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Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks, Portola Valley Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A 205-home cluster development begun in 1975 and wrapped in shared open space on the San Andreas fault, plus the acre-plus Blue Oaks lots above it off Los Trancos Road.
Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks by the numbers
portola valley ranch & blue oaks by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in portola valley ranch & blue oaks · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Portola Valley Ranch & Blue 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 (Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks came to be
Coal Mine Ridge, behind the Ranch, is named for a 19th-century coal search; the preserve's history page says the coal was poor and an 1890 landslide buried the mine. In the early 1970s developer Joe Whelan proposed building here in a way the town's zoning did not allow: the Town required an acre per home, and he wanted to cluster the houses on smaller lots and leave the rest of the land open. A local newspaper's account of his career calls the proposal controversial, and the Town's planner later called the result an example of cluster design fitted to the topography, geology and vegetation.
The Town approved Portola Valley Ranch as a planned unit development. The Ranch's design guidelines explain that the approval made exceptions to the usual town standards, written into PUD statements and a Land Management Report, and that typical home designs, including layout, elevations, roofs and materials, were pre-approved by the Town. The first homes opened in 1975, and the Town's archive timeline lists 205 lots built between 1975 and 1981. As part of the project, the developer signed a 1975 agreement to keep the Coal Mine Ridge land as open space in perpetuity and to give the Town trail easements. The Ranch marked its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Blue Oaks came two decades later. After about eight years of debate, the Town Council approved its final subdivision map on July 22, 1998, for 264 acres at the south end of town, between the Ranch and unincorporated Los Trancos Woods and Vista Verde. A 1998 newspaper report counted 36 lots, 30 in Blue Oaks and six first approved as Portola Glen Estates (Oak Forest Court and Redberry Ridge, per the Town archive), with most of the land kept as open space under dedications or permanent easements.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Indian Crossing leaves Alpine Road beside Corte Madera School and climbs into the Ranch. Valley Oak Street is the main loop, and short streets and courts branch off it: Sandstone, Thistle, Fremontia, Long Spur, Hawkview, Bayberry, Acorn and Ohlone streets, Bear Paw, Horseshoe Bend, Coal Mine View, Franciscan Ridge, Sunhill, Woodfern, Wintercreek, Saddleback Drive and the Buckeye, Foxtail, Quail, Pomponio and Coyote Hill courts. County parcel maps show 205 single-family lots, almost all between about 0.45 and 0.55 acre, surrounded by common land. Roofs, roads and decks cover about a quarter of the property, and the rest is dedicated open space. The San Andreas fault runs through the middle of the property, and the houses were placed on either side of the fault lines.
The houses share a common look rather than a single plan. Local reporting counts about 10 to 12 original designs with uniform exterior colors and siding, with owners free to move windows and decks. The Ranch's guidelines list the typical siding as wood shingle, clapboard, T1-11 plywood, board and batten, fiber-cement and stucco, and paint comes from an approved earth-tone list. Each lot has an E-1 area, where every building must sit inside a building envelope, and an E-2 area that carries an association easement and takes no structures. There are no traditional fenced backyards: fences can only go in the E-1 area and are limited to dog runs and play yards. The guidelines also cover carport conversions, ADUs, decks and hot tubs. The association's common area holds the Coal Mine Ridge open space, the Ranch House, swimming pools, tennis courts, a garden, an orchard and a vineyard.
Blue Oaks is a different scale. Buck Meadow Drive and Blue Oaks Court climb from Los Trancos Road, with Redberry Ridge and Oak Forest Court just to the north. County maps show about 38 parcels on those four streets, typically 1.5 to 2.6 acres, backed by large open-space parcels. The older Brookside Park and Willowbrook streets across Alpine Road are covered in our Portola Road & Town Center guide; they are not part of the Ranch association.
streets in portola valley ranch & blue oaks
- Indian Crossing
- Valley Oak Street
- Sandstone Street
- Coal Mine View
- Franciscan Ridge
- Hawkview Street
- Bear Paw
- Horseshoe Bend
- Ohlone Street
- Saddleback Drive
- Buck Meadow Drive
- Blue Oaks Court
- Redberry Ridge
- Oak Forest Court
house sales by street, 2021–2026
| Street | Sales | Median price | Per sq ft | Typical lot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redberry Rdg | 3 | $7.8M | $1,162 | 2.2 acres |
| Buck Meadow Drive | 3 | $6.5M | $1,304 | 2 acres |
| Bear Paw | 4 | $3.44M | $1,335 | 21,560 sq ft |
| Valley Oak Street | 3 | $3.26M | $940 | 0.5 acres |
Single-family house sales inside this guide’s outline, Oct. 1, 2021 to Oct. 21, 2026, from MLS records, with each sale counted once. Streets with at least 3 sales; prices, price per square foot and lots are medians. The whole city, ranked: The most expensive streets in Woodside & Portola Valley.
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks
- park
Coal Mine Ridge Nature Preserve
The 235-acre northwestern part of the Coal Mine Ridge open space, bordered by Los Trancos and Corte Madera creeks. The Town maintains the trails; the Old Spanish Trail predates the Ranch, and the gentle Toyon Trail was built by volunteers. Dogs and bikes are not allowed, and hikers stay on the trails.
- park
Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
Midpen's 1,414-acre preserve of grassland ridges and redwood, fir and oak forest west of town. The closest parking is the four-space roadside area at Willowbrook Drive and Alpine Road; the larger lower lot is on Portola Road. Dogs, bikes and horses are allowed on designated trails only.
