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san jose neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Santa Teresa Foothills, San Jose Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The late-1960s streets south of Santa Teresa Blvd from Cahalan Ave to Cottle Rd, up against Santa Teresa County Park, with La Colina and Century Oaks parks and Santa Teresa High.
Santa Teresa Foothills by the numbers
santa teresa foothills by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Santa Teresa Foothills (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in santa teresa foothills · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Santa Teresa Foothills
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Santa Teresa Foothills 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 (Santa Teresa Foothills (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Santa Teresa Foothills came to be
The hills behind these streets gave the area its name. Santa Teresa County Park, about 1,670 acres on the county park layer, covers the slopes just south of the city line. The park's friends group dates Rancho Santa Teresa to 1826 and José Joaquín Bernal, and says the ranch house at what is now the county's Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch was built in 1858, came to the county in 1986 and opened to the public on June 29, 2002. That ranch site sits on the park's north edge, east of Cottle Rd.
The houses arrived in one push. City annexation records show San Jose taking in this land between 1960 and 1973, with the largest pieces in 1963 and 1966, and city sewer records date about four in five street sewer mains to 1965-1969. City tract records list 42 recorded tract maps, which is why street names change in themed clusters from block to block.
Santa Teresa High's campus on Snell Rd sits in the middle of the area, and two Oak Grove elementary schools, Sakamoto and Taylor, sit inside it too. The city's association map files most of it under the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association, with the Glider and Hidden Glen Santa Teresa associations and the La Colina blocks alongside.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Santa Teresa Blvd runs along the north edge, and Snell Ave and Cottle Rd lead south from it into the tracts. Curie Dr is the long loop through the middle, with Madison Dr, Los Pinos Way, Mahan Dr, Felder Dr, Valroy Dr, Mayo Dr, Gunter Way, Dubanski Dr and Woosley Dr around it. Colleen Dr curves along the west side past Cree Dr, Choctaw Dr, Hopi Cir, Los Huecos Dr, Evangeline Dr and Valley Glen Dr, and Galen Dr, Mindy Way and Pelham Ct sit along the park line. Lean Ave and Allegan Cir frame La Colina Park.
On the county parcel map nearly every addressed parcel is a single lot, mostly about 6,000 to 6,900 sq ft. Lots grow at the hill edge: the median lot is about 20,000 sq ft on Mindy Way and about 41,000 on Rocking Horse Ct, and the courts west of Colleen Dr (Rocky Glen, Rolling Glen, Glendora and Valley Glen) run larger than the valley streets. About a third of the land is zoned R-1-8 single-family and about a sixth is open-space zoning along the hillside, with smaller areas of hillside R-1-2 and planned-development zoning.
Expect late-1960s single-story and two-story plans, many remodeled. The city's Growth Areas map marks Santa Teresa Blvd at Snell Ave as an urban village without an approved plan yet, so any change is planned for the boulevard corners rather than the interior streets.
streets in santa teresa foothills
- Santa Teresa Blvd
- Snell Ave
- Cottle Rd
- Cahalan Ave
- Curie Dr
- Colleen Dr
- Los Pinos Way
- Madison Dr
- Lean Ave
- Allegan Cir
- Cree Dr
- Choctaw Dr
- Suisse Dr
- Galen Dr
- Mahan Dr
- Felder Dr
- Valroy Dr
- Mayo Dr
- Gunter Way
- Dubanski Dr
- Los Huecos Dr
- Evangeline Dr
- Valley Glen Dr
- Shadelands Dr
- Sautner Dr
- Mindy Way
- Oberlin Way
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Santa Teresa Foothills
- park
La Colina Park
About 22 acres at Ansdell Way and Los Pinos Way (city park records), with two soccer fields, a water-play area, playgrounds and picnic areas; the 2-acre La Colina Community Garden is on Allegan Cir near Lean Ave.
- park
Century Oaks Park
About 17.8 acres at 486 Curie Dr on the city park layer, a mostly natural park at the foot of the hills.
- park
Foothill Park
About 7.2 acres at Cahalan Ave and Foothill Dr at the west end, with two viewpoints in city amenity records.
- park
Santa Teresa County Park
About 1,670 acres of county parkland on the hills directly south (county park layer); the public Santa Teresa Golf Club is at 260 Bernal Rd on the park's east side.
