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North Fair Oaks (unincorporated), Redwood City area Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Unincorporated San Mateo County between Redwood City, Atherton and Menlo Park: a numbered-avenue grid along Middlefield Road with Redwood City or Menlo Park addresses and county planning.
North Fair Oaks by the numbers
north fair oaks by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for North Fair Oaks (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in north fair oaks · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in North Fair Oaks
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in North Fair 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 (North Fair Oaks (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How North Fair Oaks came to be
Before Atherton had its name, this whole stretch was Fair Oaks. The county's history page says a railroad stop called Fair Oaks opened north of present-day Menlo Park in 1868 and that subdivided lots between Redwood City and Atherton went on sale in 1909. The county's community plan puts settlement back to the 1850s and says much of the area was built in two booms, one after the 1906 earthquake and one just before and after World War II. When Fair Oaks incorporated as the Town of Atherton in 1923, the blocks between the new town and Redwood City stayed unincorporated, and they still are.
Planning here belongs to the county. A 1972 county report described the Southern Pacific Railroad as dividing the area in half, the first North Fair Oaks Community Plan followed in 1979, and the Board of Supervisors set up the North Fair Oaks Community Council in 1990. The Board adopted an updated plan in 2011, the first full update in about 40 years; it describes North Fair Oaks as 798 acres, with low-density homes on the south and southeast side, denser housing west of Middlefield Road, and industrial pockets at the Middlefield rail crossing, along Edison Way and in the corner bounded by Bay Road, Fair Oaks Avenue, 2nd Avenue and Willow Street.
Middlefield Road itself has just been rebuilt. The county's Middlefield Road Improvement Project redid the half mile from Pacific Avenue to Fifth Avenue with one travel lane each way, buffered bike lanes, wider sidewalks, street trees and new lights, and replaced sewer lines from Douglas Avenue to Sixth Avenue. The county's April 2026 update listed the surface work as complete, with phone and cable lines still coming off the poles through mid-2026.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The grid is built on numbered avenues, 1st through 18th, running northeast-southwest across the area, and there is no 13th Avenue on public maps or in county address records. Toward El Camino Real the names turn British: Berkshire, Blenheim, Buckingham, Devonshire, Hampshire, Marlborough, Northumberland, Nottingham and Westmoreland, along with Dumbarton, Hurlingame and Warrington avenues. On the southeast side toward Atherton are Fair Oaks Avenue, Palmer Lane, San Benito, Loyola, Amherst and Encina avenues, Arrowhead Lane, Athlone Way and Semicircular Road.
County parcel records count about 2,020 single-family homes, about 145 more listed with an ADU, about 160 two-unit parcels, about 120 condominiums and dozens of small apartment buildings, plus warehouses and light industry near the rail lines. The median single-family lot is about 5,400 square feet, and the middle half run from about 5,000 to 6,000. Many single-family blocks are zoned R-1/S-73, a county district with a 5,000 square foot minimum parcel size; a 2023 county staff report recommended splitting one roughly 12,000 square foot lot near Middlefield Road into two lots of about 6,000.
Which city name is on the mailbox depends on the block. County parcel records give about 2,000 parcels Redwood City mailing addresses (the north and west side, 1st through 5th avenues and the British-named streets) and about 1,130 Menlo Park addresses (6th through 18th avenues and the southeast side), and about 90 parcels near the Atherton line, mostly condominiums on El Camino Real, use Atherton. All of them are county land.
streets in north fair oaks
- Middlefield Road
- El Camino Real
- Bay Road
- Marsh Road
- Fair Oaks Avenue
- Edison Way
- Spring Street
- 1st Avenue
- 2nd Avenue
- 3rd Avenue
- 4th Avenue
- 5th Avenue
- 6th Avenue
- 7th Avenue
- 8th Avenue
- 9th Avenue
- 10th Avenue
- 12th Avenue
- 14th Avenue
- 15th Avenue
- 17th Avenue
- 18th Avenue
- Dumbarton Avenue
- Hurlingame Avenue
- Warrington Avenue
- Marlborough Avenue
- Berkshire Avenue
- Devonshire Avenue
- Blenheim Avenue
- Northumberland Avenue
- Stanford Avenue
- MacArthur Avenue
- Palmer Lane
- San Benito Avenue
- Loyola Avenue
- Amherst Avenue
- Encina Avenue
- Arrowhead Lane
- Athlone Way
- Semicircular Road
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near North Fair Oaks
- shopping
Middlefield Road
The county plan calls Middlefield Road the main commercial corridor and functional core of the community, lined mostly with locally oriented shops. The rebuilt stretch from Pacific Avenue to Fifth Avenue has wider sidewalks and buffered bike lanes.
- shopping
El Camino Real
Per the county plan, El Camino Real along the southwest edge carries larger retail and commercial uses; Redwood City's Redwood Oaks is across the street.
- landmark
Fair Oaks Community Center and North Fair Oaks Library
The community center at 2600 Middlefield Road dates from 1974, a joint County and Redwood City effort with childcare, senior and youth programs; its roughly 2.7-acre site is inside the Redwood City limit. The library next door at 2510 Middlefield Road moved to San Mateo County Libraries on March 15, 2021, and became the North Fair Oaks Library.
- park
Friendship Park
A county park of less than an acre on Huntington Avenue between Berkshire and Dumbarton avenues, built on San Francisco Public Utilities Commission land, with about 30 community garden planters, climbing structures and swing slides.
