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Menlo Oaks is a neighborhood that refuses to be defined by outsiders.

Over the years, it has fought to keep its country feel in the face of pressures from bike-lane activists, "McMansions" and even the Catholic Church.

This slice of land sandwiched between Menlo Park and Atherton is dominated by the 83-year-old private Peninsula School and its impressive Victorian main building. Directly to the neighborhood's west is the huge campus of Menlo Atherton High School. It's just a few minutes from downtown Menlo Park, downtown Palo Alto and Highway 101. But it's the spirit of independence that makes the area special.

James Fadiman moved to Menlo Oaks more than 30 years ago because he wanted to send his children to the progressive, parent cooperative Peninsula School. (His grandchildren now attend the school as well.)

He has been involved in many neighborhood-activist causes over the years. The City of Menlo Park offered annexation, which he and his neighbors rejected because it would have forced sidewalks upon them.

Mr. Fadiman and his neighbors fought efforts from the local Catholic governing body to expand nearby St. Patrick's Seminary. And lately they've been trying — unsuccessfully — Mr. Fadiman says, to battle the onslaught of huge houses replacing the existing homes.

Still, the neighborhood remains diverse in its architecture and its demographics, he adds. There are small homes and large homes, senior citizens and young families.

Tree houses and large play structures dot the backyards, and many neighbors hit the streets each evening to walk their dogs. Neighbors even gather for a picnic each year to congregate and celebrate their treasured environs.

The neighborhood got its start before World War II as an enclave of summer homes for folks in San Francisco, said Mary Brown, a resident for more than 60 years. She likes the fact that the schools regularly bring a new crop of young families with children to the area. But one of her current "pet peeves" is parents dropping their kids off and picking them up from Laurel School, which causes traffic jams, she says.

The neighborhood has been changing in other ways, too, says 11-year resident Holly Still. "Google money" has been pouring in to Menlo Oaks, as it has with fanfare in neighborhoods in Atherton. Several newly minted millionaires from the Mountain View company have bought existing homes during the last year or two, she says.

But the big issue lately has been the push by cycling activists for a bike lane on Coleman Avenue and this has divided the neighborhood, she says. The move might make it safer for kids going to and from Laurel School, but would require widening the street, which could cause drainage issues. People would lose some of their easements and possibly their beloved trees, she says.

In spite of any controversy, people who live here say they love the woodsy atmosphere and the country feel, with the convenience of proximity to Stanford and two bustling downtowns.

"It's unique," Mr. Fadiman says. "This is a forested neighborhood, (but) I'm three minutes from Menlo Park and two minutes from the freeway."


FACTS


CHILD CARE & PRESCHOOLS: Peninsula School, 920 Peninsula Way, Menlo Park; The Roberts School, 641 Coleman Ave., Menlo Park

FIRE STATION: 300 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park

PARK:Flood County Park, 215 Bay Road, Menlo Park; Seminary Oaks Park, Santa Monica Avenue near Middlefield Road, Menlo Park; Willow Oaks Park, Willow Road near Gilbert Avenue, Menlo Park

NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: Menlo Oaks District Association, Holly Still, president, 650-322-9888 E-mail: president@menlo-oaks.org

PRIVATE SCHOOLS: Peninsula School, Peninsula Way, Menlo Park

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Menlo Park City Elementary School District — Laurel School, 95 Edge Road, Atherton; Encinal School, 195 Encinal Ave., Menlo Park; Hillview Middle School, 1100 Elder Ave., Menlo Park

Sequoia Union High School District — Menlo-Atherton High School, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton

SHOPPING: Downtown Menlo Park

MEDIAN 2008 HOME PRICE: $4,350,000 ($1,708,000-$4,995,000)

HOMES SOLD: 3

View the neighborhood map (PDF)

— Kathy Schrenk