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los altos neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Country Club area Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The wooded, unincorporated streets around the private Los Altos Golf & Country Club, between Foothill Expressway and I-280, on land Santa Clara's Jesuits once bought for a college.
Country Club by the numbers
country club by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Country Club area: Magdalena Ave, Foothill Expwy, Loyola Dr and I-280 (unincorporated; approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in country club · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Country Club
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in the Country Club area 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 (Country Club area: Magdalena Ave, Foothill Expwy, Loyola Dr and I-280 (unincorporated; approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Country Club came to be
This is the land the college was supposed to go on. According to a Los Altos Town Crier history, Santa Clara's Jesuits bought about 650 acres of the Hale Ranch, running north from Permanente Creek, in 1904 for a college named for Saint Ignatius of Loyola. They graded the ground, built a few roads and planned 10 buildings plus a dairy and creamery, but money ran short and pledges collapsed after the 1906 earthquake. The club's own history puts the Santa Clara holding at 700 acres and traces it back to Rancho San Antonio.
In 1923 the land was sold to Los Altos Country Club Properties, which laid out 155 acres for a golf club and subdivided the rest for homes. The club's articles of incorporation are dated October 29, 1923, and course construction ran from September 1924 to May 1925 under the club's first golf professional. The Depression slowed lot sales after 1929, and the Town Crier notes that nearly all of the original lots were later split at least once more, which is why lot sizes here are so uneven.
The club's history adds a few turns. Wartime losses in 1942 forced the sale of part of the course and a cut to nine holes. From 1959 to 1971 a club president planted about 1,000 redwoods by hand, along with 500 other trees, and dug the lakes on holes 9 and 18. The 18-hole, par-71 course was fully renovated in 2004, and members approved a clubhouse renovation in 2010. When Los Altos incorporated in 1952, this area stayed outside the city. A 2015 LAFCO review calls it 'LA01, the Country Club Area,' about 627 acres and the only unincorporated island inside Los Altos's urban service area.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Country Club Drive is the spine. It runs south from Magdalena Avenue and curves along the course's northeast edge to Loyola Corners, while Fairway Drive starts near the same corner and winds south through the middle of the course. Arbor Avenue, Frontero Avenue and Topar Avenue run between the course and Foothill Expressway, and short courts and terraces such as Club View Terrace, Greenview Court and Arriba Court branch off toward the fairways. The street names lean into the theme: Fairway, Niblick, Club View, Greenview, and across I-280, Putter and Par.
The ground rises as you head south and west, from about 200 feet at Magdalena Avenue and Foothill Expressway to about 340 feet near the south end of Fairway Drive (USGS elevation data), so many lots slope and streets curve with the land. Two small creeks, Loyola Creek and Hale Creek, cross the area, partly in open channels and partly in culverts (OpenStreetMap).
Houses span the decades. Listing records show a 1948 house on a third of an acre on Arbor Avenue, a 1954 house on a 22,140-square-foot Arbor Avenue lot and a 1973 house on a 7,200-square-foot lot on Fairway Drive, and new two-story custom homes keep replacing older ranch houses. Because the original 1920s lots were split repeatedly, expect anything from compact lots of about 7,000 square feet to parcels of around half an acre along Arbor Avenue and Country Club Drive.
streets in country club
- Country Club Drive
- Fairway Drive
- Arbor Avenue
- Frontero Avenue
- Topar Avenue
- Arriba Court
- Club View Terrace
- Greenview Court
- Villa Drive
- Nandell Lane
- Joandra Court
- Hillview Drive
- Plateau Avenue
- Niblick Avenue
- Shirley Avenue
- Whitham Avenue
- Miller Avenue
- Westbrook Avenue
- Magdalena Avenue
- Loyola Drive
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Country Club
- landmark
Los Altos Golf & Country Club
A private, members-only club at 1560 Country Club Drive with an 18-hole, par-71 course; it was incorporated in 1923 and its course was built in 1924-1925.
- park
McKenzie Park
A 4.3-acre city park at 707 Fremont Avenue, just across Foothill Expressway, with two lighted courts shared by tennis and pickleball; about half a mile from the center of the area.
- shopping
Rancho Shopping Center
At Springer Road and Foothill Expressway, about 0.6 mile from the center of the area; it opened in 1951 with 30 shops.
