I drove by one of the listings (15 Skyline Dr) as it was on my way home (we live 20 minutes farther into the hills). Unfortunately I didn't see the other listing (Fox hollow road at Woodside ) until I got home so didn't check that out.
15 Skyline DrThat would be about 12 minutes to 280, about 45 minutes to the Candlestick part of SF assuming normal conditions.
It is basically just off of Skyline Blvd (35) on a little single lane road, area looks nice but I wasn't able to get out and look at the cottage as it is by appointment only.
It is surrounded by lots of beautiful trees, and you will be right in the middle of the twisties which makes for great riding. It will be very peaceful except for hearing motorcycles drive by (on 35), particularly on summer weekends.
Things to consider / potential downsides:
- unlikely you will have cell phone service there
- unlikely you will get DSL/Cable Modem there
- you probably have well water, not sure of the quality there but we have to put ours through multiple filters to make it nice to drink, potentially you might have to buy drinking water
- more likely to have power outages during storms
- commute is worse on the weekends
- commute could be terrible during/after a storm if there is a fallen tree (doesn't happen often, but it sucks when it does, those are pretty busy roads though so they will try to clear them quickly)
- commute could be terrible if someone wrecks their bike (more likely on a summer weekend)
- you will be right by Alice's restaurant and the Skywood Trading Post which has a gas station and basic necessities, but you'll have about a 10 minute drive to Robert's Market in Woodside and a 15-20 minute drive to Lucky's Supermarket (in Redwood City)
- I would highly recommend asking what the parking situation is ahead of time
- more likely to be cooler / foggier than, say Palo Alto (maybe 10-20 degrees cooler) but it can also be sunny and hot, I've seen it be 100 degrees (occasionally) on a hot day. You are more likely to get fog in the morning and evenings at certain times of the year.
Fox Hollow Road- has DSL
- will be about 30-35 minutes to the Candlestick part of SF
- very convenient to Robert's market for shopping, quite close to Redwood City for major stores
- far less likely to have issues with road closures, etc. due to bad weather
- may have some fog in mornings and evenings at certain times of year but not as much as the skyline one, will be warmer than the skyline one
- cell phone service may be spotty around there but there is some in that area
I think that Fox Hollow one is definitely worth following up on, the Skyline one maybe, depends on what you like. Let us know if you want us to check them out in more detail.
And as I mentioned before, the best commute is 280 N to 380 E to 101 N (and depending on where you are going in the city, possibly getting back onto 280 N from 101 but that's not necessary for the Candlestick area). I do this quite a lot and have not had to split lanes.
