home / redwood city / palomar park
redwood city neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Palomar Park, Redwood City Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A small unincorporated hillside enclave above Edgewood Road, mapped in 1927, with Redwood City 94062 addresses, large lots, mostly septic systems and a lot of privately maintained road.
Palomar Park by the numbers
palomar park by the numbers · live from the mls
- for sale now…
- median list price…
- homes sold, last 12 months…
- median sale price, 12 mo…
- median price per sq ft, sold…
- sale price vs. list…
Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Palomar Park (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in palomar park · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Palomar Park
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Palomar Park from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
Loading listings…
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 (Palomar Park (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Palomar Park came to be
Palomar Park is nearly a century old. County planning records cite an Amended Map of Palomar Park dated November 1927 that dedicated Loma Court, Cortez Road and Estrada Place to public use, and a 2023 news report on the neighborhood also dates the first land purchase to 1927. The street names have stuck: Palomar, Montalvo, Cervantes, Cortez, Estrada, Hermosa and Los Cerros.
It grew in pieces. The county General Plan now counts five parts as Palomar Park: the original tract, the Scenic neighborhood off Scenic Drive, Belle Roche, and the newer Palomar Oaks and Edgewood Estates subdivisions on Edgewood Road. The county formed the Scenic Heights County Sanitation District for the Scenic streets in 1949 and the Edgewood Sewer Maintenance District for Palomar Oaks and Edgewood Estates in 2004, when the developers paid for sewers and bought treatment capacity from Redwood City.
It has stayed unincorporated. A 2011 county LAFCo review places Palomar Park in San Carlos's sphere of influence, designates it an urban neighborhood in the county General Plan, and lists the lack of sewers, storm drains and flood-control facilities as obstacles to annexation. The mail still says Redwood City 94062, which is why it turns up in Redwood City searches. In 2023 a plaque bolted to a boulder on Palomar Drive was unveiled to mark the neighborhood's history.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Palomar Drive is the spine: about 1.5 miles on public maps, from Clifford Avenue by Clifford School west and uphill to Pebble Drive at the San Carlos line. South Palomar Drive loops below it, Montalvo Road and Loma Road meet it on the upper slope, and Cervantes Road and El Vanada Road drop to Edgewood Road. The Scenic side (Scenic Drive, Hubbard Avenue, Brecon Court) sits lower, off Edgewood Road near Cordilleras Creek. USGS elevation points run from about 100 feet on Scenic Drive to roughly 630 feet on Loma Road.
County parcel maps count about 285 single-family parcels, 18 of them coded for an accessory unit, plus about 50 vacant parcels. Lots are large: the median is about 20,700 square feet, more than twice the median in Redwood City's Edgewood Park just downhill (same county data), and the middle half runs from about 14,400 to 32,600. There is no commercial land; the one institutional use is Clifford School.
Zoning is county R-1 with one of two Palomar Park combining districts plus Design Review. S-101, with a 20,000-square-foot minimum building site and 75-foot average width, covers about half the addresses, including Montalvo, Cervantes, Belle Roche and much of Loma Road. S-91, with a 10,000-square-foot minimum and 50-foot average width, covers the Scenic streets, South Palomar Drive and Hidden Way. Both set 20-foot front and rear and 10-foot side setbacks. Palomar Park is one of the county's bayside design review areas; a 2026 county proposal would replace committee review with objective, staff-level review.
streets in palomar park
- Palomar Drive
- South Palomar Drive
- Montalvo Road
- Cervantes Road
- Loma Road
- Loma Court
- Belle Roche Court
- Belle Roche Avenue
- Scenic Drive
- Hubbard Avenue
- Brecon Court
- Duggan Road
- Hermosa Road
- El Vanada Road
- Estrada Place
- Cortez Road
- Los Cerros Road
- Hidden Way
- Palomar Oaks Lane
- Deer Creek Lane
- Clifford Avenue
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Palomar Park
- school
Clifford School
Redwood City School District's K-8 campus at 225 Clifford Avenue sits inside the county boundary at the east end of Palomar Drive.
- park
Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve
Midpen's 366-acre preserve, about 1.1 miles straight-line west of the middle, has six miles of trails and a 17.5-acre off-leash dog area. Parking is on Edmonds Road off Crestview Drive.
- park
Edgewood Park & Natural Preserve
The county's 467-acre preserve across Edgewood Road has about ten miles of trails; its visitor address on Old Stage Coach Road is about 0.7 mile straight-line from the middle of Palomar Park.
- landmark
Neighborhood plaque
A plaque on a boulder beside Palomar Drive, unveiled in 2023, marks the neighborhood's history.
