The Greenhouse, Palo Alto

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Thirty years ago an advertisement in Peninsula Living enticed Palo Altans to move to where it's "serene clean, fresh and green."

The ad wasn't alluding to a place in the country or the Los Altos foothills, but to "The Greenhouse," a new condominium development northeast of San Antonio Road, where units were selling for $34,950 at the time.

That figure is different today, of course -- recent Greenhouse condos have been selling for more than $600,000, with homeowners fees averaging $351. But the quiet garden setting in the midst of several busy streets is still the same as it was three decades ago.

"I wouldn't want to live anywhere else," said Ellen Fletcher, a former city council member who has owned her Greenhouse condo since 1978. "(The landscaping) is just lovely, it's well taken care of."

The 15-acre lot includes 15 two-story buildings featuring a total of 140 two- and three-bedroom units. The beige and green exterior blends with the surrounding patches of lawn, shrubbery, olive and tulip trees while an abundance of plants hanging off numerous patios adds to the lush atmosphere.

The property is large enough for a par course to encircle the buildings -- even though it's more a remnant of the '70s, rather than actively in use. But there are many avid walkers exercising on the Greenhouse grounds, said Ralph Cahn, who has owned a condo there for six years, and appreciates the open space.

The area wasn't named after its "green" setting, though, but after the actual greenhouses that used to mark the lot formerly owned by Bell nursery. When initial plans to build a new K-Mart on the site were abandoned in the early '70s, developer John Griffin (Alpha Land & Co) created a condominium complex, which was completed in 1975. While the original mixed-housing project was never realized, the large size of the complex still makes for a colorful mix of neighbors today.

Before buying her two-bedroom condo, Larrabee owned a large home in the Almaden Valley. But once her children had gone off to college, she was looking for an option that would allow her to travel more.

"I just wanted a condo where I didn't have to take care of the grounds, the roof and the trees," she said.

Cahn, who also prefers the easy maintenance of a condominium to the upkeep of a single-family home, said Palo Alto's reputable schools have increasingly been a strong selling point for families moving to the Greenhouse area.

Thirty to 40 percent of Greenhouse residents are renters. While some don't mind the fact that the only contact with neighbors is just through passing, Fletcher sees the short encounters on stairways and on the grounds as a blessing. It makes for a living less isolated than in a single-family home, she said. Over the years, Fletcher and her neighbors developed close relationships, taking care of each other's pets, plants and mail while someone is on vacation.

And when Fletcher broke her pelvis about three years ago, her neighbors would see to her grocery shopping for her.

"We take care of each other," she said. "It's really a nice feeling."

-- Mari Sapina-Kerkhove