Continuing yesterday’s description of new construction in Fair Oaks, we move east of San Benito to 15th Avenue, aka Palmer Lane, an interesting street in its own right: it starts its life at Marsh Avenue in the humble Fair Oaks neighborhood, executes a sharp southward turn, crosses Fair Oaks, shortly thereafter boldly changes its name to Palmer Lane, crosses Middlefield Road, immediately takes on the moniker of Fair Oaks Lane, continues its leisurely meander past the weekend-only Atherton train station, crosses El Camino Real, and then becomes the picturesque Atherton Avenue, which remains its name for another one and a half southwesterly miles, and shortly thereafter becomes Ridgeview Drive, dead-ending just north of Bear Gulch reservoir. Five name changes and spanning at least three biomes — quite an accomplishment.
But back to the new construction: in its incarnations as 15th Avenue and Palmer Lane, there are no less than 6 — six!! — pending, new, or recently completed homes.
Starting from the south and moving northwards, we have 515 Palmer Lane, a grand old home sitting majestically on an ample 20,000 square foot lot. The home itself is over 3300 square feet and has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, plus a quaint old cottage in the back. When it was on the market from mid-2005 to mid-2006, it exuded charm from every pore, but it also begged for renovation: the floors were uneven and squeeky, the kitchen had certainly seen better days, and the wallpaper was practically screaming, “Get me outta here!” Sold for a tidy $1.8M, there has been a steady stream of work going on there, and no doubt the interior of the home has been largely restored to its original grandeur.
Right next door is 519 Palmer Lane, another home that started life as a grand old place on a 20,000 square foot lot. The home, alas, is no longer there, having been razed to the ground. The buyer split the property into two and is now building two large-ish homes on it. The listing agent — Sam Anagnastou Anagnostou — has a sign up already, though the homes are a good few months from being ready. (Note: My tradition is to link to the web site of any broker I mention, but I was not able to find Sam’s.)
Further up we have 659 Palmer Lane (I believe that’s its address), with a similar — though less ambitious — pedigree as 519. It’s done a neat little transformation from an 8000 sq ft lot with a teeny 1200 sq ft home to two larger homes, each on teeny lots.
Further up, at 770 15th Avenue, is a long, narrow, rectangular lot, whose highest and best use, given its shape, may be a bowling alley. Shelly Roberson — friend, top agent, and spouse of 3 Oceans contributor David Roberson — recently purchased the lot and has plans to put two “darling homes” on the site. It won’t be easy, but having seen some of Shelly’s other projects, I have no doubt she’ll succeed.
And finally, at the corner of 15th Ave & 18th Ave — you gotta love a neighborhood where 15th Ave and 18th Ave, as opposed to 15th Ave & 18th Street cross each other — is a new home that was finished some 18 months ago. County and MLS records for this property are sketchy, but it appears the current owner bought the home in the early 90’s, lived in it for a while, and then did an extensive remodel. It’s now a tasteful 2-story home whose view I enjoy seeing every time I negotiate the traffic circle (”roundabout” for my British readers) at 15th & 18th.
For a Google map overview of these properties, please head yonder.
Tags: Consumer, Fair Oaks, Menlo Park
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