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gilroy neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Lions Creek & Country Estates, Gilroy Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Northwest Gilroy between Santa Teresa Blvd and the western foothills: 1970s to 2020s tract and hillside homes off Mantelli Dr, Welburn Ave and Rancho Hills Dr, with Del Rey and Carriage Hills parks.
Lions Creek & Country Estates by the numbers
lions creek & country estates by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Lions Creek & Country Estates (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in lions creek & country estates · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Lions Creek & Country Estates
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Lions Creek & Country Estates 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 (Lions Creek & Country Estates (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Lions Creek & Country Estates came to be
This is the northwest corner of Gilroy, where the valley floor west of Santa Teresa Blvd starts to climb toward the foothills and, farther out, Mount Madonna. The city's history page describes the farmland around Gilroy turning to orchards of prunes, cherries and apricots, with tree crops dominating until the early 1960s, when row crops took over. A few houses on Hecker Pass Hwy still carry late-1940s and 1950s build years in county records, and the Rancho Real lots off the highway run from about a third of an acre to more than two acres.
Tract building west of Santa Teresa started around 1970. County build years put Ousley Dr, Delta Dr and El Dorado Dr near First St at 1970-73, Calabrese Way at 1977, Welburn Ave and Del Rey Ct at 1979 and Hillview Ct at 1981. Then came two big pulses. From 1985 to 1989: Bay Tree Dr, Toyon Ct, Jacaranda Way, Valbusa Dr, El Caminito St, Solana Dr, Lerma Ln and Del Oro Way, the streets the MLS mostly files as Lions Creek. From 1994 to 1999: Pheasant Dr, Loganberry Dr, Partridge Dr, Swallow Ln, Goshawk Ct, Briarberry Ln, Valley Oaks Dr, Kestrel Ct, Colony Way and Casablanca Cir. About two-thirds of today's single-family homes date from those two decades.
Uphill, the city zoned the slopes RH (Residential Hillside). Gilroy Country Club Estates (Country Dr, Sunflower Cir, Hollyhock Ln) built out from 1991, Country Estates followed in two steps (Stonecress St, Olea Ct and Hoya Ln in 2001-03; Tea Tree Way, Carob Ct and Banyan Ct from 2009, with lots still being built on in the 2020s), and Saffron Ct, Lavender Way and Wild Iris Dr filled in between. The 2024 addition is back on the valley floor: 73 homes on Meadow Wood Ct, Pasture St, Haybale St and Homestead Ct, on land north of Hecker Pass Hwy that belongs to the city's Hecker Pass Specific Plan (HPSD zoning).
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Santa Teresa Blvd is the east edge, and three streets carry traffic west from it: Welburn Ave, Mantelli Dr and Longmeadow Dr. Rancho Hills Dr and Calle del Rey run north-south through the middle; nearly everything else is a loop or a court. Mantelli Dr keeps going west and uphill through Gilroy Country Club Estates and Country Estates until it reaches the city limit.
County assessor data count about 1,700 single-family parcels, about 62 percent two-story. The median house is about 2,170 sq ft (middle 80 percent about 1,350 to 3,700 sq ft). R-1 tract lots are typically 5,500 to 7,000 sq ft; in the RH hillside tracts median lots run from about 14,000 sq ft (Saffron Ct) to about 30,000 sq ft (Tea Tree Way, Carob Ct, Hollyhock Ct). Expect 1970s homes near First St (about 85 percent one-story), 1980s and 1990s tract plans in the middle (the 1990s ones about three-quarters two-story), and larger hillside homes at the west end, where about 40 lots (Banyan Ct, Tea Tree Way, Hoya Ln and others) had no building on record.
Not everything is detached. Delta Dr has 1982 townhomes on R-3 lots, a 1984-85 condominium complex sits on Hecker Pass Hwy just west of Santa Teresa, and Brentwood Ln, Jan Dr (1987) and Acorn Way (2006) are small-lot streets with lots around 3,000 to 3,600 sq ft. Zoning inside the outline: R-1 on about 1,250 parcels, RH on about 460, HPSD on about 100 and R-3 on about 60. Many tracts carry planned unit development (PUD) numbers in the city's parcel records, so CC&Rs or an HOA are possible.
