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menlo park neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Menlo Oaks, Menlo Park Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
An unincorporated pocket of about 300 homes between Ringwood Avenue and Bay Road, laid out on the 1880s Coleman estate, with narrow oak-shaded roads, no sidewalks and Peninsula School in the Coleman Mansion.
Menlo Oaks by the numbers
menlo oaks by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Menlo Oaks (unincorporated): Ringwood Ave to Bay Rd (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in menlo oaks · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Menlo Oaks
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Menlo Oaks 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 (Menlo Oaks (unincorporated): Ringwood Ave to Bay Rd (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Menlo Oaks came to be
Menlo Oaks began as one estate. In 1882 architect Augustus Laver designed an Italianate mansion here for Maria O'Brien Coleman, sister of businessman William S. O'Brien, as a wedding gift for her son, James Valentine Coleman. The house took two years to build and had 22 rooms. In 1905 James Coleman sold the mansion and its land, and the property was divided into the Menlo Oaks neighborhood.
The mansion found its second life in 1929, when Josephine Duveneck and a small group of parents, including Stanford faculty members, bought it and some of the surrounding land for the Peninsula School, which they had founded in 1925. The private school is still at 920 Peninsula Way, in the middle of the neighborhood, and its grounds and the mansion remain the neighborhood's landmark.
Menlo Oaks never joined Menlo Park or Atherton. It is unincorporated San Mateo County, so the county handles planning, building permits and the roads. Those roads are the local debate: county standards adopted in 1998 limited work to maintaining the existing narrow streets, and on June 11, 2024 the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved new minimum road standards and a priority list. The county plans a block-by-block survey that includes an option to keep a road as it is, with design starting in 2027 and construction in 2028 or later, about one road per year. Ringwood and Coleman avenues will be studied separately.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Inside its edges Menlo Oaks is a handful of streets: Menlo Oaks Drive, Berkeley Avenue, Colby Avenue, Arlington Way, Peninsula Way, Madison Way, Entrada Way and Frederick Court, with Coleman Avenue along the south side. The streets are narrow and have no sidewalks or gutters and few streetlights, under a canopy of large oaks, as the Almanac described them in 2024. The Almanac's profile describes Ringwood Avenue and Bay Road as the comparatively busy edges.
We found no single tract builder or model plan for Menlo Oaks, so check each house's year built, size and permit history on its own rather than assuming a tract layout. The 2020 Census counted about 310 housing units on the blocks inside our outline, consistent with the roughly 300 homes usually cited.
The trees and the roads are the two things to understand here. Large oaks line the streets, and some owners worry that wider roads under the 2024 standards could threaten them; the county's public works director told the Almanac it is not the county's intent to remove trees. Others want the roads rebuilt to fix flooding, drainage and potholes. Read the county's road-standards page and the priority list before you buy on a given street.
streets in menlo oaks
- Menlo Oaks Drive
- Berkeley Avenue
- Colby Avenue
- Arlington Way
- Peninsula Way
- Madison Way
- Entrada Way
- Frederick Court
- Coleman Avenue
- Ringwood Avenue
- Bay Road
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Menlo Oaks
- landmark
Peninsula School and the Coleman Mansion
A private school founded in 1925 at 920 Peninsula Way, housed since 1929 in the 22-room Italianate Coleman Mansion designed by Augustus Laver in 1882.
- park
Flood County Park
A San Mateo County park at 215 Bay Road, across Bay Road from the neighborhood, on a 21-acre piece of the Flood estate the county bought in the early 1930s. Works Progress Administration crews built its first buildings and pool around 1936, and ball fields and tennis courts followed in the early 1950s.
- landmark
VA Menlo Park medical center
The Veterans Affairs campus at 795 Willow Road adjoins Menlo Oaks on the east. It traces back to the hospital of Camp Fremont, the World War I training camp, which was kept after the camp closed.
- park
Seminary Oaks and Willow Oaks parks
Two Menlo Park city parks within about half a mile: Seminary Oaks Park on Santa Monica Avenue near Middlefield Road and Willow Oaks Park on Willow Road near Gilbert Avenue (approximate distances).
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Menlo Oaks is in the Menlo Park City School District for elementary and middle school and the Sequoia Union High School District for high school; the Census Bureau's district map puts the whole outline in Menlo Park City. Two public campuses are just across Ringwood Avenue: the district's Laurel School at 95 Edge Road in Atherton and Menlo-Atherton High School at 555 Middlefield Road. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Menlo Park City Schools guide · Las Lomitas guide · Sequoia Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Menlo Park's Caltrain station on Merrill Street is about 1.2 miles southwest in a straight line, roughly a 5-minute drive or 10-minute bike ride via Ringwood Avenue (approximate).
- U.S. 101 is about half a mile northeast, reached by Willow Road or Marsh Road (approximate).
- Bay Road runs along the north side toward Marsh Road and Redwood City; Ringwood Avenue connects south to Middlefield Road.
- Middlefield Road, a few blocks southwest, leads south to downtown Menlo Park and Palo Alto.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Menlo Oaks: what we check
Buying here
- Check the county's Menlo Oaks road-standards page and priority list for the street you are buying on: when work is scheduled, what the standard section looks like, and whether frontage trees could be affected.
- Permits come from San Mateo County Planning and Building, not Menlo Park or Atherton, so pull the county's permit history and confirm the parcel's zoning before planning an addition, ADU or rebuild.
- With large oaks on many lots, ask the county what permits are needed for tree removal or work near protected trees, and budget for an arborist report.
- Roads here have no gutters, and the 2024 road debate cited flooding and drainage problems, so look at site drainage, the crawl space or slab, and the FEMA flood map for the parcel.
- Confirm utilities for the parcel: water from California Water Service (Bear Gulch district), fire service from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, and the sewer provider and lateral condition.
Selling here
- Gather county permits and finals for every addition and ADU; buyers here often discover that permits sit with the county, not the city.
- Have an arborist report on hand for major trees, since buyers will ask what they can and cannot change.
- Know where your street sits on the county's road priority list and share it; uncertainty about road work is a common buyer question.
- Lead with the measured location facts: about 1.2 miles to Caltrain, Flood County Park across Bay Road, and the Menlo Park City School District.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Menlo Oaks questions, answered
Is Menlo Oaks part of Menlo Park?
Not legally. Menlo Oaks is unincorporated San Mateo County, surrounded by Menlo Park and Atherton. Homes use Menlo Park mailing addresses, but the county handles planning, building permits and roads.
Why are there no sidewalks in Menlo Oaks?
The county's 1998 road standards limited work to maintaining the existing narrow roads. In June 2024 the Board of Supervisors adopted new minimum standards and a priority list, with a block-by-block survey that includes an option to keep a road as it is; design is expected to start in 2027.
What is the Coleman Mansion?
An 1882 Italianate house designed by Augustus Laver for Maria O'Brien Coleman. The estate around it was divided into Menlo Oaks after 1905, and since 1929 the mansion has housed Peninsula School, a private school founded in 1925.
How many homes are in Menlo Oaks?
About 300. 2020 Census blocks inside our outline hold about 310 housing units.
Which school districts serve Menlo Oaks?
Menlo Park City School District and Sequoia Union High School District, based on the Census Bureau's district maps. Boundaries change, so check the exact address with the districts.
next door
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