Aldercroft Heights, Lexington Hills, CA

Aldercroft Heights sits in the hills above Lexington Reservoir, one of three mountain communities that make up Lexington Hills in Santa Clara County. The mail says Los Gatos, but the roads say otherwise: they twist uphill through the trees, and there is no street grid to learn. Houses are mountain homes set into the slope, each fitted to its own piece of hillside instead of a repeating pattern. With the woods all around and no commercial strip anywhere close, the quiet is the main feature, and the terrain decides most of what gets built. The reservoir is the nearest big draw. Santa Clara County runs a park around it, roughly 950 acres with a lake of about 338, where people fish from the shore, paddle small boats and picnic. Trails from the park link to longer routes across the hills, so a walk or bike ride can be as short or as long as you like. A little farther along, Bear Creek Redwoods Preserve has more than 1,400 acres of second-growth forest, a few surviving old-growth redwoods and a short, level loop beside Upper Lake. Dinner usually means a few minutes in the car along Broadway Road to Pizzeria Vittoria, which bakes wood-fired pizza and also turns out sandwiches and barbecue, with beer and wine on hand. Monday it is closed. For a quick stop, the Redwood Store carries dairy, produce, cured meats and a changing lineup of craft beer, and it opens at nine in the morning. Most Aldercroft Heights streets are too far from either one to walk. Bigger shopping, banks and doctors all sit in Los Gatos, so a car is part of the routine and there is no bus to count on. Planning the day around one trip down the mountain becomes habit. Distance is the price of the setting. Forgetting a single item can cost a half hour round trip, and nobody here runs out for milk on a whim. What Aldercroft Heights gives back is a reservoir, trail access and a redwood preserve, all within a short drive of the front door.