Festival Friday: Stanford Spring Faire

How about hopping on down the Peninsula to the Stanford Spring Faire and getting a three-fer? Friday through Sunday, White Plaza on the Stanford Campus is holding its annual spring arts and craft faire. This event, held from 10 am to 6 pm, will feature more than 100 artisans exhibiting and selling their work, as well as music and a variety of food. The event, held for the last 38 years, benefits the Bridge Peer Counseling Center.

If you bring your bike, you can then take a circle through this beautiful campus with its campenile, art gardens, graceful old buildings, and tree-lined campus streets—or you can head up to far west side of campus and Foothill Expressway and do some hiking up in the Stanford Hills.

Then, you can visit a few open houses, if your budget will allow. I really wanted you to see College Terrace, a great neighborhood made up of older homes and duplexes with a mix of students, families, and long-time Palo Alto residents. There is some great architecture here, and the neighborhood is well-kept. Close to the California Avenue shopping district, Highway 280 and easy access to Highway 101, it is a good jumping off point for Silicon Valley worker bees, but I could not find one open house this weekend. So we will jump across El Camino and head toward 101 to see a few homes in Old Palo Alto, which has some good examples of Craftsman and mid-mod architecture mixed up throughout.

119 Churchill Avenue, 3/2, 1748 sf, $1,325,000 ($758/sf) DOM: 1
Built in 1923, this green shingle-sided bungalow sits on a 7500 sf lot with guest cottage in the back. Frankly, given the price, the home should have been staged to show at its best advantage. Last Sale 2000: $920,000 OPEN Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30

330 Embarcadero, 3/2.5, 1,538 sf, $1,595,000 ($1037/sf), DOM: 1
Remodeled Mission-style home on a heavily traveled route to Highway 101 and Stanford University. Last Sale 1989: $479,000 OPEN Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30

848 Southampton Drive, 5/4, 4700 sf, $5,850,000 ($1245/sf) DOM: 1
Wonderful high-end example of contemporary architecture. This newly constructed home has huge walls of glass and an open floor plan, and includes home theatre and gourmet kitchen. Why there are only 6 pictures of this listing is beyond me. I want more!!!! Last Sale n/a as this is a new construction. OPEN Saturday and Sunday 1:30 to 4:30.

1709 Waverly, 5/4, 4946 sf, $7,295,000 ($1475/sf) DOM: 1
This is a brand new, Spanish Revival-style home with a ton of amenities. The listing description speaks of “a grand staircase, incredible kitchen, three private fountained courtyards, fabulous media room w/ secondary kitchen, wine room & adjoining gym w/ steam shower,” amongst others. Last Sale n/a as this is a new construction. OPEN Sunday 1:30 to 4:30.