| Allied Arts/Stanford
Park, Menlo Park
While strolling through the Allied Arts/Stanford Park neighborhood it's hard to believe that frantic Silicon Valley is right on its doorstep.
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Dreamy looking cottages with brick chimneys and green shutters peak through a maze of flower gardens and well-trimmed bushes. Parents with strollers share the tree-lined streets with bikers and joggers while the San Francisquito Creek meanders alongside the neighborhood.
Attracted by the tranquility and nature setting of the area between Arbor Road, Middle Avenue, El Camino Real and the creek, Robie Livingstone moved here 6 years ago. She believes it's a fun place to live, partly because neighbors get together for book club and a block party. Guys gather at the nearby Oasis for beer and burgers, she says
Allied Arts/Stanford
Park facts:
CHILD CARE & PRESCHOOLS: Menlo-Atherton Cooperative Nursery School, 802 Middle Ave.
FIRE STATION: 700 Oak Grove Ave.
PARK: Nealon Park, 800 Middle Ave.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Menlo Park City Elementary School District -- Oak Knoll School; Hillview Middle School; Sequoia Union High School District -- Menlo-Atherton High School, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton
SHOPPING: Downtown Menlo Park, Stanford Shopping Center
MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $1,512,000 ($939,000-$2,874,000)
NO. OF HOMES SOLD: 25 |
The recently renovated Allied Arts Guild, a Spanish-Colonial design complex of artisan shops and lush gardens that gave the neighborhood its name, is another neighborhood asset.
Modeled after a European-style crafts guild, the complex was built in 1929 as a place for artists -- woodworkers, silversmiths, weavers and potters -- to promote their work. The guild is run by the Woodside-Atherton Auxiliary.
And, says Ms. Livingstone, "The food at Allied Arts restaurant is really delicious."
The neighborhood is both quaint and friendly -- it's a neighborhood that doesn't take itself too seriously, remaining a very welcoming place, she adds.
Four years ago, the Pintz family and their three children moved to Princeton Road from several blocks away. The many young families living on her street make for a very close-knit neighborly experience, Keyko Pintz says.
The kids play at each other's houses while parents take turns baby-sitting. Several mothers have formed a book club and there are block parties. On Halloween, things get especially lively, with the influx of so many children.
"I don't think there's a street that's more vibrant," Ms. Pintz says. "I never lived on a street like this. It's very community oriented."
-- Mari Sapina-Kerkhove
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