The Community of La Honda, CA and Our Home

Only 17 tree-lined miles from Stanford, La Honda, California is an area and a community rather than a city or a town. It has no local government as it is in "unincorporated" San Mateo County. An estimate of the population would be about 700 homes, half of which are within one or two miles of the "center of town". La Honda is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains along CA State Highway 84, west of CA State Highway 280. It is roughly 40 miles south of San Francisco, CA. The area boasts hills, canyons, creeks and streams as well as many miles of sloping open ranch land where livestock graze and cut flowers are grown. The weather in La Honda is typical of that in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There is rain during the winter months of January, February and March. The weather is usually dry from August through October. The influence of the nearby Pacific Ocean gives La Honda a much more moderate climate than areas further east while keeping the air fresh and pollution free.

The population of La Honda is a mixture of ranchers, some of whom have been in La Honda for decades, high tech people who work in Silicon Valley, medical people who work at Stanford, Mills and other area hospitals, academicians, artists, writers and retirees. The people here know and care about each other and are always available to lend a hand. For the children, La Honda Elementary School was named a California Distinguished School to officially recognize its combination of academic strength, parental involvement and superior faculty and staff.

Social life in La Honda can be quite rich. Two of the focal points in La Honda are the Elementary School, the La Honda Fire Brigade. The Fire Brigade annually sponsors a Crab Cioppino dinner, an Ice Cream Social, Flea Market, and Pumpkin Breakfast among other events. La Honda also has two very active church congregations, Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church and the Church of the Redwoods. Both congregations sponsor and participate in additional community events throughout the year. The La Honda Street Faire is an annual art and music fair that is celebrated in June.

A large part of the population of La Honda resides just a few blocks off of Hwy. 84 in the Cuesta La Honda Guild. Estimated at about 300 homes, the community's center point is a man-made pond, created in the 1920's that is now a common refuge for wild water fowl including ducks, coots, herons, egrets, and geese. The Cuesta La Honda Guild, the homeowners' association, provides a swimming pool, riding ring, tennis court, children's playground, basketball court and clubhouse for its members as well as maintaining The Playbowl, an outdoor meeting and picnic place. Miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails are available on Guild-owned property. The Guild is also a private water company, providing drinking water to each home in its area.