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mountain view neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
North Whisman, Mountain View Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The pocket north of Middlefield Road between Highway 85 and North Whisman Road, up to Highway 101: a 1954 single-family tract, 1950s-70s duplexes, condos and townhomes, and two creekside trails.
North Whisman by the numbers
north whisman by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for North Whisman: north of Middlefield Rd, Hwy 85 to N. Whisman Rd (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in north whisman · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in North Whisman
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in North Whisman 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 Whisman: north of Middlefield Rd, Hwy 85 to N. Whisman Rd (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How North Whisman came to be
North Whisman is the residential pocket in Mountain View's northeast corner, bounded by Highway 85, East Middlefield Road, North Whisman Road and Highway 101, with Moffett Field just across the freeway. Two neighborhood associations share it. Palo Alto Online's profile places North Whisman around Walker Drive, Leong Drive, Evandale Avenue and Easy Street, and Wagon Wheel between East Middlefield Road, Tyrella Avenue, Fairchild Drive and North Whisman Road; the city's neighborhood-group map draws the same split at Tyrella. This guide covers both, about 1,960 homes by the city's count.
The Whisman name is much older than the houses. The Whisman School District was established in 1869 and built its first one-room schoolhouse in 1871, and today's Mountain View Whisman School District still carries the name. The homes arrived with the postwar boom: Moffett Field Naval Air Station operated next door from 1929 to 1994, and Mountain View's population grew almost fivefold in the 1950s. County assessor records mapped by the city (fiscal 2017) date nearly every house on Wake Forest, Emily, Leong, Roslyn and Winston to 1954, with Walker Drive and Murlagan Avenue close behind. Duplexes and apartment buildings followed from the mid-1950s through the 1960s on Easy Street, Walker Drive, Evandale and Sherland avenues and Piazza Drive, and a wave of townhouse and condo complexes went up from about 1969 to 1980 on Tyrella and Flynn avenues, Alamo Court and along Middlefield Road.
The newest blocks are at the north end, under the city's Evandale Precise Plan: Sonoma Terrace, Cinnamon Circle, Ariana Place, Wiley and Hamwood terraces and Pepperwood Court do not appear in the pre-1981 assessor layer. Neighbors have weighed in on that growth. Palo Alto Online reported that in 2008 the Wagon Wheel association defeated a high-density, three-story proposal on land once owned by the Public Utilities Commission, and that a smaller project followed with residents' input.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Leong Drive curves along the west side from Moffett Boulevard up to Fairchild Drive, and Walker Drive and Easy Street are the main streets west of Tyrella Avenue. Tyrella runs north-south through the middle from Middlefield to Fairchild. East of it, Flynn and Sherland avenues sit just above Middlefield, and Murlagan, Devonshire and Annie Laurie avenues, Dorchester Drive and Piazza Drive fill the blocks toward North Whisman Road. The Hetch Hetchy Trail cuts east-west across the middle, between Middlefield and Walker, and joins the Stevens Creek Trail on the west edge.
The 1954 tract on Wake Forest, Emily, Leong, Roslyn and Winston is the single-family core. In the assessor data these are one-story houses, mostly three bedrooms, about 1,000 to 1,130 sq ft at the median, on R1 lots of about 5,400 to 5,500 sq ft; only a few had added second stories by 2017. A smaller R1 pocket in Wagon Wheel around Murlagan and Annie Laurie avenues and Dorchester Drive mixes houses from the 1920s through the 1970s.
Most of the rest is attached. On the city's zoning map about 45 percent of the land is R3 multiple-family and about a fifth R2 one- and two-family, against roughly a tenth R1. The assessor data records about 450 pre-1981 condo and townhouse units, mostly two or three bedrooms, plus about 145 multifamily buildings with about 940 units, 82 of them duplexes. Map readers will spot short lanes named for Greek gods: Zeus, Hera, Apollo and Adonis near Alamo Court, and Athena Court in Wagon Wheel.
streets in north whisman
- Leong Drive
- Walker Drive
- Easy Street
- Tyrella Avenue
- Evandale Avenue
- Fairchild Drive
- Wake Forest Drive
- Emily Drive
- Roslyn Circle
- Winston Place
- Lynwood Avenue
- Keller Drive
- Alamo Court
- Taylor Court
- Glen Alpine Court
- Tyrella Court
- Flynn Avenue
- Sherland Avenue
- Sherland Court
- Whisman Court
- Athena Court
- Murlagan Avenue
- Annie Laurie Avenue
- Dorchester Drive
- Devonshire Avenue
- Devonshire Court
- Piazza Drive
- Rathmore Lane
- Lambert Way
- Pepperwood Court
- Hamwood Terrace
- Wiley Terrace
- Sonoma Terrace
- Cinnamon Circle
- Ariana Place
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near North Whisman
- park
Whisman Park
On the Whisman school site off Easy Street. City records show about 9.9 acres of school-district land with tennis courts, next to a private international school campus.
