Pasadena California Real Estate Market Resource

San Marino City Guide

San Marino is a city in Los Angeles County bordered by South Pasadena to the West, Pasadena to the North, Alhambra and San Gabriel to the South and San Gabriel to the East.

San Marino is an affluent community with the population of close to 13,000 residents and almost 4,500 homes based on the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau.  To Southern Californians, San Marino was once known as one of the oldest of old-money wealth.

 

 

This community consists only of single family residences and there are no apartment buildings, condominiums or townhouses in the city.

San Marino has beautiful tree-lined streets and estates sitting on large lots, with many averaging over 30,000 sq. ft.  Most of the San Marino homes were built between 1920 and 1950.

San Marino is regarded as having one of the best school districts in the Greatere Los Angeles Area.  In fact, San Marino School District was ranked as #1 district in California based on its API (Academic Performance Index) in 2008.  All of its public schools are honored as a California Distinguished School and a United States National Blue Ribbon School.

Here’re the latest API scores for San Marino Schools:

	api08	api07	GROWTH
Carver Elementary	963	966	-3
Huntington Middle	961	956	5
Valentine Elementary	947	941	6
San Marino High	921	911	10

 

The city includes the estate of Henry E. Huntington, who made a fortune in the development of Southern California and opened the library and art collections in his large neo-Palladian mansion to the public in 1919, best known as the Huntington Library. At the time, San Marino was some twelve miles (19 km) from Los Angeles.

Huntington Drive and Sierra Madre Boulevard serve as the main thoroughfares, leading to Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel.

In the middle of San Marino, not too far from Huntington Library, lies Lacy Park. It is a huge 30-acre park filled with unique and hard to find trees and beautiful lush foliage. Not too many people know that back in 1875 it was a lake – Wilson Lake. The land was bought and converted to a park in 1925.

Families in San Marino have enjoyed Lacy park for years, and it remains one of San Marino’s best kept secrets. The park includes six championship tennis courts and pro shop, administered by the San Marino Tennis Foundation. At the west entrance of the park is the Rose Arbor, which is of special significance for the people of San Marino. It is 60 years old and has long been a source of beauty and tranquility to many residents.

The park recently built a memorial to General George S. Patton (a native of San Marino) and also a large memorial to Armed Forces along with a statue of a sad soldier. The memorial includes the names of all military personal from San Marino that where killed in various wars.

SCHOOLS

Wikipedia says this about San Marino Schools: There are four public schools in San Marino: Valentine Elementary School, Carver Elementary School, Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School. Stoneman Elementary School (named for the Governor who lived in San Marino) is no longer used for instruction by San Marino School District. Southwestern Academy, a private college preparatory school, is also located in San Marino. There is also a private Roman Catholic grammar school, SS. Felicitas and Perpetua. The city took the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to the Supreme Court to block the opening of this school.

The two elementary schools offer instruction for grades K-5, the middle school for grades 6-8 and the high school for grades 9-12.

In 2005 and 2006, the San Marino Unified School District ranked first among all 328 California unified school districts based on the California Academic Performance Index. San Marino High School is considered one of the best-performing public schools on Standardized Achievement Tests (as of 2004) in Southern California. It was also named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2006. Most of San Marino’s schools’ funds come from private donors and organizations.[citation needed].

In November 2007, U.S. News and World Report put San Marino High School in number 82 on its list of best high schools in the nation, giving SMHS the Gold Medal honor.

Asian-Americans are 70% of San Marino school enrollment as of December 2005. Strong support for education from the Asian community has bolstered the excellence of the school district.

The University of Southern California owns a house in San Marino which is used as the residence of the President of the University. The residence and grounds are large enough to allow events to be held there.

HOUSING

On October 6, 2008, Forbes.com rated San Marino as the 47th most expensive zip codes (91108) to live in with the 2007 median home price being $1,552,500.

Even in the economic downturn, home prices have maintained their value and San Marino home sellers are still experiencing a higher demand than the surrounding cities.

Here’s an at a glance view of the following San Marino Real Estate Data Report prepared by Altos Research:

 

SEARCH HOMES FOR SALE IN SAN MARINO

SEARCH OVER 100,000 HOMES FOR SALE IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, ORANGE COUNTY, RIVERSIDE COUNTY & MORE

Search All homes for sale in San Marino California – direct access to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service):

 

PLACES TO VISIT IN SAN MARINO: 

Huntington Library – Famous for its beautiful Botanical Gardens, British and French Art Collection and has one of the largest collections of rare books and manuscripts outside of the Library of Congress.

Lacy Park – Known best for its Rose Garden and the annual 4th of July Parade.  In my opinion, it is one of the prettiest parks in the San Gabriel Valley. 
The Old Mill (Molino Viejo) – Oldest standing commercial building Southern California; Used to be the mill for the San Gabriel Mission.

San Marino Public Library – Opened in January of 2008, this library is an absolute pleasure to visit. 

INTERESTING TIDBITS ABOUT SAN MARINO:

   ~~~  Overnight parking is not allowed

   ~~~  All homes have to have a 2-car garage

   ~~~  If you are driving around San Marino, be careful!  A lot of streets do not have Stop signs.  Slow down and look both ways!

Comments