- shopping
Loyola Corners
The small shopping district at the area's southeast tip, with a post office, cafes and Tom's Depot diner, about 0.6 mile away.
- park
Rancho San Antonio Preserve and County Park
A 2,180-acre Midpeninsula open space preserve next to a 293-acre county park, with more than 25 miles of trail and Deer Hollow Farm; the entrance is off Cristo Rey Drive via I-280's Foothill Boulevard exit, and dogs are not allowed.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
The Country Club area is in the Los Altos School District (TK-8) and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, which assigns high school students by address. Census school-district maps show the whole area inside both districts, and listings on Arbor Avenue and Fairway Drive report the same. LASD's Loyola Elementary sits just across Foothill Expressway on Berry Avenue. Being outside city limits does not change the district, but attendance boundaries do change, so check the exact address with each district before you rely on it.
Los Altos School District guide · Mountain View-Los Altos high schools · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- I-280's Magdalena Avenue interchange is at the area's northwest corner, about 0.7 mile from the center (straight line); the Foothill Boulevard/Grant Road interchange is about 2 miles southeast.
- Foothill Expressway runs along the east edge toward Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills and Cupertino.
- Caltrain: Mountain View station is about 3.1 miles and San Antonio about 3.8 miles (straight line); there is no rail in Los Altos.
- Downtown Los Altos is about 2.1 miles north; the Rancho Shopping Center and Loyola Corners are each about 0.6 mile.
- Bikes: Foothill Expressway is mapped as a countywide bike corridor in OpenStreetMap; the interior streets curve and climb, so try your route before you commit.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Country Club: what we check
Buying here
- Plan on county rules. Zoning, building permits and code enforcement come from Santa Clara County, not Los Altos. Ask County Planning about the parcel's base zoning and any Los Altos-area neighborhood preservation overlay (-n1) before you sketch an addition, ADU or SB 9 split.
- Ask about the sewer. LAFCO reports these homes connect to the Los Altos sewer system through an assessment district; request lateral age, inspection history and any assessment.
- Walk the slope. The ground rises about 140 feet from Magdalena Avenue to the south end of Fairway Drive; check drainage, retaining walls and how much flat, usable yard a lot really has.
- If a lot backs onto the course, ask about netting, maintenance hours, easements and anything recorded about the boundary with the club.
- Lots near I-280 and Foothill Expressway hear traffic; visit at commute hours. And note LAFCO's 2015 finding that the city may study annexing the area in phases; nothing pending was found, but ask.
Selling here
- State unincorporated status in the listing and have county permit finals ready; buyers' agents will pull county records, not city records.
- Lot size, slope and usable flat area drive value here; get county lot data or a survey and say what is level.
- Give measured distances to the course entrance, Loyola Corners, the Rancho Shopping Center and the Magdalena Avenue on-ramp rather than adjectives.
- List school districts exactly as the districts report them for the address, with the verify note.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Country Club questions, answered
Is the Country Club area part of the City of Los Altos?
No. Nearly every street between Magdalena Avenue, Foothill Expressway, Loyola Drive and I-280 is unincorporated Santa Clara County with a Los Altos 94024 address. LAFCO calls the larger unincorporated island 'LA01, the Country Club Area' (about 627 acres), and the Census counts it within the Loyola census-designated place.
Can anyone play the golf course?
The Los Altos Golf & Country Club is a private club, so play and facilities are for members and their guests. Membership questions go to the club.
When was the neighborhood built?
The land was subdivided after the 1923 sale, but the Depression slowed lot sales, and most existing houses date from the late 1940s through the 1970s, with many newer rebuilds. Older lots were often split again, so ages and sizes vary block to block.
Who issues building permits here?
Santa Clara County's planning and building offices, not the City of Los Altos. County zoning and development standards differ from the city's; LAFCO's 2015 review described them as less strict. Confirm the rules for your parcel before you design.
Will the area be annexed to Los Altos?
Not soon, as far as we found. LAFCO's 2015 review said the island is too large for streamlined annexation, that there had been no organized effort, and that the city was interested in exploring annexation in phases after a fiscal study.
Which school districts serve the Country Club area?
The Los Altos School District and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District. Attendance boundaries change, so confirm the exact address with each district.
next door
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