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The Midpeninsula has no shortage of seriously unique homes. From a historic Spanish Colonial apartment building in Palo Alto to a log cabin with ties to Woodside’s early mountain retreats, these one-of-a-kind properties — whether because of their price, unusual design or history — stand out even in Silicon Valley. We’ve compiled a list of some of these not-so-ordinary properties that are on the market right now.
Historic apartment complex by Birge Clark
$10.5M
Palo Alto
A historic 16-unit apartment building designed by renowned architect Birge Clark during Palo Alto’s 1920s building boom is on the market for $10.5 million in downtown. Recognized on the Palo Alto Historic Inventory, the building is one of the city’s distinctive surviving examples of Spanish-Colonial Revival and Mission Revival apartment design.
Completed in 1928, the U-shaped complex was constructed as Palo Alto’s population surged, creating demand for new housing. The city grew from about 1,500 residents in 1900 to 6,000 by 1920, then doubled again to 12,300 residents by March 1928. A city official told the Palo Alto Times in early 1928 that about 50 new residents were arriving each month and projected the population would reach 13,800 by mid-1930. The city’s growth was fueled in part by the annexation of neighboring Mayfield in 1925.
The city’s historic survey identifies the property as an excellent example of a 1920s garden apartment, a style that combined landscaped outdoor spaces with multi-family housing as apartments became an increasingly important part of Palo Alto’s development.
The building, which has retained much of its historic character, features a stucco exterior, arched windows and doorways, tile roof details, wrought-iron accents and a landscaped courtyard centered around a tiered fountain. According to the city’s historic survey, the combination of architectural styles is unusual for an apartment building of its era in Palo Alto. The building is recognized for both its distinctive architecture and its connection to Palo Alto’s late-1920s apartment boom.
The sales listing describes the property as a “rare asset” situated on a 15,000-square-foot lot with 11,035 square feet of building area and a mix of one-bedroom and studio apartments.
Monterey Colonial ranch property with British pub
$12.9M
Woodside
Before the 6 acres off Moore Road in the Woodside Heights neighborhood became home to a Monterey Colonial estate, the property was part of San Francisco coal dealer and capitalist John J. Moore’s 75-acre weekend country estate, where he built stables and a family home in the early 1900s. The narrow road that now bears his name was once the driveway that wound through the ranch to his home.
The J.J. Moore Ranch was subdivided into about 14 large, custom home sites in the 1920s, a decade after Moore was shot and killed in a widely reported 1912 “duel” with a chauffeur on the ranch. This Monterey Colonial-style residence was built in 1939 on the portion of the ranch where the stable grounds once stood. Historically known as Miraflores, meaning “to view flowers,” the home reflects the property’s equestrian past.
The residence blends New England Colonial influences with Spanish-Mexican architectural details and features multiple levels with expansive public rooms. One of its most unusual features is the private British pub-style bar that was shipped across the Atlantic from Europe, according to the sales listing.
The roughly 13,590-square-foot estate includes seven bedrooms, two primary suites, a two-bedroom attached apartment, a separate caretaker’s cottage, a wine cellar that holds approximately 1,000 bottles, a home theater, recreation room, fitness room with sauna and the English pub. The grounds include a swimming pool, tennis court, five-stall stable, riding arena and views of the western hills.
The property is listed for $12.9 million.
A 1930s log cabin in Skylonda
$1.89M
Woodside
Built during the 1930s, when Woodside’s redwood-covered hills became a destination for rustic weekend retreats, this three-bedroom, two-bath log cabin is part of the original wave of homes that shaped the Skylonda neighborhood.
During the Great Depression, the mountains above Woodside became a popular destination for affordable country escapes, and many of the redwood-log homes in the unincorporated mountain neighborhood were built after a developer subdivided rural tracts and created a community served by its own water system. Many of the area’s cabins were reportedly built from unused railroad-tie stock from a local mill before the Depression, giving the neighborhood its signature rustic character.
The 1,431-square-foot cabin, listed for $1.89 million, blends that history with modern updates, including a newer primary suite addition, an updated kitchen, radiant-heated floors and an expansive deck on a 0.3-acre lot among the redwoods, according to the sales listing. The property also includes a detached garage with an EV charger, attic storage and additional off-street parking.
