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los gatos neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Fairview Plaza, Los Gatos Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A single dead-end street from the 1885 Fairview Addition, a few blocks west of downtown, where Victorian and Craftsman houses face a landscaped island that is now a small Town park.
Fairview Plaza by the numbers
fairview plaza by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Fairview Plaza historic district (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in fairview plaza · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Fairview Plaza
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Fairview Plaza 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 (Fairview Plaza historic district (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Fairview Plaza came to be
Fairview Plaza is older than the town. The Fairview Addition was surveyed in June 1885, two years before Los Gatos incorporated, by Herrmann Brothers, land surveyors from San Jose, for F. H. McCullagh, and recorded with Santa Clara County in Book 5 of Maps, page 26. On that map Pennsylvania Avenue ended in a cul-de-sac, and the surveyors named the end of it Fairview Plaza.
The name spread. The part of Pennsylvania Avenue inside the Fairview Addition, from the cul-de-sac west to the intersection with Oak Knoll Road, Manzanita Avenue and Wadsworth Avenue, has since been renamed Fairview Plaza, and the Town notes that both the street and the houses on it are known by that name. Pennsylvania Avenue still runs past the district's north and east sides. According to the Town, the plaza keeps the same configuration it had on the 1885 map, with a landscaped island as its focal point, and about three-quarters of the homes in the subdivision were built before 1900.
The district was created by Ordinance 1351 (designation HD-76-1), expanded and given new development standards by Ordinance 1918 in 1992, and its findings were restated in 2008 by Ordinance 2167. Three things on the street are protected outright, and changing them needs Historic Preservation Committee review: the central island, the access to the Turnstile Walk, and the date stamps in the concrete sidewalks.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
This is a one-street district. Fairview Plaza runs east from its intersection at Oak Knoll Road for about a tenth of a mile and ends in a long loop around the island; the Town's parks inventory lists the island as a 0.3-acre Town park. It is not a through street, which the Town credits for the scale and feel of the place. At the east end, the pedestrian walk labeled Turnstile Walk on the original map remains essentially unchanged, and today a path leads from the end of the loop toward Bayview Avenue and West Main Street, a shortcut to downtown on foot.
The Town describes the houses as authentic, well-maintained Victorian and Craftsman homes set close together. Its 2008 design guidelines list 15 contributors, with addresses from 44 to 99 Fairview Plaza. Ten of the 15 carry estimated construction dates in the 1890s or 1900s; the rest range from the 1870s or earlier to the 1910s.
The rules are the same ones that govern the Town's other residential historic districts. Additions should match the original house and stay subordinate to it, a noncontributing house may be remodeled toward a contributing style (in Los Gatos's districts, generally Victorian, Craftsman/bungalow or Mission Revival/Mediterranean), and protected elements run from windows, porches and siding to fences, rock walls and exterior colors.
streets in fairview plaza
- Fairview Plaza
- Fairview Avenue
- Pennsylvania Avenue
- Oak Knoll Road
- Manzanita Avenue
- Wadsworth Avenue
- Glen Ridge Avenue
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Fairview Plaza
- park
Fairview Plaza island
The landscaped island in the middle of the cul-de-sac is a 0.3-acre Town park and a protected feature of the historic district.
- park
Town Plaza Park
The 0.6-acre town square at Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue, about a third of a mile east, where the farmers market sets up on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- landmark
Broadway Historic District
Directly south: Los Gatos's first residential street, opened in 1883, with houses from the 1870s to the 1930s and the 1927 Tait Avenue firehouse.
- shopping
Downtown Los Gatos
North Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street, a walk of roughly a quarter to a third of a mile by way of the path at the east end of the plaza.
- landmark
Los Gatos Creek Trail at Forbes Mill
About half a mile east, the trail passes the 1880 Forbes Mill annex and runs north to Vasona Lake County Park and Campbell.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Fairview Plaza is served by the Los Gatos Union School District (TK-8) and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District. No public school is on the street; Los Gatos High School is about 0.7 miles east, across Highway 17. Attendance boundaries change, so confirm the exact address with each district's school locator before relying on any school.
Los Gatos Union guide · Los Gatos-Saratoga high schools · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Walk: the path from the east end of the loop toward Bayview Avenue and West Main Street puts Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue roughly a quarter to a third of a mile away (approximate map measurement).
- VTA Route 27 stops at Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue and runs to Winchester light rail station in Campbell, about 4.4 miles away in a straight line.
- Highway 17: the Highway 9 interchange is about 0.8 miles northeast; northbound drivers can also use the left exit to the south end of South Santa Cruz Avenue.
- Caltrain: San Jose Diridon is about 8.7 miles away in a straight line.
- Bike: the Los Gatos Creek Trail, about half a mile east near Forbes Mill, connects to Vasona Lake County Park and Campbell.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Fairview Plaza: what we check
Buying here
- Find out whether the house is one of the 15 listed contributors. Contributors get the closest scrutiny, and the Town's guidelines forbid demolishing one except after a disaster or when needed for a proper restoration.
- The island, the access to the Turnstile Walk and the date-stamped sidewalks are protected district features, and the island is a Town park. Anything you plan at the street edge, from a new driveway approach to a fence, should be checked with the Town first.
- Run the size math: the Town's floor area formula starts at 0.35 of net lot area for the house on a 5,000 sq ft lot and slides down on bigger lots, with a separate garage allowance and a deduction for slopes over 10%. Any new second story goes through Historic Preservation Committee review.
- Inspect for age: foundation and seismic connections, wiring, plumbing, the sewer lateral and lead paint. Ask for permits and past Historic Preservation Committee approvals.
- On a dead-end street, construction logistics matter. If you plan a remodel, think through contractor parking and staging, and ask the Town whether any work in the right-of-way needs an encroachment permit.
Selling here
- Bring the paper trail: Historic Resources Inventory status, the estimated construction date, permits and Historic Preservation Committee approvals. On a 15-contributor street, buyers will compare.
- Repair in kind. Like-for-like repairs need only a building permit; different windows, siding or porch details trigger review, so keep pre-sale work to maintenance.
- Explain the district up front: what is protected, what a buyer could add, and how the island and the Turnstile Walk work day to day.
- Sales on a single street are rare, so pricing usually leans on nearby historic-district sales in Broadway and Almond Grove; have your agent show the adjustments clearly.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Fairview Plaza questions, answered
What is Fairview Plaza?
It is the cul-de-sac end of the 1885 Fairview Addition, originally the end of Pennsylvania Avenue, and one of the Town of Los Gatos's four residential historic districts. The street and the houses on it are both called Fairview Plaza.
How old are the houses?
The Town says about three-quarters of the homes in the subdivision were built before 1900. Most of the 15 contributors on its list date from the 1890s and 1900s, with a few older houses and a few from the 1910s.
Who owns the island in the middle?
The Town's parks inventory lists Fairview Plaza as a 0.3-acre Town park, and the district ordinance makes the central island a protected feature.
Is Fairview Plaza a through street?
No. Cars come and go from the west end; at the east end there is a pedestrian walk, shown as Turnstile Walk on the 1885 map, that leads toward Bayview Avenue and West Main Street.
Which school districts serve Fairview Plaza?
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.
next door
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