Monte Vista Ridge Rd, Orinda

Monte Vista Ridge is the neighborhood on the far northern end of Orinda. It is right across the road from Wagner Ranch Elementary (Old man Wagner was the rancher who first settled the area—well, if you disregard the Miwok who were here for ages before that gathering the acorns off the trees and living relatively peacefully while Old man Wagner’s ancestors were still in the Old Country).

This neighborhood is poorly populated even by Orinda standards. Only about six hundred people live in this neighborhood, and most of them off Monte Vista Road and Camino Pablo Roads. In fact, even six hundred seems like a stretch to me. If I would have guessed, I would say there were at most 100 people living here. The whole area is mostly hilly Contra Costas climbing up to Tilden Park. In fact, Wild Cat Canyon Road, the last signal light before you leave Orinda in your back mirror, is a great place to drive up to get a great view over the whole valley and the reservoir to the north.

What few homes I do know about are either really nice looking Ranch homes or newer style homes that look like modernized Craftsman homes in the Maybeck style. In otherwords, lots of terraces looking out over the valley, lots of exposed beams and the dark shingled look that has come to characterize that style. Put simply, some nice homes close to completely unpopulated areas—enjoy the deer, raccoons and skunks!