From The Peninsula Letter
Hillsborough wraps around the western hills of Burlingame — a 6.2-square-mile residential-only town with no commercial center. New Place, Lower North, and Country Club neighborhoods deliver the largest lots; the Black Mountain area climbs west toward Crystal Springs and the watershed.
What makes Hillsborough specific: it's one of two Peninsula towns (with Atherton) intentionally designed without commercial activity. Minimum lot size is half an acre, and the town's elementary district is among the best in California. Buyers comparing Hillsborough to Atherton often pick Hillsborough for the easier SFO and downtown SF commute.
The four figures at the top of this page are August 2026 single-family closings in Hillsborough — 11 sales in all.
Source: MLS Listings Inc., InfoSparks and Trend Graphix via KW Advisors Peninsula Estates — single-family homes closed in August 2026. Sale counts are small, so the median reflects which homes happened to close that month; sale-to-list and days on market are the steadier signals. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Ask Elaine for a property-specific analysis.
Four things I tell buyers about a town with no downtown.
Half-acre minimum lots and no commercial activity at all — one of two Peninsula towns built that way, with Atherton. New Place and Country Club hold the largest parcels; Black Mountain climbs west.
The K-8 district is consistently among the very top public districts in California. For 9-12, students go to Burlingame High, or to Crystal Springs Uplands independently.
No shops, no restaurants, no station inside the town. All of it is three to five minutes north on Burlingame Avenue and Broadway.
About 18 miles south of San Francisco. There is no Caltrain stop in Hillsborough — Burlingame and Millbrae are the practical ones.
Hillsborough operates one of California's strongest public K-8 districts — the Hillsborough City School District — and feeds into the San Mateo Union High School District (Burlingame High primarily) for 9-12.
For families relocating, the question isn't whether Hillsborough schools are good — it's which specific attendance zone matches your home search. I can walk you through the differences before we tour homes.
Hillsborough sits on the northern Peninsula — about 18 miles south of San Francisco and about 17 miles north of Palo Alto. There is no Caltrain stop in Hillsborough; residents use Burlingame Caltrain (3-5 min north). SFO is 8 minutes away.
I preview homes in person before I recommend them, and I pay attention to which streets feel different at 8 a.m. school drop-off vs. 6 p.m. commute. That on-the-ground knowledge is what separates a buyer who pays median from a buyer who pays $80,000 under list.
Whether you're buying, selling, or just exploring the market — let's have a focused 15-minute conversation about your specific goals and what's actually possible in Hillsborough right now.
