home / saratoga / saratoga foothills
saratoga neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Saratoga Foothills, Saratoga Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Saratoga's western hillsides: postwar tracts off Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, acre-plus lots on Pierce, Mt. Eden and Bohlman roads, and county land toward the Mountain Winery and Sanborn Road.
Saratoga Foothills by the numbers
saratoga foothills 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 Saratoga Foothills: the west hillsides, Pierce, Mt. Eden and Bohlman roads (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in saratoga foothills · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Saratoga Foothills
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Saratoga Foothills 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 (Saratoga Foothills: the west hillsides, Pierce, Mt. Eden and Bohlman roads (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Saratoga Foothills came to be
The hills west of the Village are where Saratoga's settlement began. William Campbell's 1847 sawmill stood on what became Highway 9 above the Village, and a second hamlet, Bank Mills, stood near today's Hakone Gardens entrance until a fire in 1863. In 1861 several thousand people gathered at the Toll Gate campground above town for a settlers' picnic. From 1866 Pacific Congress Springs drew visitors to mineral springs and a resort hotel in the southwest hills; the hotel, Congress Hall, burned in 1903. The street names Toll Gate Road, Congress Springs Lane and Congress Hall Lane echo that history.
Wine and weekend estates came next. By the 1880s, wine grapes were growing in Saratoga's foothills, and in 1901 Paul Masson bought land on what is now Pierce Road, built his Chateau above the winery in 1905 and rebuilt the sandstone winery after the 1906 earthquake. The site, now the Mountain Winery, has hosted concerts since 1958. Oliver and Isabel Stine bought the Hakone site on Big Basin Way in 1915 and built their Japanese-style retreat from 1917; the City bought it after it was offered in 1966. On Pierce Road, the 1936 Paul Masson Lodge is the work of Henry Clay Smith, known as "The Hillside Architect."
Most houses came after incorporation in 1956. Tract streets along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, such as Reid Lane, Trinity and Malcom avenues, Brandywine Drive, Russell Lane and Sevilla Lane, went up between the late 1950s and early 1970s, while custom houses spread up Pierce Road, Pike Road, Via Regina, Old Oak Way and Bohlman Road from the 1960s on. Cul-de-sacs such as Saratoga Heights Drive, Congress Hall Lane, Damon Lane, Villa Oaks Lane and Chadwick Court followed in the 1980s and 1990s on lots of an acre or more under the City's Hillside Residential (HR) zoning. Above them, the city limit gives way to unincorporated county land: orchards, open space, the Mountain Winery's grounds and scattered homes.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The lower foothills are tract streets between Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Pierce Road: Paramount Drive, Brandywine Drive, Leonard Road, Debbie Lane, Russell Lane, Mandarin Way, Sevilla Lane, Verde Vista Lane, Trinity and Malcom avenues, Lynde Avenue and Reid Lane. Most are single-story ranch houses on 10,000 to 15,000 sq ft lots zoned R-1-10,000 or R-1-12,500, with second stories and full rebuilds mixed in. Foothill Elementary School and the City's Foothill Park are on Lynde and Seaton avenues in this section.
Pierce Road is the main climb. From Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road it passes Surrey Lane and Sarahills Drive, meets Mt. Eden Road, then runs south past Saratoga Heights Drive and the Mountain Winery to Highway 9 near Congress Springs. Mt. Eden Road heads west past Damon Lane and Villa Oaks Lane toward Garrod Farm and, beyond the city limit, Stevens Creek County Park. Houses here are mostly 1960s to 1990s custom homes, many two-story, on lots of one to two and a half acres zoned HR. The City's HR summary sets setbacks of 30 ft in front, 20 ft on the sides and 50 or 60 ft in the rear; limits lot coverage to 25 percent of net site area or 15,000 sq ft; caps floor area at 8,000 sq ft, reduced for average slopes over 10 percent; and keeps buildings below nearby ridgelines that lack dense tree cover.
