Belmont is a wonderful, serene town with a rural feel and a destination for families. Most of the streets do not have sidewalks, and since much of the town is built amidst the hills, many homes offer extraordinary views of the peninsula. Belmont boasts four parks, and is mostly made up of homes and retail stores. The town’s heritage harks back to William Ralston, the founder of the Bank of California and builder of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, who built his masterful summer residence, Ralston Hall, at the current site of Notre Dame University.

Ralston was offered to have the town of Modesto named after him, but at a Spanish ceremony he declined, and a Spanish lady dubbed him muy modesto, or very modest, and that is how the town got its name. To see a high resolution map of the image above, click here.