belmont neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
McDougal, Belmont Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
About 155 acres of 1950s Carlmont-tract houses south of Ralston Avenue, between Alameda de las Pulgas and Twin Pines Park, with McDougal Park in the middle and Carlmont Village on the corner.
McDougal by the numbers
mcdougal by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for McDougal (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in mcdougal · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in McDougal
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in McDougal 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 (McDougal (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How McDougal came to be
McDougal is the name the City of Belmont's neighborhood map gives to the slope south of Ralston Avenue between Alameda de las Pulgas and Twin Pines Park. On the ground, and in a lot of listing records, it goes by another name: Carlmont. County parcel records tie about 270 of its lots to four recorded subdivision maps called Carlmont No. 1 (county map book 39, page 44), Carlmont No. 2 (book 40, page 41), Carlmont No. 3 (book 40, page 48) and Carlmont No. 1A (book 42, page 50). The same name is on the shopping center at the Ralston and Alameda corner and on the high school just south of the neighborhood.
The assessor roll dates the build-out tightly. Of 386 single-family houses, 297 carry a year built in the 1950s and the median is 1955. Smaller maps fill the edges: Panorama Heights on Lyndhurst Avenue (book 48, page 8, houses from about 1959 to 1963), Cunningham Estates on Kittie Lane (book 49, page 18, about 1959 to 1962), Peninsula Foothills Subdivision No. 3 along Escondido Way and the Ralston frontage, where a few houses date to the 1940s, and Langbein Place on Misty Lane (book 96, pages 78 to 79).
Belmont Creek is the one natural feature that shapes the place. It runs along the north side of the neighborhood, roughly parallel to Ralston Avenue, on its way into Twin Pines Park, and FEMA maps a narrow Zone A flood strip along it.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The streets curve with the slope and carry Spanish names: Chula Vista Drive, El Verano Way, Ladera Way, Escondido Way, Solana Drive, Valdez Avenue, Altura Way, Alomar Way and Desvio Way, plus Fernwood Way and Maywood Drive. Chula Vista Drive is the spine. City street records show it leaving Ralston Avenue at the west end of Twin Pines Park, looping south past Escondido, Solana and El Verano, and coming out on Alameda de las Pulgas at the San Carlos line. Lyndhurst Avenue and Lyndhurst Court form the east end. Misty Lane, off Ralston, is a private street.
The house stock is 1950s ranch: 341 of 386 houses are one story on the assessor roll, with a median of about 1,665 sq ft. Second-story additions and rebuilds show up as 43 two-story houses. Lot size follows the zoning map. The interior streets (Chula Vista, El Verano, Ladera, Valdez, Altura, Solana, Fernwood, Alomar) are zoned R1B with a 6,000 sq ft minimum and run about 7,500 sq ft. Lyndhurst Avenue, Desvio Way and parts of Solana and Chula Vista are R1A (9,600 sq ft minimum, median about 10,200). Escondido Way, the Ralston Avenue frontage, Kittie Lane, Misty Lane and parts of El Verano and Chula Vista are R1H, the half-acre district, with a median lot of about 17,500 sq ft. The city's slope map shows parts of some lots on Chula Vista, El Verano, Desvio, Solana, Lyndhurst and Escondido steeper than 30 percent, so the bigger lots are not always the flatter ones.
The Alameda edge is different. The southeast corner of Ralston Avenue and Alameda de las Pulgas holds the Carlmont Village shopping center, and a short row of small apartment buildings from 1958 to 1968 sits on the Alameda just south of it.
streets in mcdougal
- Chula Vista Drive
- El Verano Way
- Ladera Way
- Escondido Way
- Solana Drive
- Solana Court
- Valdez Avenue
- Altura Way
- Alomar Way
- Fernwood Way
- Maywood Drive
- Desvio Way
- Lyndhurst Avenue
- Lyndhurst Court
- Kittie Lane
- Misty Lane
- Ralston Avenue (south side)
- Alameda de las Pulgas (east side)
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near McDougal
- park
McDougal Park
A public park on a parcel of about 3 acres (county parcel records) in the middle of the neighborhood, about 100 yards in from Chula Vista Drive. Public maps show a ball field and a picnic area.
- park
Twin Pines Park
Next door to the east, on a public parcel of about 17 acres south of Ralston Avenue. Belmont Creek runs through it, with paths and a footbridge in the city's trail data, picnic areas and playgrounds on public maps, and City Hall and the senior and community center along Twin Pines Lane.
- shopping
Carlmont Village shopping center
At the southeast corner of Ralston Avenue and Alameda de las Pulgas, inside the neighborhood, with a grocery store on its Alameda side. SamTrans route 260 ends here.
