Location and Description: The Town of Los Altos Hills is a premier Silicon Valley residential community in the northwestern region of Santa Clara County.
The town is 35 miles south of San Francisco, 5 miles south of Stanford University and 17 miles north of downtown San Jose. The town encompasses 9 square miles,
making it one of the smallest incorporated towns in Santa Clara County. There is an additional area of 5.2 square miles of unincorporated land adjacent to the town’s
boundaries that is designated as being within the Town’s "sphere of influence" and are subject to some of the Town’s guidelines or possible annexation.
Los Altos Hills is dedicated
to the "preservation of the rural atmosphere of the foothills and orderly and unhurried growth." The “residential-agricultural” lifestyle is one of the many
distinct features of this area. The Town’s Pathway System promotes this lifestyle, with 85 miles of trails and off-road paths that connect the community.
Another significant feature of the Town is the absence of commercial and industrial zones. Permitted uses include schools, religious facilities, and
recreational facilities. The Town’s zoning requires a minimum lot size of 1 acre and increases with the slope of the land. A number of smaller lots exist that pre-date the Town's incorporation.
The topography of Los Altos Hills provides significant constraints to development, such as steep slopes, unstable soils, seismic faults, and other natural hazards.
Three major faults traverse the Town of Los Altos Hills: The Berrocal Fault, which runs from west to east, the Altamont Fault, parallel to Berrocal Fault, and the Monte
Vista Fault, running from northwest to southeast. The Town is also near the San Andreas Fault, and all are categorized as potentially active.
History:
The Ohlone Indians were the first known residents of Los Altos Hills. They were part of a group of Native Americans who once inhabited small villages throughout the Santa Clara Valley.
Both Los Altos and Los Altos Hills have been substantiated as sites of early Ohlone villages. Over time, Indian remains and artifacts have been discovered, which led to
archaeological studies of the area.
Two large Spanish-Mexican land grants comprise Los Altos Hills: Rancho La Purissima Concepcion, 4,436 acres granted to Native Americans Jose Gorgonio
and his son Jose Ramon in 1840 and sold to Juana Briones de Miranda in 1844 for the sum of $300; and Rancho San Antonio, 4,438 acres granted to Juan Prado Mesa.
Adobe Creek was the boundary line of the two ranchos. The Briones and Mesa families were friendly and became related when two of the Mesa men married two of the Briones women.
In 1855, Juana Briones sold 3,000 acres to Martin Murphy, founder of the City of Sunnyvale, who had previously leased her land for cattle grazing. Murphy gave 2,800 acres to his daughter,
Elizabeth Yuba, when she married William Taaffe, a prosperous San Francisco merchant. They built a home on what is now the Foothill Community College campus and had 4 children. Some of
the Taaffe descendants still reside in Los Altos Hills.
The two large ranchos were eventually subdivided and the parcels sold as smaller ranches for cattle grazing, vineyards and summer estates
for wealthy San Franciscans.
Among the many still standing are the Shumate House on Viscaino,
the Lohman and Griffin Houses on the Foothill College campus, the Morgan Manor on Stonebrook, and the Finn Mansion on Prospect.
Both Morgan Manor and Griffin House are official Town Historical Landmarks.
The early vineyards consisted mostly of Zinfandel grapes. Many Italian and French vintners lived on Purissima Road until a blight destroyed the vineyards near the turn of the century. Soon after,
orchards of apricots, plums, and prunes flourished.
With its millions of fruit trees producing a beautiful, aromatic sea of blossoms, Santa Clara Valley became known as the "Valley of Heart’s Delight," and so it remained well into the 1960s. Trains and tour buses brought countless travelers from near and far to glimpse this unique panorama.
The end of World War II began the evolution of the "Valley of Heart’s Delight" into today's "Silicon Valley". Stanford University and the expanding electronics companies it spawned, like Hewlett-Packard and Intel,
were joined over time by others with a large software component such as Apple, Google and Facebook. All of this accelerated the Town's transition from large estates and orchards to today's high-end suburb.
But the Town still proudly carries a rural stamp. Besides the off-road paths, horse trails and a thriving horseman's association, there are over two-dozen private vineyards scattered
over the Town's hillsides. The private-label wines
they make are celebrated with a bi-annual "Vines and Wines" Festival.