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Whisman Station, Mountain View Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A late-1990s planned community of detached homes and townhouses built around the Whisman light rail stop, on a former GTE defense-electronics campus east of Whisman Road.
Whisman Station by the numbers
whisman station by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Whisman Station: the planned community by the Whisman light rail stop (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in whisman station · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Whisman Station
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Whisman Station 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 (Whisman Station: the planned community by the Whisman light rail stop (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Whisman Station came to be
Whisman Station was planned from the start as housing built around a light rail stop, on land that spent decades as a defense plant. According to the U.S. EPA, GTE Government Systems made classified products for national defense here starting in the 1960s. Environmental investigations in 1988 found that its operations had contaminated groundwater with volatile organic compounds, and GTE treated the contamination under EPA and California Department of Toxic Substances Control oversight until natural processes could finish the job.
In 1997 the City of Mountain View approved more than 500 townhouses and single-family homes centered on a planned light rail station, and EPA worked with the city to install vapor barriers under all of the houses. The first residents moved in during 1998. VTA opened Whisman station on December 20, 1999. A fourth and final phase of 46 for-sale townhouses on 2.2 acres went through city environmental review in 2004.
The old GTE land now holds more than one community: EPA lists Whisman Station, California Station, Bedford Square and the newer Radius development. Change continues around the edges. In 2015 the city approved about 600 homes on 38 acres of older industrial land off Ferguson Drive, including Pulte row houses, about 400 rental apartments and a public park, and in 2019 it adopted the East Whisman Precise Plan, which allows up to 5,000 homes across more than 400 acres of office parks north and east of here.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Whisman Station Drive enters from North Whisman Road and is the spine of the neighborhood. The light rail line cuts diagonally from the Central Expressway corner to the station platform in the middle, so the blocks fall on either side of the tracks. Short lanes and courts branch off the main loops, many named for trees and flowers: Magnolia Lane, Holly Court, Jasmine Court, Jacaranda Drive, Cottonwood Court and Lily Court, along with Chetwood Drive, Nicholas Drive, Shelby Drive, Espinosa Lane, Snyder Lane and Town Square Drive. Bedford Square, a separate community off Kent Drive and Bedford Loop, fills the east end along Ferguson Drive.
Detached homes in listing records are two-story houses on compact lots with attached two-car garages. Listing records give a feel for the range: a 1997 house on Espinosa Lane with about 1,500 sq ft on a 3,387 sq ft corner lot, and a 1998 four-bedroom on Shelby Drive with about 2,000 sq ft on 2,900 sq ft, with a bedroom and full bath on the ground floor. Townhouses have attached garages too; a 1999 end unit on Paseo Court lists three bedrooms and about 1,440 sq ft.
Because the lots are small and everything sits inside a master homeowners association with sub-associations (The Reserves, Town Square and Whisman Park at Whisman Station), exterior changes go through the association as well as the city. Check the CC&Rs and the city's zoning before planning anything that changes the outside of a house.
streets in whisman station
- Whisman Station Drive
- Whisman Park Drive
- Magnolia Lane
- Chetwood Drive
- Nicholas Drive
- Shelby Drive
- Espinosa Lane
- Snyder Lane
- Jenkins Lane
- Emerson Lane
- Eaton Lane
- Town Square Drive
- Paseo Court
- Holly Court
- Jasmine Court
- Jacaranda Drive
- Cottonwood Court
- Irene Court
- Huntington Court
- Frederick Court
- Melia Loop
- Lily Court
- Beverly Street
- Estrada Drive
- Kent Drive
- Bedford Loop
- Georgetown Drive
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Whisman Station
- park
Magnolia Park
A 0.93-acre city mini park at Magnolia Lane and Whisman Park Drive, in the southern half of the neighborhood.
- park
Chetwood Park
A 0.98-acre city mini park at Chetwood Drive and Whisman Station Drive, an open lawn ringed by trees. Together with Magnolia Park it gives the neighborhood about two acres of public park.
- park
Pyramid Park
A 2.77-acre city park on Pyramid Way, just northeast in the newer South Whisman blocks, opened in September 2022; OpenStreetMap shows a dog area, a basketball court and fitness equipment.
- landmark
Whisman light rail station
The VTA Orange Line stop at 394 Whisman Station Drive, an at-grade island platform with a small park-and-ride lot. Downtown Mountain View is one stop west; Middlefield station and Moffett Park are to the northeast.
