home / portola valley / ladera
portola valley neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Ladera, Portola Valley (unincorporated San Mateo County) Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A planned postwar tract of about 535 homes on former Ormondale Ranch land along Alpine Road near I-280, sited by landscape architect Garrett Eckbo. Unincorporated San Mateo County with Portola Valley addresses.
Ladera by the numbers
ladera by the numbers · live from the mls
- for sale now…
- median list price…
- homes sold, last 12 months…
- median sale price, 12 mo…
- median price per sq ft, sold…
- sale price vs. list…
Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Ladera (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in ladera · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Ladera
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Ladera from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
Loading listings…
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 (Ladera (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Ladera came to be
Ladera's land was part of the Ormondale Ranch, which the community's history page puts at 1,400 acres, including today's Ladera and Westridge. In 1946 the Peninsula Housing Association, incorporated in 1944, bought 260 acres of it to build 400 houses at once. The plan called for 391 lots averaging about a third of an acre, with 80 acres, nearly a third of the tract, set aside as parks and open space, a school and recreation center near the middle of the lower section, and a shopping center fronting what was then Portola Road and is now Alpine Road.
The association hired landscape architect Garrett Eckbo to site the project and the San Francisco architects John Funk and Joseph Allen Stein to design the houses; they signed on February 1, 1947, and produced plans for 13 houses with seven variations designed for indoor-outdoor living. Civil engineer Nicholas Cirino laid out the site work, Redwood City contractor Peter Sorensen graded the streets and contractors Borror and Gesso started the first houses. Only a small part of that plan was built before the association sold the project to the Portola Development Company on March 24, 1950.
Conventional builders finished the tract through the 1950s. Eichler Homes built about two dozen houses on the Aliso Way cul-de-sac and La Mesa Drive, designed by Jones & Emmons, which went on sale by August 1951 and included Eichler's first split-level and two-level homes. Houses in upper Ladera followed in the late 1950s. The community's history page counts about 535 homes today, close to the 532 single-family parcels in county records.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The original plan named the two main loops La Mesa Drive and La Cuesta Drive; both still start at Alpine Road. The history page says the cul-de-sacs off them were given Spanish plant and animal names, Floresta (forest) among them, and the map bears it out: Erica, Mimosa, Linaria, Durazno, Dedalera, Castanya and Balsamina ways, Coquito, Lucero, Gabarda, Pecora, Conil, Berenda and Aliso ways, and short courts such as Siesta and Lerida. Several, including Castanya, Balsamina and Floresta, come in North/South or East/West pairs.
County parcel maps put the middle half of Ladera's lots between about 0.22 and 0.41 acre, with a median of about 0.28 acre, and about one in 15 homes is coded with an ADU. The houses are a postwar mix: homes from the Funk and Stein plans, which the history page says were designed for indoor-outdoor living, the Jones & Emmons Eichlers (look for the split-levels on Aliso Way and La Mesa Drive), 1950s houses in upper Ladera, and later remodels and rebuilds. For more on the Eichlers, see the Portola Valley Eichler homes page.
Ladera is unincorporated, so San Mateo County, not the Town of Portola Valley, handles planning, zoning and building permits. County zoning maps put almost all of Ladera in the R-1 district with the S-104 combining district (a few areas are S-106, S-95 or R-E/S-110), and the community association lists work with County Planning on rezoning so that remodels and rebuilds stay compatible with the neighborhood. Water comes from Cal Water's Bear Gulch district and the tract is inside the West Bay Sanitary District on county maps.
streets in ladera
- La Mesa Drive
- La Cuesta Drive
- Erica Way
- Mimosa Way
- Linaria Way
- Durazno Way
- Dedalera Drive
- North and South Castanya Way
- North and South Balsamina Way
- East and West Floresta Way
- Gabarda Way
- Coquito Way
- Lucero Way
- Aliso Way
- Berenda Way
- Siesta Court
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Ladera
- shopping
Ladera shopping center
The center at 3130 Alpine Road, inside the Ladera line, has a grocery, a garden shop, cleaners and other services, about 0.3 mile straight-line from the middle of the tract.
- park
Ladera walking paths and recreation district
The Ladera Recreation District, a local special district, maintains the walking paths around Ladera and runs a membership recreation center at 150 Andeta Way with pools and tennis courts.
- park
Enid Pearson-Arastradero Preserve
Palo Alto's 622-acre preserve at 1530 Arastradero Road, a short drive down Alpine Road, has about 10.25 miles of trails for hiking, biking and riding.