Nearer the Village, Canyon View Drive, Sullivan Way and Michaels Drive hold 1950s to 1970s houses, and Bank Mill Road and Toll Gate Road sit on the slope above Highway 9. South of the highway, Bohlman Road winds up past Norton and Kittridge roads, with Quickert Road and Belnap Drive higher up. The city limit runs through this terrain. Upper Bohlman Road (roughly the 15500 block and up) with On Orbit Drive and Apollo Heights Court, the far end of Mt. Eden Road (county parcels start around the 23400 block) with Orchard Meadow Drive, Congress Springs Road (Highway 9) beyond the city limit, Sanborn Road and the Mountain Winery parcel are unincorporated county; Edencrest Lane, Garrod Road, Saratoga Heights Drive and the residential length of Pierce Road are in the City.
streets in saratoga foothills
- Pierce Road
- Mt. Eden Road
- Mt. Eden Court
- Garrod Road
- Edencrest Lane
- Villa Oaks Lane
- Deer Trail Court
- Via Regina
- Vista Regina
- Damon Lane
- Teerlink Way
- Heber Way
- Palomino Way
- Pike Road
- Perata Court
- Old Oak Way
- Chiquita Way
- Chadwick Court
- Padero Court
- Vaquero Court
- Quarry Road
- Sarahills Drive
- Saraview Drive
- Surrey Lane
- Saratoga Hills Road
- Upper Hill Drive
- Michaels Drive
- Dorsey Way
- Canyon View Drive
- Sullivan Way
- Glenmont Drive
- Bank Mill Road
- Haymeadow Drive
- Toll Gate Road
- Saratoga Heights Drive
- Masson Court
- Deer Spring Court
- Vintage Lane
- Congress Hall Lane
- Congress Springs Lane
- Bohlman Road
- Norton Road
- Kittridge Road
- Quickert Road
- Belnap Drive
- Cuvilly Way
- Hidden View Lane
- On Orbit Drive
- Apollo Heights Court
- Orchard Meadow Drive
- Paramount Drive
- Brandywine Drive
- Leonard Road
- Debbie Lane
- Russell Lane
- Mandarin Way
- Sevilla Lane
- Verde Vista Lane
- Trinity Avenue
- Malcom Avenue
- Lynde Avenue
- Seaton Avenue
- Reid Lane
- Foothill Lane
- Comer Drive
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Saratoga Foothills
- park
Quarry Park
The City's 64-acre former quarry at 22000 Congress Springs Road (Highway 9) opened to the public in 2015 with hiking trails on the site of a county gravel quarry that closed in 1967.
- park
Saratoga-to-the-Sea trail
A 3.6-mile City-built trail from Quarry Park to Sanborn County Park, built in 2019 and 2020 with Midpen and county help; it is the first leg of a planned route of about 37 miles toward the coast.
- landmark
Hakone Gardens
The City-owned Japanese estate garden at 21000 Big Basin Way, inside our outline, dates from 1917 and was listed on the National Register in 2013; the nonprofit Hakone Foundation manages it.
- landmark
Mountain Winery
Paul Masson's hilltop winery at 14831 Pierce Road, on county land, has been a concert venue since 1958.
- park
Fremont Older Open Space Preserve
Midpen's 739-acre preserve borders the north-west edge; its Prospect Road parking area has 21 spaces, and the City's Parker Ranch and Mt. Eden trails connect toward it.
- park
Sanborn County Park
About 3,453 acres of redwood slopes off Highway 9 via Sanborn Road, with more than 15 miles of trails, camping and the Youth Science Institute's nature center.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Nearly all of the Foothills is in the Saratoga Union School District (TK-8) and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District (9-12), including the county hillside points we checked; Census district maps and City parcel data agree. A few parcels at the north edge, such as those on Chiquita Court, are in Cupertino Union and Fremont Union High in the City's data. Foothill Elementary School is inside the area on Lynde Avenue, and Saratoga High School is about a mile from the center (straight-line). Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Saratoga Union guide · Los Gatos-Saratoga high schools · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Pierce Road links the hillside streets to Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road at the north end; Highway 9 crosses the south end; from the Village it is about seven miles west to Saratoga Gap and Skyline Boulevard.
- Highway 85: the De Anza Boulevard and Saratoga Avenue interchanges are each about 2.4 miles from the center of the area (straight-line).
