Katrina Ct, Orinda

Like the Sleepy Hollow, which it partly overlaps, Orinda Downs is a super rich micro neighborhood at the far north of the tiny bedroom community of Orinda. The beautiful homes in this area are large and beautifully landscaped. The vast majority of the homes here were first built between the 1940’s and the 1960’s. That means lots of Prairie style homes and ranch style home with long driveways and occasional front gates with monikers (as if you were in Texas). The homes are so well-kept in this area however, that despite the older styles, they look as if they were just finished being built only days before. Everything looks as if it has recently been prepared for an open house. The homes seem freshly painted, driveways newly cemented, bushes artfully trimmed, and lawns well-watered—all the details of wealth well attended to. The lanes here, though slightly elevated, are mostly made up of long straight aways, making for one of the few spots in the northern section of Orinda perfect for kids to bicycle or for a Thanksgiving pick-up game of football right in the middle of one of the side streets or cul-de-sacs.

As I mentioned in my review of Sleepy Hollow, the schools here are outstanding. Given that four of five residents are married, this really is—like most of Orinda—a good place to raise kids in a safe, family-oriented environment.

The one venue in this neighborhood is the Sleepy Hollow Swim and Tennis Club. As the title implies, they have an Olympic size pool here, a pleasant shaded picnic area, good changing room and tennis courts. Weekdays it is largely the province of stay-at-home moms in their little white tennis skirts, socializing and staying fit. In the summer, families come here to sun themselves or have a cooling swim. They also have events every so often, like water polo lessons—a favorite of my oldest.

The draw backs of the area are fairly obvious. It is, first, very expensive. This really is the province of CEO’s and corporate lawyers. The second obvious problem with the area is that you are living on hills near the edge of “civilization,” which means hillside problems having to do with erosion and runoff. There are also a fair number of wild animals here from deer and raccoons to skunks and field mice.

Overall, I think most families would love to live in a place like this.