Walnut Grove

Some Palo Alto neighborhood names are marketing. Walnut Grove is history. Before the 1950s building boom this corner of south Palo Alto was a grove of walnut trees, one of the many orchards that covered the Santa Clara Valley. Today it is a compact neighborhood of low midcentury homes between East Charleston Road, Alma Street and Adobe Creek.

Two things set it apart. About half its houses are midcentury modern designs by Joseph Eichler and the builders Burke and Wyatt. Its residents also fought for and won a single-story overlay, which keeps the neighborhood low and has shaped its character for decades. This guide covers both, along with parks, schools, shops and transit.

Where Walnut Grove is

Palo Alto Online describes Walnut Grove as the area between East Charleston Road, Alma Street and Adobe Creek. That puts it at the southern end of the city, close to the Mountain View border at San Antonio Road. The Caltrain tracks run just beyond Alma Street on its western edge.

It shares this corner of town with several other postwar tracts:

• Greenmeadow, the National Register Eichler district with its own community center and pool, is the closest neighbor.
• Greendell, another mix of Eichlers and ranch houses, lies toward San Antonio Road.
• Fairmeadow is across East Charleston Road to the north.
• Charleston Meadows is on the far side of Alma and the tracks.

Because these tracts went up in the same decade, street names and boundaries can blur together on maps. Real estate sites sometimes group them differently. The Palo Alto Weekly's neighborhood guides treat Walnut Grove as its own neighborhood with its own association.

From walnut trees to tract homes

The neighborhood was once a walnut grove, as its name says. Development began in the 1950s, when orchard owners across south Palo Alto sold their land to builders meeting the postwar demand for family homes.

Two kinds of builders worked here. Joseph Eichler, the developer behind about 2,700 Palo Alto homes, put up modern houses with glass walls and open plans. The City of Palo Alto's 2018 Eichler design guidelines list a Walnut Grove Eichler tract of about 30 lots built in 1953 and 1954 and credit the architects Anshen and Allen and Jones and Emmons, the two firms behind most of Eichler's early work. Burke and Wyatt, a builder known for its own midcentury modern tracts, also built here. Other builders filled the remaining lots with conventional ranch houses.

The result is a neighborhood that is roughly half modern and half ranch, according to Palo Alto Online. A longtime resident told the Weekly in 2015 that the neighborhood had not changed much in 50 years. Our page on Eichler homes in Palo Alto tells the wider story of the builder and his architects.

Housing and the single-story overlay

Walking through Walnut Grove you see two families of houses side by side.

The neighborhood's defining rule is its single-story overlay. Palo Alto's overlays limit new homes and additions to one floor, with a height cap of about 17 feet, to protect privacy in houses built around glass walls and backyards. Vipul Vyas, who led the Walnut Grove Homeowners Association, told Palo Alto Online in 2015 that the overlay had been in place for more than 25 years. He said the push for it is actually why the association was founded.

In practice that means owners who want more space usually build out rather than up. Many original houses have been remodeled, but the low skyline survives. A resident described Walnut Grove to the Weekly as close to affordable housing as you can get in Palo Alto, meaning that it is less expensive than many north Palo Alto areas, not that it is cheap. Check current zoning with the city before buying or planning work. See our guide to building permits and remodeling.

Parks and open space

Mitchell Park at 600 East Meadow Drive is the main public park for the area. It covers 21.4 acres and has the Magical Bridge Playground, sports fields, courts, picnic areas and a fenced dog run, with the Mitchell Park Library at its Middlefield Road edge. It is a few minutes north by bike.

Palo Alto Online also listed Greenmeadow Park, but it is private. It belongs to the Greenmeadow Community Association and its pool and grounds are for members. Ask the association about membership rules rather than assuming access. Adobe Creek marks one edge of the neighborhood. For everyday walks, the quiet interior streets and Mitchell Park do most of the work.

Schools by attendance area

Palo Alto Online listed these public schools for Walnut Grove:

1. Fairmeadow Elementary at 500 East Meadow Drive.
2. JLS Middle School (Jane Lathrop Stanford) at 480 East Meadow Drive.
3. Gunn High School on Arastradero Road.

Families with children made up an estimated 30 to 40 percent of households, residents told the Weekly in 2015. Retirees, empty nesters and renters make up the rest. Attendance areas can change, so confirm any address with the PAUSD school finder. Our public schools guide explains enrollment.

Residents have long pushed for traffic calming on the Charleston and Arastradero corridor, the main school route for south Palo Alto students. Expect heavy bike and car traffic there at school times.

Shopping and errands

Walnut Grove has no stores of its own. For groceries and errands residents head to the San Antonio Shopping Center and the Village at San Antonio Center, just over the line in Mountain View, both a short drive or bike ride away. The Charleston Shopping Center on Middlefield Road, anchored by Piazza's Fine Foods, is closer for a quick stop. See our guide to groceries and specialty food.

Public services nearby include Fire Station No. 4 at 3600 Middlefield Road and the Mitchell Park Library at 3700 Middlefield Road.

Getting around

The neighborhood sits close to a train station that many Palo Altans forget about. San Antonio Caltrain station at 190 Showers Drive in Mountain View is a short bike ride south and serves local and limited trains. The California Avenue station is farther north.

By car, East Charleston Road and San Antonio Road lead to US 101, while Alma Street runs north to downtown. Bikers use the city's bike boulevard network to cross town. Traffic on Charleston can back up at rush hour and school times, a topic the homeowners association has raised with the city.

Walnut Grove Homeowners Association

The Walnut Grove Homeowners Association grew out of the single-story overlay campaign and stays active on city issues, especially traffic on the Charleston and Arastradero corridor. It also runs the social side of the neighborhood. Palo Alto Online reported block parties and potlucks that draw 50 to 75 people. Volunteer leaders change, so check the City of Palo Alto's neighborhood association list for the current contact.

Visitors coming to see family here can stay close by in the hotels along El Camino Real and San Antonio Road. Compare hotels near San Antonio Road or read our South Palo Alto guide for more of the area.

Frequently asked questions