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san carlos neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Devonshire, San Carlos Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Northwest San Carlos hills around Devonshire Boulevard, Winding Way and Club Drive, where about 300 homes sit in an unincorporated county pocket surrounded by about 640 city homes.
Devonshire by the numbers
devonshire by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Devonshire (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in devonshire · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Devonshire
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Devonshire 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 (Devonshire (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Devonshire came to be
The street names read like an English road map: Devonshire Boulevard, Chesham Avenue, Dover Court, Hyde Park Avenue, Windsor Drive, Exeter Avenue, Lynton and Dolton avenues. The name goes back at least to the 1920s. The city's history page says the Devonshire Club, at the head of Club Drive, hosted many of San Carlos's social events in the 1920s and 1930s, served in World War II as the service club for the war dog training center on the old H.H. Ranch, and burned in 1952 in a fire seen as far away as the Oakland hills.
As San Carlos grew around it, part of the hillside never joined the city. LAFCo's 2011 review describes unincorporated Devonshire as two areas: a large one wholly surrounded by the city, and a smaller one along Club Drive bounded by the city on three sides and by Belmont. The county formed the Devonshire County Sanitation District in 1956. LAFCo says the district serves only part of the area and has no capacity to take new properties, and that other developed lots use septic systems.
The edges still move. A 2018 local news report described a five-home project on 20,000-square-foot lots in Devonshire Canyon, between Winding Way and Chesham Avenue, on land the City Council voted to annex in 2009, after a 2004 lawsuit was settled with a full environmental review and an emergency-only gate. County parcel maps now show five city lots on Canyon Vista Way in that spot.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
On the city side, streets climb in parallel ridges from San Carlos Avenue: Exeter Avenue and Kirkwood Way, Bayview and Bay View drives, Chilton Avenue and Sequoia Court, Beverly Drive, and the short Charlton Street, Molton Avenue, Plymouth Avenue and Cambridge Street between San Carlos Avenue and Devonshire Boulevard. Club Drive runs about 1.3 miles along the west side (Census street maps), from the San Carlos Avenue and Alameda junction to Crestview Drive, with Cranfield Avenue, Curtis Court, Adam Court and Gateway Court off its upper end.
Inside the county pocket, Devonshire Boulevard drops into a tangle of curving streets: Winding Way (about 0.9 mile), Chesham Avenue, Dolton Avenue, Dover Court, Lynton Avenue, Hidden Valley Drive, Gaslight Lane, Barbara Lane, Devonshire Circle and Wingate Avenue. County parcel maps count about 300 single-family lots there with a median near 8,100 square feet, plus about 85 vacant parcels, many of them without street addresses. County zoning maps the pocket R-1 with the S-71 and DR combining districts (a small southwest corner is R-E/S-102/DR), and LAFCo notes the whole unincorporated area is zoned residential and subject to design review.
On the south slope, Kings Court and Queens Court, reached by Hyde Park, are city streets with larger lots. Ground runs from about 150 feet where Devonshire Boulevard meets San Carlos Avenue to about 280 feet on Chesham Avenue, about 370 feet on Winding Way and about 550 feet along Club Drive (USGS elevation points), and state seismic hazard maps put about 440 of the area's lots in a landslide zone.
streets in devonshire
- Devonshire Boulevard
- Devonshire Circle
- Winding Way
- Chesham Avenue
- Dolton Avenue
- Dover Court
- Lynton Avenue
- Hidden Valley Drive
- Gaslight Lane
- Barbara Lane
- Hyde Park Avenue
- Hyde Park
- Wingate Avenue
- Windsor Drive
- Windsor Court
- Roslyn Avenue
- Fay Avenue
- Willow Glen Way
- Canyon Vista Way
- Kings Court
- Queens Court
- Club Drive
- Camborne Avenue
- Cranfield Avenue
- Shratton Avenue
- Oakley Avenue
- Deer Lane
- Exeter Avenue
- Exeter Way
- Kirkwood Way
- Bayview Drive
- Bay View Drive
- Chilton Avenue
- Sequoia Court
- Curtis Court
- Adam Court
- Curry Court
- Blossom Lane
- Gateway Court
- Beverly Drive
- Charlton Street
- Molton Avenue
- Plymouth Avenue
- Cambridge Street
- San Carlos Avenue
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Devonshire
- park
Chilton Park
A 1.6-acre city park at 48 Bayview Drive, entered from the dead ends of Chilton Avenue and Sequoia Court, with a playground, short walking paths and a rock outcrop.
- park
San Carlos Avenue Neighborhood Park
A 0.3-acre pocket park at 2451 San Carlos Avenue, north of Beverly Drive, with a swing set, playground, picnic tables and a small lawn.
- park
Arguello Park
The city's 21-acre park at 260 Wellington Drive, just across San Carlos Avenue, with a large grass field, playground, two picnic areas and trails on the hillsides around it.