- park
Hoover Park (Redwood City)
Redwood City's 10-acre community park is about 0.2 mile (straight-line) beyond the north edge, with Hoover Pool, a baseball field, soccer fields and picnic areas.
- landmark
Fire Station 5
The Menlo Park Fire Protection District's Station 5 at 4101 Fair Oaks Avenue lists unincorporated North Fair Oaks as a primary response area; its current building dates from 1998.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school district maps put all of North Fair Oaks in the Redwood City School District (TK-8) and the Sequoia Union High School District, including the blocks with Menlo Park mailing addresses, so a Menlo Park address here does not mean the Menlo Park City School District. Garfield School (PreK-5) is inside the area at 3600 Middlefield Road; Taft School (PreK-5, 903 10th Avenue) and Hoover School (PreK-8, 701 Charter Street) are just beyond the north edge. Fair Oaks School on Fair Oaks Avenue was among the schools the district board voted to close in 2018 and is no longer on the district's school list. Sequoia Union's comprehensive high schools include Menlo-Atherton High, about 1 mile from the nearest edge, and Sequoia High, about 1.3 miles (straight-line). Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Getting around
- Caltrain runs through North Fair Oaks but there is no station. Redwood City station (1 James Avenue; local, limited and express trains) is about 1 mile from the Redwood Junction corner and about 1.8 miles from the middle; Menlo Park station is about 1.2 miles from the El Camino corner (straight-line). Atherton's station, just south, closed on December 19, 2020.
- El Camino Real (SR 82) runs along the southwest edge, served by SamTrans route ECR. SamTrans Route 296 runs between the Redwood City Transit Center and East Palo Alto by way of Atherton and Menlo Park; check SamTrans for current stops on Middlefield Road and Bay Road.
- US 101 is about 0.4 to 0.5 mile from the north and east edges (straight-line), via the Woodside Road (SR 84) and Marsh Road interchanges; Woodside Road also leads west to I-280, about 2 miles from the nearest edge.
- Middlefield Road has buffered bike lanes from Pacific Avenue to Fifth Avenue after the county's rebuild, and Bay Road and Marsh Road link to the Friendly Acres and Menlo Park sides.
- The old Southern Pacific Dumbarton spur also crosses the area from Redwood Junction toward Marsh Road; the county plan notes it, along with Caltrain, as one of the two rail lines through the community.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in North Fair Oaks: what we check
Buying here
- This is county land. Permits, zoning and code questions go to San Mateo County Planning and Building, and the North Fair Oaks Community Plan (1979, updated 2011) sets the land-use designations. Pull the county permit history for any addition, garage conversion or rear unit.
- Check the utility providers for the exact parcel. County and LAFCo reports show water from Cal Water's Bear Gulch district on one block and from Redwood City on another, and sewer from the county's Fair Oaks Sewer Maintenance District. Where Redwood City extends water outside its limits, LAFCo policy has required the owner to record consent to future annexation, so look for that document in the title report.
- Confirm the fire agency. San Mateo LAFCo's profile says the Menlo Park Fire Protection District serves North Fair Oaks 'south of the Southern Pacific Railroad line'; ask which agency covers the address you are buying.
- Do not read the mailing city as the jurisdiction or the school district: Redwood City, Menlo Park and Atherton addresses here are all unincorporated, and Census maps put the whole area in the Redwood City School District.
- Rail and industry are close by on some blocks: Caltrain, the Dumbarton spur, Edison Way and the Middlefield rail crossing. FEMA's current panel maps North Fair Oaks as Zone X (minimal flood hazard), but confirm the address.
Selling here
- State the jurisdiction plainly in the listing: unincorporated San Mateo County, with the mailing city and ZIP, the county zoning (for example R-1/S-73) and the community plan designation.
- Have the county permits ready for every unit and addition; buyers will ask about ADUs and converted garages, and county records are where they will look.
- List the water and sewer providers and any recorded annexation-consent agreement, so a buyer's lender and insurer are not surprised.
- Give the trip facts: Redwood City and Menlo Park Caltrain stations about 1 to 2 miles away, US 101 at Woodside Road or Marsh Road, and the rebuilt Middlefield Road with bike lanes.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
North Fair Oaks questions, answered
Is North Fair Oaks part of Redwood City?
No. It is unincorporated San Mateo County, about 798 acres by the county's count, surrounded by Redwood City, Atherton and Menlo Park. Addresses read Redwood City, Menlo Park or, for a few parcels near the Atherton line, Atherton, but the county handles planning and permits.
What ZIP codes does North Fair Oaks use?
Mostly 94063 (Redwood City) on the north and west side and 94025 (Menlo Park) on the southeast side; Census ZIP areas split roughly two-thirds and one-third. A few blocks near El Camino Real fall in 94061, and some parcels near the Atherton line, mostly condominiums on El Camino Real, carry Atherton (94027) addresses.
Which school district serves a Menlo Park address in North Fair Oaks?
Census maps put all of North Fair Oaks in the Redwood City School District (TK-8) and the Sequoia Union High School District, not the Menlo Park City School District. Boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Who issues building permits?
San Mateo County Planning and Building, under the county zoning and the North Fair Oaks Community Plan, which was first adopted in 1979 and updated in 2011.
Is there a train station?
Not inside it. Caltrain runs through North Fair Oaks without stopping; the nearest stations are Redwood City, about 1 to 1.8 miles away, and Menlo Park, about 1.2 to 1.8 miles away (straight-line). Atherton's station closed in December 2020.
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