- trail
Alpine Road path
A separate path runs along Alpine Road past Ladera and north toward I-280.
- landmark
Portola Valley Town Center
Town Hall and the Portola Valley branch of the San Mateo County Library are about 2 miles straight-line up Alpine and Portola roads.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Ladera is in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District, not the Portola Valley School District, and in the Sequoia Union High School District (Census school-district maps; every Ladera parcel checked). Las Lomitas has two schools, La Entrada School, about 2 miles straight-line to the north, and Las Lomitas Elementary School, about 2.8 miles, so neither is in Ladera itself. Attendance boundaries can change, and one lot at the edge of South Castanya Way maps into the Portola Valley district, so check the exact address with each district.
Las Lomitas guide · Sequoia Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- I-280: the Alpine Road interchange is about 0.7 mile straight-line from the middle of Ladera.
- Caltrain: Palo Alto station is about 3.5 miles and Menlo Park about 3.9 miles straight-line.
- On street maps, La Mesa Drive and La Cuesta Drive are Ladera's only road connections, both to Alpine Road.
- Bikes and feet: the Alpine Road path runs north toward I-280 and Stanford, and Ladera's own walking paths link the cul-de-sacs.
- Transit is thin: the Sequoia Union High School District lists SamTrans school-day routes 86 and 87 for Portola Valley. Check SamTrans for current routes.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Ladera: what we check
Buying here
- Unincorporated means county rules: San Mateo County Planning and Building handles permits, and most lots are zoned R-1/S-104. Check the S district's setback, height and floor-area limits and the county's permit history for the house before planning an addition, ADU or rebuild.
- Schools: Ladera is Las Lomitas Elementary School District, not Portola Valley. If school district matters to you, confirm the specific address with the district, especially on edge lots such as the south end of South Castanya Way.
- Original Eichlers (Aliso Way, parts of La Mesa Drive) and the Funk and Stein houses: ask about radiant floor heating, roof age and insulation, single-pane glass and any past remodels, and whether original plans survive.
- Drainage: the community association has asked the county to maintain storm drains that run under private lots. Look for drain easements on the title report and ask the seller about any drain work. About 45 homes sit in a mapped state landslide zone; read the natural hazard disclosure.
- Read the recorded CC&Rs and tract maps in the title report, and confirm the sewer lateral's condition with the West Bay Sanitary District.
Selling here
- Pull the county permit file early; buyers' agents will check it, and county records are separate from the Town's.
- If the house is an original Eichler or a Funk and Stein design, document it: plan sets, architect, and what has changed.
- Have drainage and sewer-lateral information ready, given the county storm-drain history.
- State the district facts plainly in marketing (Las Lomitas Elementary, Sequoia Union High) and let buyers verify with the districts.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Ladera questions, answered
Is Ladera part of the Town of Portola Valley?
No. Ladera is unincorporated San Mateo County. Homes have Portola Valley 94028 mailing addresses, but the county handles planning, zoning and permits, and the Town's rules do not apply.
Which school district serves Ladera?
The Las Lomitas Elementary School District and the Sequoia Union High School District, per Census district maps. That differs from most Portola Valley addresses, which are in the Portola Valley School District. Confirm any specific address with the district.
Are there Eichlers in Ladera?
Yes, about two dozen, designed by Jones & Emmons and on sale from 1951, mostly on the Aliso Way cul-de-sac and La Mesa Drive. They include some of Eichler's first split-level and two-level designs.
Who planned Ladera?
Landscape architect Garrett Eckbo sited the original 1940s plan, and architects John Funk and Joseph Allen Stein designed the first house plans. The project was sold in 1950 and finished by other builders, including Eichler.
How big are Ladera lots?
Most are about a quarter to two-fifths of an acre, with a median of about 0.28 acre on county parcel maps, close to the plan's original average of about a third of an acre.
Is there a homeowners association?
The Ladera Community Association is a nonprofit that encourages residents to join, and the Ladera Recreation District is a separate local district. Ladera lots also carry recorded covenants (CC&Rs), so read them in the title report.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Ladera? Let's run your numbers.
Eric, Janelle and the Boyenga Team have sold more than 2,520 Silicon Valley homes, $2.6+ billion in all, since 1996. Get a value, a plan, or a straight answer about a street.
Questions about Ladera? Send us a note.