- park
Highlands Park
The city's 11.25-acre sports park at 2600 Melendy Drive, about half a mile (straight-line) south-east of the middle, with fields, five tennis courts, pickleball and a playground.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Two elementary districts split Devonshire (Census school-district maps, checked at every parcel): the San Carlos School District for most lots, and the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District for the Club Drive side, including Camborne, Cranfield and Shratton avenues and about half of Club Drive. All of it is in the Sequoia Union High School District. Carlmont High School is just over the Belmont line at 1400 Alameda de las Pulgas, next to the Club Drive and San Carlos Avenue junction, and the San Carlos School District's Tierra Linda Middle School and Mariposa Upper Elementary share a campus at 750 Dartmouth Avenue, about 0.6 mile (straight-line) north of the middle. Boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
San Carlos School District guide · Belmont-Redwood Shores guide · Sequoia Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Caltrain: San Carlos station (599 El Camino Real) is about 1.3 miles and Belmont station about 1.5 miles, straight-line from the middle.
- Buses: public maps show SamTrans stops on San Carlos Avenue at Devonshire Boulevard and at Club Drive; SamTrans route 260 runs between the San Carlos Caltrain station and Carlmont Village in Belmont. Check SamTrans for current stops.
- US 101: the Holly Street ramps are about 1.7 miles (straight-line) to the east.
- I-280: the Edgewood Road ramps are about 2.3 miles (straight-line) to the south, by Club Drive and Crestview Drive.
- County roads: LAFCo's 2011 review counted 2.86 centerline miles of county-maintained road in unincorporated Devonshire.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Devonshire: what we check
Buying here
- Confirm city or county for the exact parcel. County lots follow county planning, building permits and design review (LAFCo; county zoning R-1/S-71/DR), and LAFCo's 2011 review lists the Sheriff and County Fire under a CAL FIRE contract for the unincorporated area; city lots use San Carlos planning and the San Carlos/Redwood City Fire Department.
- Ask how the house is sewered. County maps put about 280 county lots inside the Devonshire County Sanitation District; county lots outside it (mainly Camborne Avenue, part of Club Drive and Shratton Avenue, and a few on Wingate and Lynton avenues) may be on septic. Get septic records and an inspection, and check County Environmental Health files.
- Plan additions and ADUs around the sewer answer: LAFCo says the sanitation district has no capacity for new properties, septic lot size depends on slope, and city sewer extension requires no further subdivision, an irrevocable agreement to annex and city building standards.
- Expect hillside review: about 440 lots fall in a state-mapped landslide zone (Exeter Avenue, Winding Way, Club Drive, Chesham Avenue, Bayview Drive and others), and LAFCo flagged a lack of storm drain and flood control facilities in Devonshire.
- Read the fire hazard disclosure: CAL FIRE's March 2025 map puts about 230 lots in its Moderate zone (Chesham Avenue, Winding Way, lower Devonshire Boulevard, Club Drive, Dover Court, Kings Court) and an older county layer shows more than half the lots as Very High.
- Check the school district: Belmont-Redwood Shores for the Club Drive side, San Carlos for the rest.
Selling here
- Have the jurisdiction answer documented (city or county), along with the sewer district bill or septic records.
- Gather septic pumping and inspection reports, and county or city permits for additions and ADUs.
- Know which school district serves the address, since the Club Drive side differs from the rest.
- Point out the walk to Chilton Park and, on the north side, Arguello Park across San Carlos Avenue.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Devonshire questions, answered
Is Devonshire part of San Carlos?
Partly. About 640 single-family lots are in the City of San Carlos and about 300 are in unincorporated San Mateo County; county address points give both San Carlos mailing addresses and ZIP 94070. LAFCo places the county area in San Carlos's sphere of influence, which it describes as the plan for the city's future boundaries.
Which streets are unincorporated?
County parcel records put all of Winding Way, Chesham Avenue, Dover Court, Devonshire Circle, Hidden Valley Drive, Barbara Lane and Hyde Park Avenue in the county, plus most of Dolton Avenue, the lower half of Devonshire Boulevard and parts of Windsor Drive, Lynton Avenue, Camborne Avenue, Roslyn Avenue and Fay Avenue. A few Club Drive, Beverly Drive and Shratton Avenue lots are county too. Check each address.
Are homes in Devonshire on sewer or septic?
Both. The county's Devonshire County Sanitation District serves part of the pocket, and LAFCo says other developed lots use septic systems. The district has no capacity for new properties, so ask for the sewer bill or septic records before you buy.
Who handles permits?
For county lots, San Mateo County planning and building, with county design review. For city lots, the City of San Carlos.
Which school district serves Devonshire?
Mostly the San Carlos School District. The Club Drive side (Camborne, Cranfield, Shratton and about half of Club Drive) is in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District. High school is the Sequoia Union High School District. Check the exact address.
What was the Devonshire Club?
A social club at the head of Club Drive that hosted many San Carlos events in the 1920s and 1930s, served as a World War II service club, and burned in 1952, according to the city's history page.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Devonshire? Let's run your numbers.
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