campbell neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
San Tomas, Campbell Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The west side of Campbell's San Tomas Area, from San Tomas Aquino Road to Westmont High: deep, irregular lots, 1960s tracts, new courts, and streets the city plans to keep rural.
San Tomas by the numbers
san tomas by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for San Tomas: west side of the San Tomas Area, Campbell side (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in san tomas · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in San Tomas
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in San Tomas 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 (San Tomas: west side of the San Tomas Area, Campbell side (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How San Tomas came to be
San Tomas is the western half of the city's San Tomas Area, which the city's own plan describes as more informal than the rest of Campbell because of its large, often irregular lots and its streets without standard curbs, gutters and sidewalks. San Tomas Aquino Creek, named on 1850s land-grant maps for Saint Thomas Aquinas, curls around the north side of Westmont High on the neighborhood's west edge. It once marked the line between two land grants, Rancho Quito to the west and Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos to the east. Its tributary, Smith Creek, still runs through the middle of the neighborhood on the city's creek map, near Elam Avenue and Munro Avenue.
The city's annexation map shows most of these blocks joining Campbell in 1961, including the Silacci Drive, Adrien Drive, Ebbets Drive and Loyalton Drive tract, whose homes the county assessor dates to 1961-63. The older streets came later: Weston Drive, Munro Avenue, Regina Way and parts of Westmont Avenue, Crockett Avenue and Elam Avenue were unincorporated county land until a 1979 annexation. A circa-1905 house, now at the end of Littleton Place off Harriet Avenue, is a designated City of Campbell Historic Landmark on the city's historic resource inventory.
Those big, late-annexed lots are why the San Tomas Area Neighborhood Plan exists. The city says it has treated the area as rural in character since 1980. In 1991 the council authorized the San Tomas Study, and after about 30 meetings in 1993 the plan took effect on December 16, 1993, as Campbell's first neighborhood plan. It was amended in 2000 (street standards and small additions), 2019 (ADUs) and 2022 (two-unit projects and lot splits). Its goal: keep the area low-density single-family, with house size in proportion to lot size and local streets that look rural.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Harriet Avenue is the spine, running south from McCoy Avenue past Elam Avenue and Westmont Avenue toward W. Hacienda Avenue. East of it, Elam Avenue and Westmont Avenue run across to S. San Tomas Aquino Road, with Munro Avenue and Turner Way as shorter east-west streets further south and a mix of north-south streets and courts in between: Crockett Avenue, Inwood Drive and Court, Ginden Drive and Court, Inskip Drive, Lamont Court, Margaret Lane, Cobblestone Drive, Jonathan Court, Haymarket Court, Jasmine Court, Trailblazer Place and Abbott Avenue. West of Harriet, the Silacci Drive tract (Silacci, Gwen, Loyalton, Ebbets, Adrien, Manton Court) fills the pocket between Forest Hill Elementary and Westmont High, and south of Westmont Avenue are Regina Way, Ashlock Court, Littleton Place, Archer Way, Fawn Drive and Beth Way. North of McCoy, Weston Drive, Parkhurst Drive, Smokey Court and Vanderbilt Drive fill the corner by the creek.
The 1960s tract streets are the most uniform: single-story ranch homes of roughly 1,300-1,400 square feet on lots of about 6,000-6,600 square feet. The older streets are not uniform at all. Homes on Munro Avenue have a median assessor year of 1941 and a median lot of about 10,000 square feet, with one parcel over 45,000; Regina Way and Abbott Avenue lots run about 10,500-10,700. The plan's street list keeps Munro Avenue and Regina Way among the streets to remain without curb, gutter and sidewalk, while Elam Avenue, Westmont Avenue and San Tomas Aquino Road are higher-volume streets with full improvements, and Harriet Avenue between Westmont and Van Dusen is a partly improved street the plan wants made consistent.
