St. Claire Gardens, Palo Alto

There's something in the layout of St. Claire Gardens that seems to bind people together.

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Nestled south of Midtown, between Middlefield Road and Alma Street, and about halfway between Loma Verde Avenue and East Meadow Drive, St. Claire Gardens is composed of the short St. Claire Drive, the U-shaped St. Michael Drive, and its bisector, the St. Michaels Court cul-de-sac. Over the past 50 years, many owners have individualized the tract houses by remodeling, repainting and adding second stories.

The homes are larger than they initially seem, with most forming a rectangle whose short sides face the street. As they stretch back there's ample room for a garden, especially in the pie-shaped corner and cul-de-sac lots.

Facts: CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS (NEARBY): Mini Infant Center of Palo Alto, 3149 Waverley St. FIRE STATION: No. 4, 3600 Middlefield Road LIBRARY: Mitchell Park branch, 3700 Middlefield Road PARKS (NEARBY): Hoover Park, 2901 Cowper St.; Mitchell Park, 600 East Meadow Drive POST OFFICE: Main, 2085 E. Bayshore Road PRIVATE SCHOOLS: International School of the Peninsula, 3233 Cowper St.; Keys School, 2890 Middlefield Road PUBLIC SCHOOLS: El Carmelo or Fairmeadow elementary schools, J.L. Stanford Middle School, Gunn High School SHOPPING: Midtown Shopping Center, Middlefield Road and Colorado Avenue; also Middlefield Road at Loma Verde Avenue MEDIAN 2007 HOME PRICE: $1,657,000 ($1,651,000-$1,980,000) # HOMES SOLD: 3

The area was originally earmarked in 1905 for the City of Leland, a grand dream that included plans for a university, opera house, fish cannery and docks for ocean-going steamers. The real-estate promoters were rudely awakened during the 1907 depression when a bright future was replaced with enormous debts and very disappointed landowners.

Houses finally sprung up in the early 1950s when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco developed St. Claire Gardens with larger, two-story homes with three to six bedrooms -- rarities in Palo Alto -- to accommodate larger Catholic families. The gray home on the corner of St. Claire Drive and St. Michael Drive was once the rectory that housed the nuns.

Over time, St. Claire Gardens has evolved into an exceedingly stable corner of Palo Alto. Many of the homeowners, like Judy and Howard Ocken, and Marilyn and Geza Nagy, have been here since the 1970s. Judy Ocken said that she loved the location: "You can walk to things. There is little traffic on the streets." Geza Nagy said he liked the neighborhoods proximity to "the best of everything," referring to the schools and stores.

The area remains attractive to families, with easy access to schools and local parks. It is common to see children biking on the quiet streets. Judy Ocken said she loves "to hear the children outside on their bikes and tricycles."

Ocken describes her neighbors as "people who care about each other." The residents are friends and many who have moved away from the area still maintain ties with the people here. Celebratory dinners welcome friends who come back to visit. These close ties make the community a good spot to visit during the holidays.

In the past neighbors would close off the street for Fourth of July pot-lucks and parades comprised of the decorated bicycles of the neighborhood youth, according to Ocken. "We get lots of Halloween visitors because our street is thought to be safe," Nagy said, adding that during Christmas, "everybody is competing for the best decorations."

As in other parts of Palo Alto, new residents are met with sticker shock. The Ockens expected to spend roughly two-thirds of what they actually did, and laughed about a three-story Tudor in Philadelphia that sold for less than half of what they paid for their home. Nagy remembered mansions in North Carolina that seemed easily affordable relative to their corner home on St. Michael Drive.

Some are tempted to sell, given skyrocketing prices. But, there is something special and rare about an area in which the individuals in the community, as Judy Ocken said, "did whatever it took to stay here."

-- Daniel Grujic