WELCOME TO WOODSIDE

 

Woodside (pop. 5,352) is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government.

Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the world.

Woodside has a variety of habitat types including California oak woodland and riparian zones. There is considerable biodiversity present, Woodside being within the California Floristic Province. Notable species present include the rare and endangered species Acanthomintha duttonii, the San Mateo Thornmint. It is also home to Huddart County Park, which is accessible by authorized motor vehicles, horses, pedestrians, and horses on Greer Road, a road intersecting Kings Mountain Road just over 100 feet west of the intersection of Tripp Road and Kings Mountain Road, an intersection home to the Woodside Store, or "The Old Store" as called by local residents. The other vehicle accessible entrance is off of Kings Mountain Road, approximately half way up the road from the point at which it starts to climb a narrow hill in the Coastal Range of California. This is accessible to the public, which can drive down Tonyon road until further driving of unauthorized vehicles is unlawful, which is just after Sequoia Campground. Also, other than the main entrance, several entrances are accessible to pedestrians and horses only and are located along Kings Mountain Road.

The Woodside area was originally home to natives belonging to the Ohlone tribe. In 1769, led by Gaspar de Portolà, Spanish explorers searching for San Francisco Bay camped at a site near Woodside.

Woodside is said to be the oldest English-speaking settlement in the southern part of the San Francisco Peninsula. The first English-speaking settlers arrived in the early 19th century to log the rich stands of redwoods. Charles Brown constructed the first sawmill in Woodside on his Mountain Home Ranch around 1838. His adobe house, built in 1839, still stands today. By mid-century, the Woodside area had a dozen mills producing building materials for a booming San Francisco.

In 1849, during the California Gold Rush, 20-year-old Mathias Alfred Parkhurst purchased 127 acres (0.5 km2) of timberland and named it “Woodside"; of course, this name was kept. By the late 19th century, Woodside was home to country estates.

In 1909, the Family, a private club, set up camp facilities and rustic buildings in Woodside at the Family Farm, a rural retreat used by club members for recreation. Gatherings at the Family Farm include an annual Farm Play, written and performed by members. In 1912, the Family pooled funds to build Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Portola Valley, designed by 19-year-old Timothy L. Pflueger, his first commission. The historic building was repaired at a cost of US$600,000 after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Today, Woodside is among the wealthiest small towns in the United States. Vacant lots, were any to be found, would sell for over a million dollars. Several well-known people live here, including Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation; Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Intel and originator of Moore's Law; John Thompson, CEO of Symantec; Neil Young, rock singer, who owns a 1500 acre (6 km²) ranch there; Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar has a house here, but actually lives in Palo Alto; Shirley Temple Black, US ambassador and former child actress; Michelle Pfeiffer, actress, and her husband David E. Kelley, producer; Thomas Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems; Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit, Inc.; John Doerr, venture capitalist; Dr. Carl Djerassi, novelist and member of team that developed the birth control pill; Kenneth Fisher, investor, Forbes columnist, author, and local historian; Susan Dawson, philanthropist; and Joan Baez, folk singer. Woodside is also home to Koko, the gorilla who was taught American Sign Language.

The very small business district includes a few restaurants (Buck's, Woodside Bakery & Cafe, John Bentley's, and The Village Pub), a grocery store (Roberts Market), a hardware store, an art gallery and picture framing store (Allegro Framing and Art), a home and garden store (Emily Joubert), realtors (Carey Realty, Coldwell Banker, Alain Pinell, Remax), and an educational consulting and tutoring company (Cardinal Education). The Village Pub recently was awarded the highest honor for restaurants: a Michelin star. The town is home to the famous Buck's of Woodside restaurant, which is well known among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as the location where many VC investment deals have been signed. The inside of the restaurant is decorated with historic Silicon Valley artifacts. The corporate headquarters for Fisher Investments sits atop Kings Mountain in Woodside.

Horses are part of the local culture. Many residents keep horses, and the town government maintains a network of horse trails. The town is also quite popular among local cyclists and draws them in large numbers on summer weekends. Most popular road cycling routes include Old La Honda Rd., King's Mountain Rd, Canada Rd., Southgate Dr., Skyline Rd. and Highway 84. Woodside is home to a number of open space preserves, including the Purisima Open Space (which is part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space), where both horseback riding and bicycling is allowed.

The Woodside Fire District is a special district serving Woodside, Portola Valley and unincorporated areas including Ladera, Los Trancos Woods, Vista Verde, Emerald Lake, Menlo Park (Unincorporated) and Skyline/State Route 35 area.

Dr. Carl Djerassi founded an artists colony in the community in memory of his late daughter. The Djerassi Resident Artists Program is one of several Bay Area programs which house artists in an environment where they can be creative without worrying about how to pay the rent. Others include Villa Montalvo in Saratoga and Marin Headlands Center for the Arts north of San Francisco.

It is adjacent to the campus of Stanford University, which is east of the town.