Those deep lots are where the new houses are. Since the 1990s long parcels have been split into courts and small subdivisions, per assessor years: Cobblestone Drive (1996, a planned development on a private street), Summerfield Drive (1997), Chamberlin Court (2004, 16 homes with a median of about 3,400 square feet), Laurance Hill Court (2014), Jasmine Court (2016), Meadows Court (2019), Hickory Court (2020), Haymarket Court (2021) and Trailblazer Place (2023). The plan's design criteria ask new homes to borrow from the old ones: simple rectangular forms, gable or hip roofs, wood siding or stucco, garages that do not dominate the front, and one-and-a-half-story or partial second floors where they help a big house sit lower.
streets in san tomas
- Harriet Avenue
- S. San Tomas Aquino Road
- W. San Tomas Aquino Road
- McCoy Avenue
- Elam Avenue
- Munro Avenue
- Westmont Avenue
- W. Hacienda Avenue
- Crockett Avenue
- Abbott Avenue
- Silacci Drive
- Gwen Drive
- Loyalton Drive
- Ebbets Drive
- Adrien Drive
- Manton Court
- Inskip Drive
- Inwood Drive
- Ginden Drive
- Lamont Court
- Margaret Lane
- Cobblestone Drive
- Jonathan Court
- Haymarket Court
- Jasmine Court
- Turner Way
- Chamberlin Court
- Meadows Court
- Laurance Hill Court
- Regina Way
- Ashlock Court
- Littleton Place
- Archer Way
- Fawn Drive
- Beth Way
- Weston Drive
- Parkhurst Drive
- Smokey Court
- Vanderbilt Drive
- Summerfield Drive
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near San Tomas
- park
Jack Fischer Park
A city park of about 4.2 acres at 1405 Abbott Avenue, just south of W. Hacienda Avenue (city GIS), about half a mile from the middle of the neighborhood, straight line.
- park
San Tomas Park (San José)
A City of San José park of about 4.8 acres on Valerie Drive, just across the creek to the north (city GIS), about 0.4 mile away.
- landmark
Forest Hill Elementary and Westmont High
Two public campuses line the west edge: Forest Hill Elementary on McCoy Avenue and Westmont High on Westmont Avenue, which opened in the mid-1960s.
- landmark
Littleton Place landmark house
A circa-1905 house at the end of Littleton Place is a City of Campbell Historic Landmark (city historic resource inventory), now surrounded by a 1990s court.
- shopping
Kirkwood Plaza and Westgate
Kirkwood Plaza on W. Campbell Avenue (about 12 acres in city GIS) is about 0.9 mile north, and Westgate Center on Saratoga Avenue in San José about 1.5 miles northwest, straight line.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
San Tomas is in the Campbell Union School District for elementary and middle grades and the Campbell Union High School District, per U.S. Census school-district maps checked at points across the outline. Two public campuses sit on its west edge: Forest Hill Elementary on McCoy Avenue (Campbell Union) and Westmont High on Westmont Avenue (Campbell Union High; the Census line puts the high school campus in San José). Rolling Hills Middle on More Avenue is about 0.8 mile south across Highway 85, and Capri Elementary about 0.8 mile southeast, straight line. Living next to a school does not set the assignment, and attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Campbell Union guide · Campbell Union High guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Bus: VTA Route 37 stops at Burrows Road and Hacienda Avenue and along Pollard Road, running between West Valley College and Capitol Station by way of Winchester light rail station.
- Light rail: Winchester station, the south end of the Green Line, is about 1.7 miles east (straight line).
- Driving: Highway 85's Saratoga Avenue interchange is about 0.9 mile west and its Winchester Boulevard ramps about 1.2 miles southeast, straight line. The plan steers through traffic to Winchester Boulevard, Pollard Road, Quito Road and Campbell Avenue and allows trucks only on Pollard and Winchester.
- Walking: Forest Hill Elementary, Westmont High, San Tomas Park and Jack Fischer Park are all within about half a mile of the middle of the neighborhood, straight line.
