Rinconada

Rinconada is a residential neighborhood in north Los Gatos, roughly two thirds of a square mile of streets around Pollard Road, Casitas Boulevard, More Avenue, Wedgewood Avenue and Granada Way, just south of Highway 85. Most of it carries the 95032 ZIP code, with a few blocks in 95008. It is a settled, conventional neighborhood of detached homes on regular lots, without the historic district rules of Almond Grove or the estate scale of the hillside streets, and that is exactly why I bring it up so often with clients who want to stay in Los Gatos.

Where the Rinconada Name Comes From

The name comes from the Mexican land grant that once covered this whole area. Rancho Rinconada de los Gatos was granted in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Sebastián Peralta and José Hernández and ran to about 6,631 acres, taking in what became Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, part of Campbell and slivers of San Jose and Saratoga. It is worth getting the century right, since the grant is often misdated: this is 1840s Mexican California, not the 1700s Spanish mission era. The name lives on in La Rinconada Country Club, the private golf club in the neighborhood, and in La Rinconada Park.

Rinconada Homes and Streets

Most of the neighborhood was built out in the 1960s and 1970s, which you can see in the housing: ranch homes and split levels on flat to gently sloping lots, many with attached two car garages, mixed with later remodels and a growing number of full rebuilds. Homes close to the golf course tend to trade at a premium. Because so much of the stock dates from the same era, a lot of homes come to market with original kitchens and baths, which gives buyers room to add value and gives sellers a decision to make about how much to update first.

Rinconada and Rinconada Hills are two different places. Rinconada Hills is a gated condominium and townhome community built between 1968 and 1981 with its own association and amenities. If low maintenance attached housing is what you are after, that is the one to look at, and the two are close enough that people often consider both.

Rinconada Schools

School assignments here surprise people. Much of north Los Gatos, including a good part of Rinconada, falls in the Campbell Union School District, which runs Rolling Hills Middle School on More Avenue, rather than Los Gatos Union. High school can be Westmont in the Campbell Union High School District or Los Gatos High in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union district, depending on the street. I confirm the assignment for every address rather than assuming, since boundaries here do not follow neighborhood names.

Shopping, Parks and Getting Around

Everyday errands are easy. Grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants line Winchester Boulevard, Pollard Road and Los Gatos Boulevard, and downtown Los Gatos is a short drive south. Vasona Lake County Park and Oak Meadow Park are minutes away with flat paths and shade, and the Los Gatos Creek Trail runs from there through Campbell and into San Jose.

For commuting, Highway 85 is right at the edge of the neighborhood, with Highway 17 a few minutes east, so Cupertino, Mountain View and downtown San Jose are all reachable without crossing the hills. The nearest light rail is the VTA station in Campbell, a short drive north.

Is Rinconada a Good Fit for Downsizers?

It is one of the better spots in Los Gatos for it. Single level ranch homes exist here in real numbers, the streets are mostly flat, and there is no HOA on most detached homes. El Camino Health’s Los Gatos Hospital at 815 Pollard Road is in the neighborhood itself, which is rare anywhere in the valley. The town’s senior services program and the LGS Recreation 55 Plus classes at the Adult Recreation Center on East Main Street are about a ten minute drive.

That is what makes Rinconada a realistic way to downsize without leaving town, keeping the same doctors, friends and routines. If attached housing is the goal, Rinconada Hills is nearby, though its HOA dues and rules deserve a careful read, and my article on finding a single level home in Silicon Valley covers what to look for. Homeowners 55 and over can usually carry their current property tax base to a replacement home under Proposition 19, which I explain in my Prop 19 guide.

The Rinconada Housing Market

According to Redfin’s Rinconada data, the median sale price over the three months ending September 2026 was about $1.5 million, down 29% from the same period a year earlier, at roughly $953 per square foot, with 11 sales in September compared with 19 a year earlier. Redfin’s figures for this area mix condos and townhomes in with detached homes, so the median moves with the mix of what sold, and a detached single family home here usually sells well above that number. Conventional homes in Rinconada still tend to sit below the Los Gatos town median of about $2.44 million, which is what makes them the practical entry point into town. My Los Gatos area guide covers the rest of the market.

Frequently Asked Questions About Rinconada

If you are selling a family home here, or trying to find a single level house so you can stay in Los Gatos, the sequencing and the tax treatment matter more than most people realize. Working through that with older adults and their families is my full time practice. Book a call with me for a straight conversation about your options and timing.