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cupertino neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Garden Gate, Cupertino Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Stelling Road's neighborhood between Hwy 85 and the North De Anza office strip, from I-280 down to Memorial Park: 1950 county-built streets annexed in 2001, a 1968 tract and Garden Gate Elementary.
Garden Gate by the numbers
garden gate by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Garden Gate: Hwy 85 to Bandley Dr, I-280 to Alves Dr (city planning-area outline). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in garden gate · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Garden Gate
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Garden Gate 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 (Garden Gate: Hwy 85 to Bandley Dr, I-280 to Alves Dr (city planning-area outline)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Garden Gate came to be
Garden Gate is the block of north-central Cupertino that Stelling Road runs straight through. It shares its name with Garden Gate Drive and Garden Gate Elementary, and it sits between two freeways and an office district: Hwy 85 on the west, I-280 on the north, and the North De Anza office strip beyond Bandley Drive on the east. To the south it stops at Alves Drive and the north side of Memorial Park, leaving the Stevens Creek Boulevard frontage to the city's Heart of the City plan. The city's planning map puts it at about 287 acres.
The middle is the oldest part. County assessor records date the R1-10 streets on both sides of Stelling Road, Garden Gate, Hanford, Fargo, Dunbar and Greenleaf drives to the east and Flora Vista Avenue, Hazelbrook, Grenola and Ann Arbor to the west, to about 1949 to 1951, with the Alves Drive row from about 1953. They were built on unincorporated county land, and most of them stayed in the county long after Cupertino incorporated around them in 1955. The city annexed a few lots at a time starting in 1998, then took in the remaining 108 acres in a single annexation in December 2001.
The edges were built under city rules. Most of the west side, from Castine Avenue toward Mary Avenue, was inside the original 1955 city limits and went up as two tracts of about 230 houses in 1968; a city map layer labels it Nathanson Ranch. Multifamily (R3) buildings went up on Park Circle, Beardon Drive, Gardena Drive, Hale Place and Valley Green Drive between 1962 and 1969, the Casa de Anza cluster and condominium development along Mary Avenue in 1971, Lauretta Drive and Acadia Court in 1978 and 1979, and Millard Lane in 1988.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Stelling Road splits the grid. East of it, Glencoe Drive and Beardon Drive run north-south with Garden Gate, Hanford, Fargo, Dunbar and Greenleaf drives crossing between them. West of it, Flora Vista Avenue and Ann Arbor Avenue run north-south with Hazelbrook, Grenola and Gardena drives across, and Garden Gate Elementary sits on Ann Arbor. Farther west, Castine Avenue is the spine of the 1968 tract, with Rumford, Milford, Meteor and Amulet drives running out to Anson and Nathanson avenues and Mary Avenue. Alves Drive and Valley Green Drive connect the area east to De Anza Boulevard.
The two lot sizes have aged very differently, which is the nerdiest thing about Garden Gate. On the roughly 386 R1-10 lots, with a median near 9,700 sq ft, assessor records show about half the houses carrying a build year of 1990 or later, meaning the 1950 originals were rebuilt or heavily reconstructed. In the 1968 tract's R1-7.5 lots, with a median near 7,700 sq ft, only one of about 280 shows a rebuild year. So one street can be mostly new houses while the next is still largely original.
Two-story projects follow Cupertino's R1 rules: a second floor larger than 66 percent of the first, or second-story side setbacks under 15 feet, triggers design review, and second-story windows facing neighbors may need privacy planting. New housing is also coming at the edges. In 2026 the city approved Mary Avenue Villas, 40 affordable apartments on a 0.79-acre strip of Mary Avenue right-of-way beside Hwy 85 and the dog park, and a housing proposal at 10268 Bandley Drive was under review.
streets in garden gate
- North Stelling Road
- Garden Gate Drive
- Greenleaf Drive
- Fargo Drive
- Hanford Drive
- Dunbar Drive
- Glencoe Drive
- Beardon Drive
- Flora Vista Avenue
- Ann Arbor Avenue
- Hazelbrook Drive
- Grenola Drive
- Gardena Drive
- Lauretta Drive
- Castine Avenue
- Rumford Drive
- Milford Drive
- Meteor Drive
- Amulet Drive
- Anson Avenue
- Nathanson Avenue
- Alves Drive
- Valley Green Drive
- Park Circle
- Mary Avenue
- Bandley Drive
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Garden Gate
- park
Memorial Park
On the south edge at 21121 Stevens Creek Blvd. The city lists 14.5 acres with a 350-person grass amphitheater, a gazebo, a softball field, tennis, a playground and picnic areas.
- landmark
Quinlan Community Center
The city's community center at 10185 N. Stelling Rd., on the south edge of the neighborhood. It also houses the Cupertino Historical Society and Museum.
- park
Mary Avenue Dog Park
A half-acre city dog park at 10309 Mary Ave., beside Hwy 85 on the west edge.
- landmark
Don Burnett Bicycle-Pedestrian Bridge
Carries the Mary Avenue bike path over I-280 at the neighborhood's northwest corner, linking it to the Sunnyvale side without using a freeway interchange.