- landmark
HOA clubhouse and pools
The master association's amenities include a clubhouse, swimming pools and a spa for members, plus tot lots and picnic areas on the common grounds.
- shopping
Middlefield and North Whisman corner
A small strip center with a convenience store, a variety store, a gas station and several small restaurants sits at Middlefield Road and North Whisman Road, the spot the East Whisman Precise Plan marks for a future village center. Castro Street downtown is about 1.4 miles by bike.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Whisman Station is in the Mountain View Whisman School District for TK-8 and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District for grades 9-12. The closest public campus is Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary at 220 N. Whisman Road, across Whisman Road from the neighborhood's northwest corner. Attendance boundaries change, so confirm the assigned schools for any address with each district before you buy.
Mountain View Whisman guide · Mountain View-Los Altos high schools · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- VTA Orange Line: Whisman station is inside the neighborhood, roughly a 5 to 10 minute walk from most homes. Downtown Mountain View is one stop west; the old Evelyn stop in between closed in 2015 when VTA added a second track.
- Caltrain: Mountain View station at the Downtown Transit Center is about 1.5 miles away (approximately 5 minutes by car, 11 by bike or 25 to 30 on foot), or one light rail stop.
- Highway 237 ramps at Whisman Road / Dana Street are just south of Central Expressway; 237 continues northeast toward US 101 and Milpitas. US 101 at Ellis Street is roughly 2.3 miles by car.
- Central Expressway runs along the south edge for trips toward Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Palo Alto.
- The Stevens Creek Trail runs north-south about half a mile west as the crow flies (roughly a mile by bike to the nearest access), leading north to Shoreline and south toward Sunnyvale and Los Altos.
- A path the Voice's neighborhood guide calls the Light Rail Trail follows the tracks from the station toward Middlefield Road, a car-free link to the East Whisman office area.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Whisman Station: what we check
Buying here
- Read the HOA documents twice: there is a master association and a sub-association for most homes, each with its own budget, reserves, rules and dues. Ask for both sets of minutes.
- This is a former GTE defense-electronics site with a documented groundwater cleanup, and EPA says vapor barriers were installed under the houses. Read the environmental and natural hazard disclosures, and look up the site on EPA and DTSC EnviroStor records.
- FEMA maps the area as Zone X with reduced flood risk due to a levee; check the parcel on the FEMA map and ask your insurance agent whether flood coverage makes sense.
- Zoning comes from the city's Whisman Station Precise Plan (P-35) layered with CC&Rs, so check both before you count on an addition, a deck or an ADU.
- Homes back onto the light rail line, Central Expressway or Highway 237 in places. Visit at commute hours and on a weekday evening to judge train and road sound for a specific lot.
Selling here
- Lead with the walk to the train and the parks, with a simple map showing minutes from your door to the platform.
- Have the full HOA package (master and sub-association), recent budgets and any special assessment history ready before listing.
- Gather records of any work on 1997-2004 systems such as water heaters, HVAC and roofs, and call out the attached two-car garage.
- Pre-inspections help on a home this age, and a clear note on the vapor barrier and environmental disclosures answers a question most buyers will ask.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Whisman Station questions, answered
Why is it called Whisman Station?
The planned community was built around VTA's Whisman light rail station, which opened on December 20, 1999, at the center of the neighborhood. The homes went up from 1997 into the early 2000s.
Is Whisman Station an HOA community?
Yes. A master homeowners association covers the community, with sub-associations such as The Reserves, Town Square and Whisman Park at Whisman Station. Shared amenities include a clubhouse, pools and a spa. Ask for the documents and dues for both levels.
What was here before the houses?
A GTE Government Systems defense-electronics campus. EPA and the state oversaw cleanup of groundwater contamination found in 1988, and EPA says barriers were installed under the houses to keep vapors out. The disclosures and agency records are worth reading before you buy.
How far is Caltrain?
About 1.5 miles to Mountain View station, or one stop on the VTA Orange Line from Whisman station to the Downtown Mountain View Transit Center, where Caltrain stops.
Which school districts serve Whisman Station?
Mountain View Whisman School District for TK-8 and Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District for high school. Vargas Elementary is across Whisman Road. Confirm the assigned schools for any address with the districts, since boundaries change.
Is more housing coming nearby?
Yes. The South Whisman blocks along Ferguson Drive added row houses, apartments and Pyramid Park after a 2015 approval, and the 2019 East Whisman Precise Plan allows up to 5,000 homes across the office parks to the north and east.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Whisman Station? Let's run your numbers.
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