Baywood fits snugly into a corner formed by Alameda de las Pulgas, Crystal Springs Road and El Camino Real. Notre Dame Avenue separates the neighborhood from Aragon. It is within a brisk walk of downtown San Mateo and a short drive from commute routes and highways 101, 92 and 280, but what brings out the pride in Baywood residents isn’t their comfortable homes, their close-in location, their gently curving streets or the cache that comes with a Baywood address – it’s their schools.

Among San Mateo neighborhoods, Baywood real estate is surpassed only by the stately mansions of San Mateo Park. Homes in Baywood are larger than those in other neighborhoods, with three, four or five bedrooms and, as a rule, more than 2,000 square feet of living space. More often, Baywood houses have 2,500 or more square feet, ranging all the way up to 4,000 in some cases. Homes are built in a variety of classic pre-war styles: Spanish, English, Moorish, Tudor and Colonial, with only a few post-1950 homes mixed in. Lots are larger than those in Aragon or Baywood Knolls, often 10,000 square feet in size.

Many homes have been updated. Even those that haven’t have amenities that were reserved only for the upper class when they were built, like en-suite baths and walk-in closets. Homes rarely come up for sale in Baywood, but when they do, they sell between $1.7 and $3 million. The neighborhood median usually hovers around $2 million, with several homes selling for more than $2.5 million. Buyers who like Baywood also generally look for homes in Baywood Knolls, Aragon, San Mateo Park, and the Burlingame neighborhoods of Easton Addition and Burlingame Park.

Baywood is a neighborhood of style and grace. A stroll through its gently curved, wide streets reveals beautifully manicured lawns, children happily (and safely) playing and driveways full of luxury cars. It is as much an idea as a place – and it’s been that way since the days of John Parrott.

Just nearby Baywood across El Camino, the impressive San Mateo Library is state-of-the-art and tech-smart, and the 16 acre Central Park features the cherish Japanese Tea Garden with its koi pond, where the koi are fed every day at 11 a.m. and at 3 p.m.

To view a detailed google map of the Baywood neighborhood, click here. The MLS area is 438.

Favorable

Tons of character in the homes

Excellent schools - Baywood Elementary, Borel Middle, Aragon High

Larger lots (7-8,000 s/f) compared to similar lots in Burlingame (6,000 s/f) at the same price

Mostly walking distance to downtown San Mateo and Central Park

Adverse

One of the two most expensive neighborhoods in San Mateo along with San Mateo Park

No "starter" homes - most are at least 1,800 s/f

Homes are older than most in San Mateo but still regarded as well built

Schools

Baywood Elementary, the holy grail of San Mateo public K-5 schools, is in Baywood, a block from Aragon High School. Borel Middle School is a 15-minute walk away, as is the Crystal Springs Uplands School, a lauded private 6-12 institution built on the former Hillsborough estate of Templeton Crocker. Each school, thanks to reputation and/or open enrollment public district policies, annually draws more applicants than it has space for.

History

The name “Baywood” didn’t come out of nowhere. Nobody held a contest to determine the name for San Mateo’s premier pre-war subdivision. Long before there were streets named after states, “Baywood” was the name of John Parrott’s 377-acre estate, purchased for $30,000 on February 1, 1860. Parrott named his land after the Bay trees he found on the property (probably because of the bay trees alongside the creek which flowed beside the northern boundary of the property). Today, $30,000 won’t even buy you a garage in Baywood. In 1927, the estate was purchased with the intent to subdivide. The first 445 lots offered for sale by D.A. “Doc” Raybould, who would later be instrumental in developing the east side of San Mateo, ranged in price from $3,150 to $4,250.