- shopping
Stevens Creek Boulevard and Homestead Road
A Whole Foods Market at 20955 Stevens Creek Blvd. sits on the south edge, about 0.5 mile from the middle of the neighborhood, and the Homestead Square supermarket at 20620 Homestead Rd. is about 0.6 mile north across I-280 (city business-license records).
- landmark
De Anza College
The community college campus is across Stevens Creek Boulevard, about 0.8 mile south of the middle of Garden Gate.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Garden Gate is served by the Cupertino Union School District for kindergarten through eighth grade and the Fremont Union High School District for high school. Garden Gate Elementary School is inside the neighborhood at 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., and FUHSD's Homestead High School is just north across I-280 at 21370 Homestead Rd. The city's General Plan calls for better walking and biking routes from Garden Gate east to Lawson Middle School. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with CUSD's school locator and FUHSD's boundary maps before relying on any school.
Cupertino Union guide · Fremont Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- VTA Route 23 and Rapid 523 run along Stevens Creek Boulevard with stops at Stelling Road and De Anza Boulevard; Route 51 stops at Mary Avenue and Stelling Road; Route 55 runs on De Anza Boulevard, just east, toward Sunnyvale.
- I-280 forms the north edge and Hwy 85 the west edge; their interchange is at the northwest corner, and North De Anza Boulevard, just east, is the city's I-280 gateway.
- North Stelling Road crosses I-280 to Homestead Road, so Homestead High and the Homestead Road shops are reachable without a freeway on-ramp.
- The Mary Avenue bike path and the Don Burnett Bicycle-Pedestrian Bridge give a car-free route over I-280 on the west side.
- Caltrain: Sunnyvale station is about 3.4 miles north-northeast (straight-line). Apple Park's visitor center is about 2 miles east.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Garden Gate: what we check
Buying here
- Check when the parcel joined the city. Most R1-10 lots along Stelling Road were county land until the December 2001 annexation (some earlier, 1998 to 2001), so older permits may be on file with Santa Clara County rather than Cupertino.
- Confirm the zoning: R1-10, R1-7.5, R1-7, R2 or R3. It sets lot coverage, setbacks and what an addition, ADU or SB 9 project can look like, and Cupertino's two-story rules add design review above a 66 percent second-floor ratio.
- On rebuild-heavy streets, look at what has been approved next door: a new two-story neighbor can change light and privacy, and Cupertino's privacy-planting rules apply to second-story windows.
- For Casa de Anza and other HOA properties, read the CC&Rs, budget and reserve study before removing contingencies. For 1950s and 1960s houses, expect the federal lead-paint disclosure and have the inspector check electrical, foundation and the sewer lateral.
- Lots along Hwy 85, I-280 and Mary Avenue sit next to freeway traffic and the planned Mary Avenue Villas site; visit at commute hours. On flood maps, the city's parcel data shows no Garden Gate parcels in FEMA's AE zone and about 500 of roughly 820 in the 0.2-percent-annual-chance area, which is outside the Special Flood Hazard Area; still check the exact address.
Selling here
- Lead with lot size and zoning. On R1-10 streets many buyers are comparing a remodel against a rebuild; on the 1968 tract, nearly every house is a 1968 original, so spell out what has been updated.
- Pull permit history from both the county (before 2001 on the Stelling Road streets) and the city, and have it ready for buyers.
- Give real distances to Garden Gate Elementary, Memorial Park, Quinlan Community Center and the Stevens Creek Boulevard shops, with a note to confirm school assignment with the districts.
- If the home backs onto Hwy 85, I-280 or Mary Avenue, show buyers how the house handles sound (windows, walls, landscaping) rather than leaving them to guess.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Garden Gate questions, answered
Where exactly is Garden Gate?
Between Hwy 85 and Bandley Drive, from I-280 south to Alves Drive and the north side of Memorial Park, with North Stelling Road through the middle. That is the city's own planning-map boundary.
Does Garden Gate reach Homestead Road or Stevens Creek Boulevard?
No. I-280 is the north edge; the strip between I-280 and Homestead Road, with Homestead High and the Homestead Road shops, is a separate planning area. To the south, the Stevens Creek Boulevard frontage, including Memorial Park and Whole Foods, belongs to the Heart of the City area.
Was Garden Gate always part of Cupertino?
Only part of it. The west side and the Alves Drive and Park Circle area were inside the original 1955 city. Most of the 1950 streets along Stelling Road stayed unincorporated county land until 108 acres were annexed in December 2001.
Why do some streets look new and others original?
Lot size. About half of the R1-10 lots (around 9,700 sq ft) carry a 1990-or-later build year in assessor records, while the 1968 tract's R1-7.5 lots (around 7,700 sq ft) are almost all original houses.
Which schools serve Garden Gate?
The Cupertino Union School District and the Fremont Union High School District. Garden Gate Elementary is on Ann Arbor Avenue inside the neighborhood and Homestead High is just across I-280, but boundaries change, so confirm the address with each district.
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