County land just west: past the west city limit is unincorporated Santa Clara County, outside Gilroy's urban service area but inside its sphere of influence (county GIS): the Burchell Rd and west Day Rd side, and farther out along Watsonville Rd and Redwood Retreat Rd, the Solis Rancho and Smith Partition tracts. Addresses there say Gilroy, but county planning and county permits apply, county zoning near the city edge is mostly HS (Hillside) with some A-20Ac (Agriculture, 20-acre minimum), and wells, septic systems and private roads may apply. CAL FIRE maps it as State Responsibility Area, mostly Moderate near the city edge with High and Very High areas farther into the hills.
streets in lions creek & country estates
- Santa Teresa Blvd (east edge)
- Hecker Pass Hwy (south edge)
- Longmeadow Dr (north edge)
- Mantelli Dr
- Welburn Ave
- Rancho Hills Dr
- Calle del Rey
- Bay Tree Dr
- Lerma Ln
- Del Oro Way
- Solana Dr
- El Caminito St
- Jacaranda Way
- Valbusa Dr
- Ousley Dr
- Delta Dr
- El Dorado Dr
- Calabrese Way
- Pheasant Dr
- Loganberry Dr
- Partridge Dr
- Briarberry Ln
- Valley Oaks Dr
- Crest Hill Way
- Kestrel Ct
- Colony Way
- Acorn Way
- Casablanca Cir
- Heritage Way
- Blue Parrot Ct
- Country Dr
- Sunflower Cir
- Hollyhock Ln
- Stonecress St
- Olea Ct
- Hoya Ln
- Tea Tree Way
- Carob Ct
- Banyan Ct
- Saffron Ct
- Lavender Way
- Wild Iris Dr
- Rancho Real
- Meadow Wood Ct
- Pasture St
- Haybale St
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Lions Creek & Country Estates
- park
Del Rey Park
9001 Calle Del Rey: 3.11 acres with open turf, picnic tables and a playground (city park page).
- park
Carriage Hills Park
1701 Crest Hill Way: 2.92 acres with a basketball court, open turf, picnic areas and a playground (city park page).
- park
Gateway Park and the Hecker Pass trail
Across Hecker Pass Hwy at the Santa Teresa corner: 0.45 acres with benches and picnic tables, connecting to the Hecker Pass Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail (city park page).
- shopping
First St corridor
The city's parcel data show commercial (C-3) zoning along First St from Santa Teresa Blvd east past Wren Ave: the nearest shopping centers and services, a short drive from the south end.
- landmark
Gilroy Golf Course
On the hillside north of Hecker Pass Hwy at the west end (2695 Hecker Pass Hwy). A golf course business and a place on the map, not a neighborhood amenity: playing there is separate from owning a home nearby.
- landmark
Mount Madonna County Park
About 4,595 acres at 7850 Pole Line Rd (county GIS), up Hecker Pass Hwy about 5 miles straight-line west.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Gilroy Unified School District serves this area; every home parcel with a district tag inside the outline lists Gilroy Unified in the city's parcel data. Luigi Aprea Elementary is inside it at 9225 Calle del Rey, and Rod Kelley Elementary is just east across Santa Teresa Blvd at 8755 Kern Ave. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
Getting around
- Caltrain: Gilroy station is about 2.5 miles straight-line east of the middle of the area. It is the south end of Caltrain's South County Connector: four weekday round trips to San Jose Diridon, mornings and evenings; check the current schedule.
- VTA: local Route 85 (Gilroy Transit Center to Saint Louise Regional Hospital via West Gilroy) runs on Wren Ave, about a mile east (approximate); other VTA routes meet at the Gilroy Transit Center by the train station.
- US 101: the Leavesley Rd interchange is about 2.3 miles straight-line east, reached via First St or Welburn Ave and Mantelli Dr across town.
