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Situated a stone's throw from the Woodside's town center, Mountain Home Road its bordered by a meandering creek. The neighborhood got its start as the huge Mountain Home Ranch and passed on to the hands of famous millionaires from the previous century, including the Folger family of coffee fame.

Residents love their horses, and aren't afraid to show it. Moreover, they love where they live because the animals are tolerated and even encouraged.

Many of the homes in the Mountain Home Road area border on horse trails, and the town of Woodside hosts a number of horse-related events.

This neighborhood attribute brings many, if not most, of the residents to this area. And while the huge lots and mansions -- along with the beautiful and convenient location -- are attracting rich and famous types such as Oracle's Larry Ellison, the equestrian element is still going strong
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Fentress Hall has lived in the area for more than 10 years, but had wanted to live there 25 years before that. She had always ridden her horse in nearby Wunderlich County Park and always wanted to live nearby. She finally found a 100-year-old cottage on a property with a barn and enough acreage to allow her to keep up to eight horses. The trail to Wunderlich goes right along her property.

"If you want to have horses at home, this is where you go," she says.

At least half the people in the neighborhood have horses, Ms. Hall estimates. She already knew many of them when she moved in and met the rest on the trails thereafter. People are friendlier here than where she used to live in Atherton, she says.

But more people are moving in who don't have horses, says neighbor Kathleen Scutchfield.

"It is changing," she says. Some of the trails go across private property, so access is at the whim of the owners. "If the property (owner) wants to close the trails off, they can."

-- Kathy Schrenk


FACTS
CHILDCARE & PRESCHOOLS: Woodside Parents' Nursery School, 3154 Woodside Road, Woodside; Woodside Preschool, 3195 Woodside Road, Woodside
FIRE STATION: 3111 Woodside Road, Woodside
LOCATION: South of Woodside Road between Woodside Road to the west and Whiskey Hill and Sand Hill Roads; bisected by Mountain Home Road
PARK: Huddart County Park. 1100 Kings Mountain Road, Woodside; Wunderlich County Park, 4040 Woodside Road, Woodside
PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
Portola Valley School District -- Ormondale School, 200 Shawnee Pass Road, Portola Valley; Corte Madera School, 4575 Alpine Road, Portola Valley
Woodside Elementary School District --
Woodside Elementary School, 3195 Woodside Road, Woodside
Sequoia Union High School District --
Woodside High School, 199 Churchill Ave., Woodside
SHOPPING: Woodside Road, Woodside
MEDIAN 2012 HOME PRICE: $3,309,500
HOMES SOLD: 1

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