March 18, 2004

Street Scene: Monte Sunset Drive

Perched upon a hillside high above Almaden Valley, luxurious, sprawling homes command captivating views along Monte Sunset Drive, located near Graystone Lane.

“What makes it special is the feel that you're living in the country, but you're still only 10 minutes away from Starbucks,” says resident Randy Kerth. “We enjoy the view—the whole back of the house is glass. It was a major factor in deciding to buy this house.” Another priority was finding a home with enough room for their son to build a treehouse in the backyard, and their daughter to have a big dog. “With two acres, it met those requirements,” remarks Kerth. The family sometimes hikes to the top of the hill where they enjoy spectacular views of Blossom Valley and beyond. “We can see all the way to San Francisco on a beautiful day,” he says. Having lived here for four and a half years, they have also glimpsed cows, deer, coyotes, turkeys, bobcats, and even a mountain lion. The only drawback to their location is the distance from classmates. “We do have to import friends from school,” admits Kerth.

Nancy Nelson also finds living in the hills a little isolating, but her children enjoy hiking on the property. “With a two-acre lot, the children have a great time playing outside when their friends come over,” she says. She enjoys the quiet and her neighborhood. “If you just walk outside on the weekend, you'll see the neighbors,” says Nelson. “We also have Christmas get-togethers.”

Trish and Bill Thomas, who have called Monte Sunset home for four and a half years, adore living here. “‘Monte Sunset' means ‘mountain of sunset,' and every night you get to watch the sun go down, and it's absolutely spectacular,” observes Bill. “It's one of the nice things about living here.”

“It is beautiful,” agrees Trish, “and we have great neighbors. We watch out for each other.” The residents have shared progressive dinner parties at each others homes, as well as played bunko together, and the children attend the same schools. An added perk to their location is their bird's eye view of Leland High School, which their children currently attend.

“With our telescope, we can see the scoreboard for football games, and we know when practice is over and we have to pick up the kids,” laughs Bill. They've even hosted varsity team dinners at their home. “The kids love being out on the deck,” says Trish.

Living in the hills also means living with nature. The Thomas family has encountered wild boar, coyotes, deer, raccoons, fox, snakes, turkeys, jack rabbits, and tarantulas. “The fall is tarantula mating season,” comments Bill. “Our daughter hates them,” shares Trish. “She couldn't wait to get her driver's license to cause mayhem with the spider population,” adds Bill with a grin. Trish loves the jack rabbits. “They're very cute, but not very smart,” she observes. “When they're running away from you, they're actually running with you. The other day, I had one in front of my car and he ran in front of my car for three minutes and never got off the road. They're hilarious.” Unfortunately, besides the boars tearing up their yard, the deer eat everything they can find. “You can go to Almaden Valley Nursery and buy deer-proof plants but most of our deer don't read,” laughs Bill. “This is the time of year we start seeing the babies,” adds Trish. “They like to rest under the tree behind our house,” shares Bill. The Thomas family also enjoys watching a family of red tail hawks soar by, as well as seeing the wild turkeys take off, and vultures riding the thermals. The wild turkeys are also a source of amusement. “Sometimes a group of 20 of them will come marching down the driveway in the morning,” says Trish. “I love it when they're at the top trying to get through the gate...some will start flying over.”

“But there's always one or two of them that can't figure it out, and they'll go back and forth, back and forth,” chimes in Bill. Trish also loves the tree in front of their house. “It's so special,” she shares, “but one day, not long after we moved in, we saw some eyes in the tree—and there was a bobcat—we watched it for over an hour.”

Patty O'Malley and her family moved here in 1998 from Colorado. “We were used to open space and wanted to have some land,” she says. She admires the view of Almaden Valley at night with the lights twinkling below, the convenience of the schools, and living with nature. “We have rabbits, deer, gophers, ground squirrels, wild boars, fox, and bobcat,” she says. “We even did a Cub Scout nature hike in our backyard looking for burrows.”

Billie and Carey Bolden are original owners, having lived on Monte Sunset Drive since 1976. “It is beautiful up here,” asserts Billie. “There used to be just an orchard nearby, and I missed people, but the kids enjoyed it. They'd chase rabbits and had a good time playing. Over time, the area grew up [with houses] and the neighbors were so nice. I was happy.”

Billie also recalls when the neighborhood children slid down the hill behind their house as a short-cut to go to school. “There was a rope on a tree down by the creek, and they would swing themselves over it. They had a wonderful time,” she says. Besides watching Almaden Valley and the neighborhood change over time, Billie has enjoyed watching the children grow. “The kids that my children grew up with, I now see as adults with their own children,” she reflects. In 1976, the Boldens purchased two acres for $35,000. Today, according to Carey, the land is worth $600,000. In 1976 it cost about $170,000 to build a house. Today, their home would go for $3 million.

“The spectacular view is why we moved here,” enthuses Laurie Musci. “We can see all of South Almaden before the bend on McKean, and the twinkling lights are almost like a city view at night. It's so beautiful and so quiet.” Although the family has lived here for six years, the view still impresses her. “Every day I go out on my deck and I say, ‘Wow, I can't believe this.' It's just fabulous,” she relates. “The neighbors are wonderful. Sometimes we just call each other and say, ‘what are you doing?' If we have Christmas parties, everyone in the neighborhood is invited.”

According to Musci, her children especially adore watching the jack rabbits jump by the window. Sadly, as her children have grown, the Muscis will be moving to a smaller home in Almaden. “Every day we'll miss the view and waving to our neighbors,” said Musci. —By Lorraine Gabbert