- Hecker Pass Hwy (State Route 152) runs along the south edge and west over Hecker Pass toward the Santa Cruz County line.
- On foot or bike: the Hecker Pass Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail starts at Gateway Park, and the Dennis Debell Uvas Creek Park Preserve trails begin where Uvas Creek crosses Santa Teresa Blvd, about half a mile south of First St (approximate).
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Lions Creek & Country Estates: what we check
Buying here
- Fire zones: on the 2025 state fire hazard severity zone map the city adopted (Ordinance 2025-05, June 16, 2025), about a third of the homes here are in a Moderate or High zone, with High on uphill streets such as Olea Ct, Valley Oaks Dr, Carob Ct, Tea Tree Way and Hoya Ln. Check the address on the city's map and read the natural hazard disclosure; insurance quotes are worth getting early.
- Hillside zoning: the west end is zoned RH (Residential Hillside). Before planning an addition, pool, ADU or SB 9 split on a slope lot, ask the city planning division which hillside rules and grading reviews apply.
- Flood: FEMA's current maps (Santa Clara County panels effective May 18, 2009) put nearly all of this area in shaded Zone X (0.2 percent annual chance), outside the special flood hazard area; only a few non-residential parcels at the highway's west end touch Zone A or AE along Uvas Creek. Confirm the parcel.
- Seismic: the state has not yet evaluated the Gilroy quadrangle for liquefaction or landslide zones, so there is no state zone either way; no Alquist-Priolo fault zone crosses this outline (the nearest mapped one is southwest of the city limit). Rely on inspections and, on slopes, a geotechnical look.
- PUDs and HOAs: many tracts here were approved as planned unit developments, and some have CC&Rs and dues. Ask for the documents and check current dues; on 1970s-80s homes also check the roof, electrical panel and sewer lateral.
- Watch the city line: a listing on Burchell Rd or west Day Rd is county land with county permits, and possibly a well or septic system.
Selling here
- Lead with the tract and the year: buyers comparing 1980s Lions Creek plans with 1990s plans west of Rancho Hills Dr or the RH hillside streets will ask for the build year, floor plan and lot size.
- The MLS files homes here under several names (Lions Creek, Carriage Hills, Hillcrest, Heritage Place, Gilroy Country Club Estates, Country Estates); price against the same tract and lot type, not just the area name.
- Pull the natural hazard disclosure early, especially on High-zone hillside lots, so buyers can line up insurance quotes.
- Document permits for decks, retaining walls, pools and any added rooms; on slope lots buyers' inspectors look closely at drainage and grading.
- If the home is in a PUD or HOA, gather the CC&Rs, recent minutes and current dues before listing.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Lions Creek & Country Estates questions, answered
Is Lions Creek inside Gilroy city limits?
Yes, on both the county city-limits layer and the Census place boundary. West of the city limit (Burchell Rd, west Day Rd) is unincorporated county land with Gilroy addresses.
When were the homes built?
Tract streets from about 1970, a large 1985-89 wave (the Lions Creek streets), a second wave in 1994-99, hillside tracts from 1991 into the 2020s, and 73 homes finished in 2024 north of Hecker Pass Hwy (county records).
Which schools serve Lions Creek?
Gilroy Unified School District. Luigi Aprea Elementary is inside the area and Rod Kelley Elementary is just east on Kern Ave. Check the exact address with the district.
Is the area in a wildfire zone?
Parts of it: about a third of the homes are in a Moderate or High zone on the 2025 state map the city adopted, mostly on the west-end hillside streets. Check the address on the city's map.
What is the Hecker Pass Specific Plan land north of the highway?
The city says about 123 acres of the plan lie north of Hecker Pass Hwy. Here that strip includes the 2024 homes on Meadow Wood Ct and Pasture St; the larger part of the plan is in the Eagle Ridge & Hecker Pass guide.
Does owning a home here include golf?
No. Gilroy Golf Course is a separate business; playing there has nothing to do with owning a nearby home.
talk to a property nerd
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