Located in the southern tip of Portola Valley, the town's newest development is overlooked by Coal Mine Ridge and surrounded by open space.
Residents regularly see coyotes, bobcats, rabbits and other wildlife roaming the area.
The development's first homes were constructed in the early 2000s, and more than half of its 34 two-acre lots are now filled.
Jim Pollock was one of the original land buyers and headed the Blue Oaks Homeowners Association for its first 10 years. He says he was intimately involved with finalizing the plans for the neighborhood.
"The density ... the type of architecture, and the amount of landscaping were issues that I think worked out fine," he says.
Mr. Pollock built his home to accommodate large groups of frequent house guests: He and his wife have five kids and 11 grandchildren.
"The house often houses all or some of them," he says.
Mr. Pollock has lived in Portola Valley since 1973. He says residents of Blue Oaks are like other residents of the town and that over the years the type hasn't changed.
"They're largely successful combined with being down to earth, i.e. no flaunting their wealth," he says.
He is the founder of Portola Valley-based Pollock Financial Group. He started the company in 1960 and now two grandsons work with him.
Long driveways and large properties also give residents a degree of seclusion.
"It's an interesting combination of retaining your privacy and having relationships with your neighbors," says Mr. Pollock.
Joey Putnam, a teenager who was raised in Blue Oaks, says he felt the private vibe of the neighborhood while growing up.
"In the suburbs, you grow up with kids around you. But here you don't really get that," he says.
But Putnam says he enjoys the flexibility of living in an area that is relatively remote -- but only a 20-minute drive from densely populated Menlo Park and Palo Alto.
"It's just far enough away that you can be isolated if you want to be, but you're not too far away," he says.
Mr. Putnam says that while growing up he took advantage of the area's location and the walking paths that crisscross and surround it.
"When I was younger, every day I'd go up on these trails," he says.
--Bryce Druzin
FACTS
CHILD CARE & PRESCHOOLS (NEARBY): Windmill Preschool, 4141 Alpine Road, Portola Valley; New Horizons School-Age Center (after-school care), 200 Shawnee Pass, Portola Valley; Carillon Preschool at Christ Church, 815 Portola Road, Portola Valley; Woodside Priory School, 302 Portola Road, Portola Valley
LOCATION: Redberry Road, Buck Meadow Drive and Blue Oaks Court, between Los Trancos Road and Alpine Road
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Portola Valley School District -- Ormondale School (K-3), 200 Shawnee Pass, Portola Valley; Corte Madera School (4-8), 4575 Alpine Road, Portola Valley
Sequoia Union High School District -- Woodside High School, 199 Churchill Ave., Woodside
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