- Shopping runs: Kirkwood Plaza is about 0.9 mile north and downtown Campbell about 2 miles east, straight line.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in San Tomas: what we check
Buying here
- Know the zoning district before you price an addition. The city map shows R-1-6 on the tract streets and R-1-9 on blocks such as Munro Ave, Regina Way, Turner Way and parts of Westmont Ave and Harriet Ave. The plan caps floor area at 0.45 FAR of net lot area (garages and accessory buildings included), coverage at 40% in R-1-6 and 35% in R-1-9, and height at 28 feet and 2.5 stories. In R-1-9 one side yard must be the greater of 10 feet or 60% of the adjacent wall height, front setback 20 feet and rear 25 feet.
- Buying to split or build a court? The plan sets minimum widths for new lots (60 feet in R-1-6, 70 feet in R-1-9, 60 feet on a cul-de-sac bulb), requires planned-development lot sizes to match the predominant neighbors, and asks low-density PD projects for two shared guest spaces per unit. New houses on vacant R-1-9 lots need Planning Commission site and architectural approval. SB 9 splits follow Campbell's Chapter 20.14 per the 2022 amendment; get a pre-application read from Planning.
- Streets: Munro Ave, Regina Way and parts of Crockett Ave and Abbott Ave are meant to stay without curb, gutter and sidewalk, but development on Harriet Ave, Elam Ave or Westmont Ave can trigger right-of-way dedication and full frontage improvements, or a deferred improvement agreement. Ask the City Engineer what applies to the parcel.
- Creek check: the city's flood layer puts a few lots near Smith Creek and San Tomas Aquino Creek (on W. Hacienda Ave, Westmont Ave, Munro Ave, Abbott Ave and Meadows Ct) in FEMA Zone A, and a strip along Smith Creek (Elam Ave, Cobblestone Dr, Silacci Dr and nearby) is in a state liquefaction zone. Read the natural hazard disclosure and expect a soils report for new construction.
- Older houses and private streets: pre-1950 farmhouses can have older wiring, raised foundations and long sewer laterals, and Cobblestone Dr and the PD courts come with HOA or road-maintenance documents to read. On the far west side, confirm the city line: Westmont High and the Pinemont Dr and Roundtree Dr blocks next door are in San José.
Selling here
- Put the lot first: GIS or survey lot area, width, depth and zoning district. On Munro Ave or Regina Way a 10,000-plus sq ft lot is the story.
- If a buyer might split or rebuild, a pre-listing conversation with Campbell Planning about FAR, coverage, lot width and street dedication can save a round of contingencies.
- Gather permits for additions, accessory buildings (the plan caps them at one story and 14 feet) and any ADU.
- Disclose any recorded deferred street-improvement agreement and the parcel's flood and liquefaction status up front.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
San Tomas questions, answered
Is San Tomas in Campbell or San José?
Everything inside this guide's outline is in the City of Campbell. Next door is a different story: the blocks north of the creek around San Tomas Park (Valerie Dr, Lemoyne Way, Montezuma Dr, Maximilian Dr) carry Campbell 95008 addresses but are in San José, and so are the Westmont High campus and the Pinemont Dr and Roundtree Dr blocks to the west. Check the parcel's jurisdiction.
What is the San Tomas Area Neighborhood Plan?
Campbell's first neighborhood plan, covering about 1.5 square miles of southwest Campbell. Its setbacks, lot widths, 0.45 FAR, design criteria and street rules override the general zoning code where they conflict, except for ADU and SB 9 rules.
Why do some streets have no sidewalks?
The plan's goal is to keep local streets rural. Its street list names Munro Avenue and Regina Way among the streets to remain without curb, gutter and sidewalk, while busier streets like Elam and Westmont avenues get full improvements.
Which school districts serve San Tomas?
Campbell Union School District for elementary and middle grades and Campbell Union High School District. Forest Hill Elementary and Westmont High are on the neighborhood's edge, but boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Where does the name come from?
From San Tomas Aquino Creek, which appears on 1850s land-grant maps as San Tomas Aquinas Creek and Arroyo de San Tomás Aquinas, after Saint Thomas Aquinas.
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