- trail
Upper Alpine Road
Past the last houses, Alpine Road continues uphill as a trail. San Mateo County closed it to cars in 1979 after washouts, and Midpen finished drainage and bypass-trail work in spring 2024, restoring a connection between Portola Valley and Skyline Boulevard through Coal Creek Open Space Preserve.
- landmark
Frog Pond
A small Town open-space area beside Alpine Road near Indian Crossing. The Town's archive keeps a letter from the Ranch's developer urging that the pond be kept.
- shopping
Alpine and Portola corner
A grocery store (4420 Alpine Road) and a hardware store sit near the Alpine Road and Portola Road junction, about half a mile straight-line from the middle of the Ranch.
- shopping
Ladera shopping center
The center at 3130 Alpine Road in unincorporated Ladera, with a grocery, cleaners and small shops, is about 2.6 miles straight-line down Alpine Road.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
The Ranch and Blue Oaks are both in the Portola Valley School District and the Sequoia Union High School District (Census school-district maps, checked lot by lot). The district's Corte Madera School (grades 4-8) is at 4575 Alpine Road, right beside the Ranch entrance at Indian Crossing, and Ormondale School (TK/K-3) is about 1.2 miles straight-line to the north. Attendance boundaries can change, so check the exact address with each district.
Portola Valley School District guide · Sequoia Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- No train in Portola Valley: Palo Alto Caltrain is about 5.9 miles and Menlo Park Caltrain about 6.4 miles straight-line from the middle of the Ranch.
- I-280: the Alpine Road interchange is about 3.1 miles straight-line and the Sand Hill Road interchange about 3.6 miles.
- The Ranch's road entrance is Indian Crossing at Alpine Road. Blue Oaks, Redberry Ridge and Oak Forest Court reach Alpine Road by Los Trancos Road.
- Transit is thin: the Sequoia Union High School District lists SamTrans school-day routes 86 (to Menlo-Atherton High) and 87 (to Woodside High) for Portola Valley. Check SamTrans for current routes.
- Public trails run through the Ranch and connect to Windy Hill and the town trail network, and upper Alpine Road is a car-free route toward Skyline Boulevard.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks: what we check
Buying here
- Get the full association package early: CC&Rs, the Design Guidelines adopted August 20, 2025, budget, reserve study and minutes, and check current dues. Exterior changes and significant landscaping go to the Ranch Design Committee first, and the Town asks for the Ranch's approval letter before its own ASCC review and building permit.
- Map the geology for the specific lot. On county maps, about 125 of the Ranch's 206 parcels and all of the Blue Oaks-area parcels fall inside the state's Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone, and some sit in mapped landslide zones. Read the natural hazard disclosure, ask for any geotechnical reports, and expect geologic review for additions or rebuilds.
- Fire: the Ranch describes itself as a Wildland-Urban Interface community and is Firewise certified, with defensible-space zones of 30 and 100 feet in its guidelines. Check the State Fire Marshal's current fire hazard severity zone map for the address and line up insurance quotes early.
- Know your lines before you plan: building envelopes, E-1 and E-2 areas and non-living lines limit where additions, decks, ADUs and carport conversions can go. A short call with the Design Committee administrator beats a redesign.
- In Blue Oaks and on Oak Forest Court, read the title report for open-space easements, private road and emergency road arrangements from the 1998 approval.
Selling here
- Order the association resale documents as soon as you list; buyers will ask for the guidelines, CC&Rs, recent minutes and any open Design Committee items.
- Pull your Design Committee approvals and Town permits for past additions, decks, carport conversions and hot tubs. Unapproved exterior changes are the usual snag in a Ranch sale.
- Do the defensible-space work before photos and keep the paperwork; the Ranch's fire program includes individual home inspections.
- Show buyers where the lot sits: the common open space and trail links around it, the view, and where it falls relative to the mapped fault zone.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Portola Valley Ranch & Blue Oaks questions, answered
How many homes are in Portola Valley Ranch?
205, per the Town's archive and county parcel records. Blue Oaks and Portola Glen Estates add about 35 more on larger lots just south.
Is the Ranch in the Town of Portola Valley or unincorporated?
In the Town. The Ranch, Blue Oaks, Redberry Ridge and Oak Forest Court all fall inside the Town limit on county maps, so the Town handles planning and permits. Los Trancos Woods and Vista Verde, just beyond Blue Oaks, are unincorporated San Mateo County.
Is there an HOA?
Yes. Every Ranch owner is a member of the Portola Ranch Association, which manages the common land and recreation areas and reviews exterior changes through its Design Committee. Check current dues and rules with the association before you write an offer.
Does the San Andreas fault really run through the Ranch?
Yes. Local reporting says the fault runs through the middle of the property, with houses placed on either side of the fault lines, and the state's 1974 Earthquake Fault Zone maps cover much of the Ranch and all of Blue Oaks. Check the zone and any studies for the specific lot.
Can a yard be fenced or a pool added?
Fences can only go in the E-1 area of a lot and can't enclose the whole lot or building envelope, except for dog runs and play areas. The association's common area has swimming pools; read the CC&Rs and guidelines before planning anything private.
Which schools serve the Ranch?
The Portola Valley School District and the Sequoia Union High School District. Corte Madera School is next to the Ranch entrance. Boundaries can change, so confirm the address with each district.
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