- shopping
San Carlos and Redwood City
There are no stores inside Palomar Park. Laurel Street in downtown San Carlos is about 1.8 miles straight-line and downtown Redwood City about 2.2 miles.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school-district maps put Palomar Park in the Redwood City School District and the Sequoia Union High School District, with a sliver at the north end of Loma Road showing in San Carlos School District, so check addresses on that edge. Clifford School (K-8) on Clifford Avenue is inside the county boundary at the east end. Attendance boundaries change; check the exact address with each district.
Sequoia Union guide · San Carlos School District guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Caltrain: San Carlos station is about 2.0 miles straight-line from the middle of Palomar Park and Redwood City station about 2.1 miles.
- I-280: the Edgewood Road interchange is about 1.5 miles straight-line west.
- US-101: the Whipple Avenue interchange is about 2.3 miles straight-line.
- Bus: some SamTrans 295 trips (Hillsdale-Redwood City) run on Edgewood Road past the Scenic Drive corner; check current schedules.
- Roads in: Cervantes Road, El Vanada Road, Palomar Oaks Lane, Deer Creek Lane and Scenic Drive meet Edgewood Road; Palomar Drive also connects to Clifford Avenue and to Pebble Drive in San Carlos.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Palomar Park: what we check
Buying here
- Septic first. County GIS puts about 80% of addresses outside any sewer district, and LAFCo's 2011 review lists septic systems plus the small Scenic district as the area's sewer service. Get a septic inspection and county Environmental Health records; the Scenic streets are in the Scenic Heights district (which LAFCo said had no spare treatment capacity), Palomar Oaks and Edgewood Estates are in the Edgewood district, and a few homes on South Palomar Drive and Estrada Place have San Carlos sewer by contract.
- Private roads. The county's road layer marks about 3 of Palomar Park's roughly 5.3 road miles as not county-maintained, including Montalvo, Cervantes, Hermosa, Duggan and El Vanada roads, Belle Roche, and parts of Palomar Drive. Ask for any road maintenance agreement and its budget history.
- Fire: Palomar Park is in the State Responsibility Area. CAL FIRE's current map puts about 80% of addresses in the Moderate zone and a few at the El Vanada Road edge in High; LAFCo lists county fire service under a CAL FIRE contract. Ask about defensible space and insurance early.
- Ground and water runoff: about half the addresses fall inside state earthquake-induced landslide zones, LAFCo notes there are no storm-drain or flood-control facilities, and a few Scenic Drive and Brecon Court lots are in FEMA Zone A by Cordilleras Creek. Plan on a geotechnical and drainage review for any addition.
- Zoning and water: confirm whether the lot is S-91 or S-101 and what design review applies, and who supplies water. County maps show California Water Service for about three-quarters of addresses and Redwood City water for the Scenic side and some lots near Edgewood Road.
Selling here
- Have the septic paperwork ready: last pumping, inspection report and county permits for the system.
- Collect the road agreement, recent road-repair costs shared by neighbors, and any easements for driveways or utilities.
- Pull the natural hazard disclosure early; State Responsibility Area, fire zone and landslide-zone items are common here.
- Explain the lot: size versus the S-91 or S-101 minimum, slope, and any space for an ADU given septic capacity.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Palomar Park questions, answered
Is Palomar Park in Redwood City or San Carlos?
Neither. It is unincorporated San Mateo County. Mail goes to Redwood City 94062, and LAFCo places it in San Carlos's sphere of influence, but the county handles planning, permits and roads.
Are homes on sewer?
The majority are not. About 80% of addresses are outside any sewer district on county maps; the Scenic Drive streets, Palomar Oaks and Edgewood Estates have county sewer districts, and a few homes have San Carlos sewer by contract.
Who maintains the roads?
It depends on the street. The county maintains roads such as Scenic Drive, Clifford Avenue, South Palomar Drive, Loma Road and parts of Palomar Drive; Montalvo, Cervantes, Hermosa, Duggan and El Vanada roads and Belle Roche are marked not county-maintained.
What school district is Palomar Park in?
Census maps show Redwood City School District and Sequoia Union High School District, with a sliver of Loma Road in San Carlos School District. Clifford School is inside the neighborhood. Check the exact address with the district.
Is Palomar Park in a fire hazard zone?
Yes. It is in the State Responsibility Area; CAL FIRE's current map puts about 80% of addresses in the Moderate zone and a few at the west edge in High. Check each address.
next door
More Redwood City neighborhood guides
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Palomar Park? 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.
Questions about Palomar Park? Send us a note.
