Inside Menlo Park homes
Cross El Camino Real and the city changes character twice. West of it, Allied Arts and Central Menlo hold 1920s and 1930s houses under enormous oaks, with narrow hallways, plaster walls, built-in cabinetry and floors that have been refinished so many times they are thin. Felton Gables is the same vintage on a tighter grid. These are lovely houses to clean and slow ones, because the work is in the millwork rather than the open floor.
East of Middlefield, the Willows and Suburban Park are flat, walkable and mostly single-story, which makes for fast, predictable visits. Up in Sharon Heights the homes get bigger and the driveways get steeper, and near Burgess Park the newer condo buildings bring elevators, key fobs and garage-level entry into the picture. One booking form, four genuinely different jobs.
The housing stock in Menlo Park
A large share of the housing predates 1950, which shows up as lath-and-plaster walls, single-pane windows with deep sills, hex tile in the bathrooms and hardwood everywhere except the kitchen. Sizes range widely, from 1,100 square foot Willows bungalows to Sharon Heights houses over 3,500 square feet on two levels. The oaks are a factor year round: pollen in spring, leaf drop in autumn, and a constant fine grit on sills and entry floors.