- landmark
Belmont Library
The San Mateo County Libraries branch at 1110 Alameda de las Pulgas, across the Alameda and about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle of McDougal.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school-district maps put every McDougal parcel in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District for elementary and middle school and the Sequoia Union High School District for high school. No public school sits inside the neighborhood. Carlmont High School, at 1400 Alameda de las Pulgas, is just south of the Chula Vista Drive corner, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle of McDougal, and the district's Central Elementary School at 525 Middle Road is about 0.9 mile away. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district before you rely on a school assignment.
Belmont-Redwood Shores guide · Sequoia Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Belmont Caltrain station (995 El Camino Real, fare zone 2) is about 0.9 mile straight-line from the middle of McDougal, down Ralston Avenue; San Carlos station is about 1.6 miles.
- SamTrans route 260 runs between San Carlos Caltrain and Carlmont Village, so the corner of Ralston and the Alameda has a direct bus link to the train.
- Ralston Avenue is on the city's mapped bike route network, and the Twin Pines Park paths connect toward the civic center and El Camino Real.
- US 101 is about 1.3 miles straight-line east via Ralston Avenue; to the west, Ralston Avenue ends at an interchange with State Route 92 about 2.5 miles straight-line away, with I-280 beyond.
- El Camino Real (State Route 82) and SamTrans route ECR are about 0.8 mile east at the Ralston crossroads.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in McDougal: what we check
Buying here
- Flood check for creek-side lots: FEMA's flood map puts a narrow Zone A strip along Belmont Creek over parts of Maywood Drive, Misty Lane, Escondido Way and the Ralston Avenue frontage. Pull the FEMA map for the exact parcel; a Zone A lot usually means a lender flood-insurance requirement.
- Slope and soils: the city's slope map shows portions of some lots steeper than 30 percent, and USGS liquefaction mapping rates the creek corridor very high. For additions or rebuilds on those lots, ask the city what geotechnical and hillside design review applies before you budget.
- Lot size sets your options. The R1B, R1A and R1H zones have different minimum lot sizes (6,000 sq ft, 9,600 sq ft and half an acre), which shapes any lot split or SB 9 plan. ADU rules are separate; confirm both with Belmont planning for the specific parcel.
- Seventy-year-old houses: budget for the usual 1950s items (original electrical panels and wiring, galvanized supply lines, single-pane windows, older foundations on sloped lots) and get a sewer lateral inspection.
- Misty Lane is a private street in the city's street records. If you buy there, ask for any road maintenance agreement and how repairs are shared.
Selling here
- Name it both ways. Buyers search for Carlmont as well as McDougal, and the county legal description will usually say Carlmont No. 1, 2 or 3. Use both names in the listing so it surfaces either way.
- Lead with the lot and the zone. On R1H and R1A lots the extra land is the story; have the assessor lot size, the zoning district and any survey ready.
- Have permits for additions and second stories in hand. Many houses here have grown from the original one-story plan, and buyers will check the permit history against the square footage.
- If the lot touches the Belmont Creek strip, order the flood-zone determination early and disclose it plainly; an elevation certificate, if one exists, helps buyers price insurance.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
McDougal questions, answered
Is McDougal the same as Carlmont?
Mostly, yes. The city's neighborhood map calls this area McDougal, but about 270 of its lots sit on 1950s subdivision maps named Carlmont No. 1, 2, 3 and 1A, and many listings use Carlmont. The separate Western Hills & Carlmont guide covers the hills west of the Alameda.
How old are the houses?
The assessor roll puts 297 of the 386 single-family houses in the 1950s, with a median year built of 1955. A few date to the 1940s and early 1960s, and there are some later rebuilds.
What are typical lot sizes?
The median is about 8,500 sq ft, but it depends on the zone: about 7,500 sq ft on the R1B interior streets, about 10,200 sq ft in R1A and about 17,500 sq ft in the R1H half-acre district along Escondido Way, Ralston Avenue and Kittie and Misty lanes.
Which schools serve McDougal?
Census maps place the whole neighborhood in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District and the Sequoia Union High School District. Carlmont High School is just south of the neighborhood. Check the exact address with the districts, because boundaries change.
Is McDougal in a flood or fire zone?
Only a narrow strip along Belmont Creek is in FEMA Zone A; the rest is Zone X. CAL FIRE's 2025 local fire hazard map does not place McDougal in a fire hazard severity zone. Check the disclosure report for each address.
How far is the train?
Belmont Caltrain is about 0.9 mile straight-line from the middle of the neighborhood, and SamTrans route 260 runs from Carlmont Village to San Carlos Caltrain.
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