- VTA Route 51 runs weekdays on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road along the east edge, south to the Village and West Valley College and north to Cupertino and the Mountain View Transit Center.
- Rail: Sunnyvale and Lawrence Caltrain stations are about 8 miles from the center of the area and Winchester light rail about 5.6 miles (straight-line).
- Trails: the City's Mt. Eden Road and Villa Oaks trails, the Parker Ranch Trail connection to Fremont Older and the Saratoga-to-the-Sea trail from Quarry Park. The City's 2010 trail maps mark City trails as pedestrian and equestrian, dogs on leash, no bikes.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Saratoga Foothills: what we check
Buying here
- Confirm city or county first. Upper Bohlman Road with On Orbit Drive and Apollo Heights Court, upper Mt. Eden Road and Orchard Meadow Drive, Congress Springs Road (Highway 9) beyond the city limit, Sanborn Road and the Mountain Winery parcel are unincorporated Santa Clara County, so county planning, building and permits apply; the rest of the outline is City of Saratoga.
- Ask how the house is served. City parcel data lists no sewer district for about 230 parcels in our outline, including many on Pierce, Bohlman, Mt. Eden, Pike and Saratoga Hills roads, and flags wells on some; get septic inspection and permit records and any well tests. For an SB 9 project the City requires a percolation test from the last five years.
- Check the 2025 fire-hazard zone and WUI rules. City data puts about 340 parcels in Very High and 370 in High zones, with Very High covering most of Mt. Eden Road, Toll Gate Road, Saratoga Heights Drive, Congress Hall Lane, Norton Road and Bank Mill Road. New work in these zones needs a fire protection plan, a vegetation management plan and ignition-resistant construction, driveways over 150 ft need turnarounds, and defensible space runs to 100 ft; look up the evacuation zone in Genasys Protect.
- Budget for hillside review. City GIS maps ground-movement zones across much of the hillside, flags about 57 parcels in a fault zone and about 140 in FEMA zone D (flood risk not determined); the City requires geotechnical clearance for new houses, additions and basements in hazard areas, with a $5,000 consultant deposit plus an $850 fee.
- Check nearby proposals: the City lists Builder's Remedy housing applications on Mt. Eden Road (including 22200 Mt. Eden Road), on Pierce Road (Masson Estates), at 13605 Surrey Lane and on Chiquita Court (Vineyard Hill).
Selling here
- Assemble septic, well and water records (pumping, inspections, permits) before listing; buyers and lenders will ask early.
- Document wildfire work: defensible space, Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, multi-pane tempered windows and any County Fire inspection results.
- Have geotechnical reports, the survey and permit history for grading, retaining walls and additions ready.
- State jurisdiction and access plainly: city or county, public or private road, and any shared-driveway or road-maintenance agreement.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Saratoga Foothills questions, answered
Is the Saratoga Foothills area in the city or the county?
Both. Most streets, including all of Pierce Road's homes, Edencrest Lane and Garrod Road, are in the City. Upper Bohlman Road, upper Mt. Eden Road, Orchard Meadow Drive, Sanborn Road and the Mountain Winery are unincorporated county with Saratoga addresses.
How big are the lots?
About 12,500 sq ft on the tract streets near Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and one to two and a half acres on most hillside streets; the median in City parcel data for our outline is about 39,600 sq ft.
Is it in a wildfire hazard zone?
Much of it. The 2025 state maps put about 340 parcels in our outline in Very High and about 370 in High, and nearly all are inside the City's Wildland Urban Interface. The lower tract streets near Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road are mostly unmapped. Check the exact parcel.
Which schools serve the Foothills?
Saratoga Union School District (TK-8) and Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District (9-12) for nearly all addresses; a few at the north edge are Cupertino Union and Fremont Union High. Confirm the exact address with each district.
Where can you hike?
Quarry Park and the Saratoga-to-the-Sea trail, the City's Mt. Eden Road trails, Fremont Older to the north and Sanborn County Park to the southwest.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Saratoga Foothills? 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 Saratoga Foothills? Send us a note.