- park
Devonshire Park
A 0.7-acre city park in the Wagon Wheel blocks, off Devonshire Avenue near North Whisman Road.
- park
Evandale Park
A quarter-acre city park near Evandale and Tyrella avenues, on land the developer dedicated to the city.
- landmark
Hetch Hetchy Trail
A 10-foot paved path that runs about 0.6 mile east-west across the neighborhood and connects to the Stevens Creek Trail.
- landmark
Stevens Creek Trail
The paved creek trail runs along the west edge, north toward Shoreline and south past downtown.
- shopping
Middlefield and North Whisman corner
In 2019 the corner of Middlefield and North Whisman roads held a strip mall and gas station; the East Whisman Precise Plan marks it for a future Village Center. Downtown's Castro Street is about a mile southwest.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
North Whisman is in the Mountain View Whisman School District for TK-8 and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District for grades 9-12. The closest district campus is Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary at 220 North Whisman Road, just south across Middlefield Road. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district before you buy.
Mountain View Whisman guide · Mountain View-Los Altos high schools · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- VTA light rail: Middlefield station (east across North Whisman Road) and Whisman station (south across Middlefield) are each roughly 0.4 to 1 mile from most streets here (straight line), closer from the Wagon Wheel side. Both are on the Orange Line.
- Caltrain: Mountain View station is about 0.85 mile from the middle of the neighborhood (straight line).
- VTA buses: Route 21 runs on Middlefield Road with stops at Easy Street and North Whisman Road; Route 51 runs on Moffett Boulevard with stops at Middlefield Road and Leong Drive.
- Bikes: Leong Drive has bike lanes, Fairchild Drive is a bike boulevard, Middlefield Road has part-time bike lanes, and the Hetch Hetchy and Stevens Creek trails meet on the west edge.
- Driving: Highway 101 runs just north of Fairchild Drive and Highway 85 along the west edge.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in North Whisman: what we check
Buying here
- Know which kind of property you are buying: a fee-simple 1954 house, a duplex, or a unit in one of many HOAs. For HOA homes, read the CC&Rs, budget, reserve study and minutes, and ask about special assessments.
- On the 1954 houses, check the foundation, original wiring and panel, plumbing, and the sewer lateral, and get permit history for any additions or garage conversions.
- Check the zoning for the exact parcel. R1, R2, R3, a height overlay near Easy Street and Walker Drive, and the Evandale Precise Plan all apply to different blocks, and the rules for additions and ADUs differ.
- Lots near Highway 101 and Highway 85 can hear the freeways; visit at commute hours.
- Read the environmental and flood disclosures. A narrow FEMA Zone A strip follows Stevens Creek on the west edge, and the Middlefield-Ellis-Whisman Superfund study area, where investigations at former manufacturing plants found soil and groundwater contamination in 1981-82, lies just east across North Whisman Road.
Selling here
- For a 1954 house, show what has been updated (roof, electrical, plumbing, windows, foundation work) with dates and permits; buyers compare it with the townhomes on the next block.
- For HOA units, order documents early and list recent HOA projects so buyers can see what is already done.
- Measure and list walking distances to the Hetch Hetchy and Stevens Creek trails and to Middlefield or Whisman light rail.
- If your home is in the Wagon Wheel blocks, say so in the listing; buyers search both names.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
North Whisman questions, answered
Is Wagon Wheel part of North Whisman?
They are neighbors with separate associations. North Whisman is west of Tyrella Avenue and Wagon Wheel runs from Tyrella east to North Whisman Road, between Middlefield Road and Fairchild Drive. This guide and its listing map cover both.
What kinds of homes are in North Whisman?
A 1954 tract of one-story single-family houses on Wake Forest, Emily, Leong, Roslyn and Winston, plus duplexes, apartments, 1970s townhouse and condo complexes, and newer small-lot homes at the north end.
What is the Hetch Hetchy Trail?
A paved, 10-foot-wide city path of about 0.6 mile that crosses the neighborhood east-west between Middlefield Road and Walker Drive and links to the Stevens Creek Trail.
How close is transit?
Middlefield and Whisman light rail stations are each roughly 0.4 to 1 mile from most streets, Mountain View Caltrain is about 0.85 mile from the middle (straight line), and VTA buses run on Middlefield Road and Moffett Boulevard.
Which school districts serve North Whisman?
Mountain View Whisman School District for TK-8 and Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District for high school. Confirm the exact address with the districts, since boundaries change.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about North Whisman? Let's run your numbers.
Eric, Janelle and the Boyenga Team have sold more than 2,520 Silicon Valley homes, $2.6+ billion in all, since 1996. Get a value, a plan, or a straight answer about a street.
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