Overhill Rd, Orinda

Tucked up in a woody area above Orinda’s main circle, is the Monterey Terrace neighborhood. With an alpine feel, the neighborhood’s lanes are filled homes that give off a Lake Tahoe sort of a vibe. That the residents are affluent is obvious from the newer model mini-vans and luxury cars that park on front drives, even though the homes are often obscured from view by pine curtains.

The majority of the homes here date to the 50’s and 60’s. They are fairly large with backyards often bordered by pine grooves—sometimes looking more like untamed forest. This means the usual problems we associate with hillside living: a certain amount of erosion during the rainy season, and the fear of forest fires during the dry. Both fears, however, are not as strong as north of Highway 24, as this section of Orinda has not come close to be threatened by fire in the way that those other sections have (to my knowledge anyway—there may have been a historical fire that ravaged this area way before my time). Many homes also manage to have swimming pools despite the hilly territory.

Overall, this is good family living except for the lack of sidewalks. This is really a car culture. Kids do not spend a lot of time riding bikes. This is a general drawback of most of Orinda, however.