo Alto Online's 2023 tour lists Victorians, early Craftsman houses, English cottages, Spanish Colonial Revival bungalows, ornate Queen Annes and even a log cabin, with a historic home on nearly every block. Some of the oldest houses are on Yale Street, including a two-story Victorian from 1888 described as the oldest in College Terrace, and a Queen Anne on Amherst Street sits at the neighborhood's highest point. New construction is steady too; a 2018 Palo Alto Weekly profile noted a run of rebuilds and flips.
Most lots are zoned R-1 on the city's GIS zoning layer, which means a 6,000-square-foot minimum lot, a 30-foot height limit and floor area of 45 percent of the first 5,000 square feet of lot plus 30 percent of the rest. The blocks nearest El Camino on Yale and Williams streets are different: they carry RMD(NP) zoning, a two-unit district with a Neighborhood Preservation overlay meant to keep existing houses, allow additions without demolition and make new units fit in. Projects with two or more units there go through architectural review. Neighborhood-commercial zoning lines El Camino Real.
streets in college terrace
- Stanford Avenue
- College Avenue
- California Avenue
- Amherst Street
- Bowdoin Street
- Columbia Street
- Dartmouth Street
- Hanover Street
- Harvard Street
- Oberlin Street
- Princeton Street
- Cornell Street
- Wellesley Street
- Williams Street
- Yale Street
- Oxford Avenue
- Cambridge Avenue
- Staunton Court
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near College Terrace
- library
College Terrace Library and Mayfield Park
The branch library at 2300 Wellesley Street sits inside Mayfield Park, a 1.1-acre park with walking paths that wraps around the building. It was one of the four mini-parks laid out in 1888.
- park
Cameron, Werry and Weisshaar parks
The other three 1888 mini-parks: Cameron Park on Wellesley Street, and Werry and Weisshaar parks on Dartmouth Street.
- trail
Stanford Perimeter Trail
A 3.4-mile trail completed in 2016 along Junipero Serra Boulevard, Stanford Avenue and El Camino Real. The Stanford Avenue stretch, on the neighborhood's north edge, has sidepaths and on-street bike lanes.
- shopping
California Avenue
The car-free California Avenue business district starts directly across El Camino Real from the neighborhood's southeast corner.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
College Terrace is in the Palo Alto Unified School District. Escondido Elementary School sits just across Stanford Avenue on Stanford land, at 890 Escondido Road. PAUSD assigns schools by address and attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district before you rely on a particular school.
Getting around
- California Avenue Caltrain station is about 0.4 mile from the El Camino end and about 1.1 miles from the Amherst Street end (straight-line, approximate).
- VTA Route 22 and Rapid 522 run along El Camino Real at the neighborhood's east edge.
- Stanford Avenue has bike lanes and sidepaths as part of the Stanford Perimeter Trail, and leads straight into the Stanford campus.
- Page Mill Road, a few blocks south via Hanover Street or El Camino, heads west past Stanford Research Park to I-280.
- Downtown Palo Alto and the University Avenue station are about 1.4 to 1.7 miles north (straight-line, approximate).
nerd notes
Buying or selling in College Terrace: what we check
Buying here
- Check the parcel's zone on the city map. Most lots are R-1, but the RMD(NP) blocks near El Camino allow two units with architectural review and special rules aimed at keeping existing houses.
- Ask whether the house is on Palo Alto's historic inventory or could be eligible, and what that would mean for your remodel or rebuild plans.
- On 1880s-1920s houses, budget for a close inspection of the foundation, wiring and sewer lateral, and pull the permit history for past additions.
- College Terrace has a residential permit parking program: without a permit, parking on participating blocks is limited to two hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
- If you're counting on an ADU or SB 9 project, confirm setbacks, floor area and any historic constraints with the city first; lots here are not large.
Selling here
- Document original details (millwork, windows, porches) and any historic inventory status with photos and records; it helps buyers understand what they're getting.
- Pull permits for every addition and ADU, and disclose anything unpermitted early.
- State the zone (R-1 or RMD(NP)) in the listing materials so buyers can price in what the lot allows.
- Have guest parking permits and instructions ready for open houses on permit-parking blocks.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
College Terrace questions, answered
Why are College Terrace streets named after colleges?
Developer Alexander Gordon subdivided the land in 1887-1888, just before Stanford opened, hoping to attract faculty and fraternities, and he named the streets for well-known colleges and universities.
Is College Terrace part of Stanford?
No. It was subdivided privately in 1887-1888 and never became part of the university's lands. It joined the town of Mayfield in 1891 and became part of Palo Alto when the city annexed Mayfield in 1925. Stanford land surrounds it on most sides.
What are College Terrace's boundaries?
Stanford Avenue, El Camino Real, California Avenue and Amherst Street.
Is there permit parking in College Terrace?
Yes. On participating blocks you need a permit to park more than two hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Check the city's program map for a specific block.
Can I build a second unit in College Terrace?
Usually an ADU is possible on R-1 lots, subject to city rules. The RMD(NP) blocks near El Camino allow two units, with design review and preservation-minded rules. Confirm the exact parcel with the planning department.
next door
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