#2616 Premium Founder
Santa Cruz Mountains Retreat | 1 hr to San Francisco, 30 min to beaches
House • Los Gatos CA United States
Exchange types accepted
Statistics
Listed August 2019
Views 3318
General overview
Our home in the mountains is a beautiful oasis. We are close to town but up above the valley with views of the Santa Cruz Mountains facing west. We have recently remodeled much of our adobe brick home with new walls, bathrooms, floors and more. The wall to wall windows look west over the mountains and you walk out the patio doors to a wrap around veranda. Step down onto a patio area and eat all your meals outside. From the patio, you can walk down into the orchard and visit the chickens. The land is fairly steep in areas but fun to explore. We are on one acre and surrounded by friendly neighbors - private but not isolated. Do be aware that we live near the top of a windy mountain road. The road is perfectly fine for large and small vehicles but can take some getting used to for those who haven’t lived in the mountains.
The space
The master bedroom and bathroom are at one end of the house with a king sized bed and a large walk in glass shower. Patio doors lead out to the veranda, or you can walk through the open kitchen/living/dining area with huge windows facing the beautiful view of the mountains. At the other end of the open living area are two more bedrooms - one with bunk beds and the other set up as a playroom, but with a queen bed possible if needed. The kitchen has not yet been remodeled and the appliances are somewhat old but functional. Outside the back bedroom is a washer dryer and another door that leads to the front yard.
Outdoors, the property is 1 acre and fully fenced. It’s quite hilly and very fun to explore. We have many swings, climbing gym and a sandbox for kids. There is also an orchard with 40 fruit trees (some are mature and some are young and not yet producing). A large chicken coop with our rooster and 11 hens sits down in the orchard.
We rent our small guest cottage (attached to the garage) to a quiet and very respectful couple who may be here during your stay.
Amenities:
- Full-size washer/dryer
- Iron and ironing board
- Dishwasher
- Microwave
- Oven/stove
- Hair dryer
- High-speed wifi
- TV through Apple TV with Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and other channels
- Electric kettle and Chemex or French press coffee maker or Keurig if you prefer
- Ice maker in fridge
- Towels and sheets
- air conditioning in the living room
Guest access
Guests enter through the front door with two steps up or through the patio doors with no stairs.
Notes
- We have two friendly cats--Penny and Moonlight. They need to be fed twice per day and have their litter box scooped once per day.
- We have a very calm and shy dog who we will take with us when we travel or board so that she won't be here with you.
- No smoking
- No parties or unapproved guests
Features
Washer
Dishwasher
Clothes dryer
Oven
Microwave
Coffee machine
Fridge
Iron
Hair dryer
Heating
Air conditioning
TV
WiFi
Bathtub
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguisher
Bed sheets
Towels
Workspace
Fireplace
BBQ
Garden / yard
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace
Covered porch / verandah
Travel Styles
Weekend
Adventure
Family
Sport and leisure
Relaxing
Village
Mountains
Beach
Hiking
Cycling
Last minute
Accessibility
House rules
Suitable for infants under 2
Suitable for children ages 2-12
Pets welcome
No smoking
Allergens
Carpet free
Smoke free
Fragrance free
Dates of Availability
Availability calendar
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Neighbourhood
Our neighborhood is a mountain neighborhood - that means the people are friendly and help each other out, but still appreciate their privacy and are not nosy. Our home is near the top of a windy mountain road. It’s very safe but can take a little getting used to if you haven’t lived in the mountains.
Getting to my home
The closest airport is San Jose (30 minutes) and San Francisco (50 minutes). You will need a car as public transportation doesn’t come to our neighborhood. We are 15 minutes outside downtown Los Gatos with loads of restaurants and shops and 30 minutes from Santa Cruz and the beaches.
Nearest airport
San Francisco International Airport (1 hour), San Jose International Airport (30 min)
Getting around
You will want a car to get around so you can visit the 63,000 acres of open space preserves as well as the many thousands more acres of area state and national parks. It’s about a half hour drive to the beach. Monterey is about 1.5 hours and 2 hours to Big Sur. The coastline is breathtakingly beautiful and there are probably at least 50 beaches within an hour drive. Our home is also very close to many beautiful parks full of hiking in old growth Redwood forests.
Map of Approximate Location
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People Like Us Local Guide
Let us know if you'll be in the Bay Area! We'd love to meet up and are happy to show you around or give you any suggestions. We're about 20min outside San Jose, 30 min from Santa Cruz, and 1 hr from San Francisco,
Feedback
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Premium Founder
Leah & Scott
We are Scott and Leah and we love traveling to new places, getting to know people and cultures, exploring nature and trying new food. We are fascinated at the different and beautiful ways people across the world live their lives. We've found that traveling with our children has allowed us to immerse ourselves a little more into a culture as we often end up at neighborhood playgrounds and other "off the beaten path" spots.
We only moved to California recently, in January of 2020. With a new job and travel to see family, we are currently most interested in weekend exchanges to other areas in California and the West Coast of the USA. But long term, we want to see the world!
Member Since May 2019
Travelling group
LGBTQ+ friendly
Remote Worker
Desired Destinations
Open to any destination