Overview
Los Altos Hills shares many amenities with Los Altos, with even more rural and affluent flare. In fact, the approximately 8,000 residents of Los Altos Hills live in a town that often ranks amongst the most exclusive towns in the entire nation. For the last two years, Los Altos Hills was named “America’s Richest Town,” with the highest median annual income of any town in the country, per the financial news site
24/7 Wall Street.
Although now viewed as one of the crown jewels of Northern California, Los Altos Hills has very agrarian roots. Ohlone Indians were the first known residents of the Los Altos Hills, with origins dating back several centuries. In fact, many remains and artifacts have been discovered in our town. In 1970, on O’Keefe Lane, an Ohlone village and burial ground were unearthed, which precipitated archaeological studies by nearby Foothill College. Since then, additional village sites have been excavated along Permanente and Matadero Creeks.
Two large land grants comprise Los Altos Hills: the 4,436-acre Rancho La Purissima Conception, and 4,438-acre Rancho San Antonio, with Adobe Creek acting as the boundary between the two. Eventually, the 2 large ranchos were sold as smaller ranches for cattle grazing and vineyards. After a blight destroyed the vineyards in Los Altos Hills over a century ago, fruit orchards replaced the wineries. Los Altos Hills was in part responsible for our area being called the “Valley of the Heart’s Delight,” because everything your heart might desire could be grown in its ideal Mediterranean-like climate.
Before being incorporated on January 27, 1956, Los Altos Hills was characterized as distinctly rural, with few homes and farms occupying land on large acreage. Due to the lack of a dependable water supply, development of residential properties was constrained. While many changes have occurred since then, Los Altos Hills has successfully dedicated itself to keeping the bucolic atmosphere of the foothills intact.
Los Altos Hills has become one of the country’s most desirable towns due to its convenient location, access to top schools, and large lot sizes offering both privacy and prestige. With major highways close by, coupled with stunning natural beauty and access to open space preserves such as Rancho San Antonio and Westwind Barn, residents of Los Altos Hills feel like they are thousands of miles from the tech-boom pressure of Silicon Valley. With the pandemic changing buyers’ housing desires, the peaceful seclusion of the hills coupled with their amazing walking trails make this an ideal town to be in if advised to shelter-in-place. It is likely that the desire for large lots, more spacious homes, and a natural setting will only increase, as buyers shift their focus from denser urban environments like San Francisco to more private areas like Los Altos Hills.
The absence of sidewalks and glaring streetlamps has allowed Los Altos Hills to maintain its rustic charm. Although Los Altos Hills is not zoned for commercial amenities, it has a very close connection to its sister city of Los Altos. When not enjoying the lush nature and expansive trails, residents of Los Altos Hills can enjoy the local farmers market, restaurants, and boutiques on Main St. in Los Altos.
While much of Los Altos Hills is mapped to Los Altos schools, a significant portion of Los Altos Hills feeds into the Palo Alto school system, and a small number of children attend Mountain View schools. Great schools at all three educational levels is just one more amazing community amenity that Los Altos and Los Altos Hills provide to their fortunate residents.
