Oak Manor, Fairfax, CA

Oak Manor sits at the north end of Fairfax, where Oak Manor Drive climbs off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard toward the Sleepy Hollow side of the ridge. The pace slows here, and the hills start close behind the last row of houses. Housing leans mid-century, with ranch-style houses from around the 1950s on streets such as Oak Manor Drive, Manor View Drive and Mariele Drive, and the Meadowland of Marin streets around Glen Drive. The layout feels more like a classic suburb than the cottage lanes nearer downtown. The big draw is the land above. Loma Alta Open Space Preserve reaches 1,592 feet at its peak, one of the highest points in Marin, and has an entrance on the town side. The Old Railroad Grade Trail is the gentler route, the White Hill Trail climbs steeply toward White Hill Preserve, and the views reach San Francisco and Mount Tamalpais. Mountain bikers like the wooded 680 Trail, and in rainy seasons Fairfax Falls runs on the slope above. For food, Red Boy Pizza has a shop just beyond the neighborhood edge, built on sourdough from a mother dough dating to 1928. Downtown has more, with Fradelizio's turning out homemade gnocchi and wild boar cannelloni, and The Coffee Roastery for espresso. Errands take a short drive. Good Earth Natural Foods sits about a mile south, and the library is just over half a mile away. Marin Transit Route 23 stops at Oak Manor Drive and Glen Drive on its run through San Anselmo to San Rafael, with service from early morning to late evening. Distance from the evening scene is the cost. Oak Manor is the farthest from downtown restaurants, so a night out means a drive or a bus. In exchange it is the part of town where the houses thin out and the open space begins.