- landmark
Santa Teresa Branch Library
The city library is just east across Cottle Rd near Santa Teresa Blvd (city library layer).
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
County tax-rate areas and Census district maps put about nine in ten addressed parcels in the Oak Grove School District and East Side Union High School District. The west end (Cahalan Ave, Dubanski Dr, Sunset Glen Dr, Glenside Dr, Valley Glen Dr and Ct, Larios Way, Mirasol, Manteca, El Toro and Butano courts, the Rocky Glen, Rolling Glen and Glendora courts, Foothill Dr and Ct, the south end of Chesbro Ave and parts of Colleen Dr and Los Huecos Dr) is in San Jose Unified School District for TK-12. Public schools inside: Sakamoto Elementary (6280 Shadelands Dr) and Taylor Elementary (410 Sautner Dr), both Oak Grove, and Santa Teresa High (6150 Snell Rd, East Side Union High). Herman Intermediate (Oak Grove) is just north across Santa Teresa Blvd on Blossom Ave. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
Oak Grove School District site · East Side Union High guide · San Jose Unified guide
Getting around
- Cottle station on VTA's Blue Line is about 0.4 mile straight-line north of the Santa Teresa Blvd and Cottle Rd corner and about 1.2 miles from the middle of the area; Santa Teresa station, the line's south end, is about 0.8 mile straight-line east of that corner.
- Highway 85 is about half a mile north across the Palmia & Oak Ridge blocks, with an interchange at Cottle Rd.
- Santa Teresa Blvd is the main arterial along the north edge; Snell Ave and Cottle Rd lead north to Blossom Hill Rd.
- Santa Teresa County Park's trails start at the hill edge south of the city line; check county park maps for current entrances.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Santa Teresa Foothills: what we check
Buying here
- Hillside map layers apply here. The city's Wildland-Urban Interface map covers about three-quarters of the addressed parcels, and the state's 2025 fire hazard map puts about 575 parcels, mostly on Colleen Dr, Curie Dr and the streets near the hill line, in a Moderate zone. Read the natural hazard disclosure for vegetation and building-code items.
- State landslide zones touch about 55 addressed parcels, mainly on Valroy Dr, Royal Oak Ct, Colleen Dr and Pelham Ct; state liquefaction zones cover most of the valley streets. Ask for geotechnical reports on hillside lots and for any additions.
- The south edge follows the city line and the Urban Growth Boundary; land beyond it is county parkland and open space. A few parcels at the south end of Cottle Rd and on Scenic Vista Dr are unincorporated county land, with county permits.
- Check the school district by address: the west-end streets are San Jose Unified, the rest Oak Grove and East Side Union High, and Colleen Dr and Los Huecos Dr are split.
- Most homes date to 1966-1969: check panels, original plumbing, roof age and the sewer lateral. FEMA maps nearly all of it as Zone D (possible but undetermined).
Selling here
- Lead with the setting: the distance to Santa Teresa County Park and to La Colina or Century Oaks Park, stated as approximate.
- Put the school district in the listing as checked with the district, since the line runs through the west end.
- Have the fire and landslide map results and any vegetation-management work documented before buyers ask.
- For larger hillside lots on Mindy Way or Rocking Horse Ct, gather any geotechnical and drainage reports.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Santa Teresa Foothills questions, answered
Where does the Santa Teresa name come from?
From Rancho Santa Teresa in these hills, which the county park's friends group dates to 1826. Santa Teresa County Park and its Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch historic site keep the name.
Which schools serve it?
Most streets are Oak Grove School District with East Side Union High; the west end is San Jose Unified. Sakamoto and Taylor elementary schools and Santa Teresa High are inside the area. Check the exact address with the district.
Is it in a wildfire zone?
Parts of it. The city's Wildland-Urban Interface map covers most of the area, and the state's 2025 map puts the streets nearest the hills in a Moderate fire hazard zone. Read the natural hazard disclosure for any address.
Is any of it unincorporated?
Only a handful of parcels at the south end of Cottle Rd and on Scenic Vista Dr, plus hillside open space along the south edge. Everything else is City of San Jose.
What parks are nearby?
La Colina Park (about 22 acres), Century Oaks Park (about 17.8 acres) and Foothill Park inside the area, and Santa Teresa County Park on the hills directly south.
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