Mill Valley
Mill Valley Statistics
Mill Valley real estate sets the standard by which all suburb / commuter towns should be measured: it is extremely family friendly, has great weather year-around, a fantastic selection of public and private schools, a plethora of nearby family activities to choose from, great restaurants, is close to a major urban center with a diverse economy and broad selection of corporate and non-corporate jobs; and as one resident aptly noted “it is close to everything I love to do!” Above all, Mill Valley is a great place to raise a family. The DuPont Group has sold 55 homes in Mill Valley CA.
Nestled on the slopes of Mount Tamalpias (Mt Tam) amidst groves of Sequoia Redwood Trees, Mill Valley homes are spread out around a small town center with a rich heritage and colorful community. Like almost all of Marin County, Mill Valley property was originally home to Miwok Indians. In the late 1830’s, a large part of present day Tiburon, Corte Madera and Mill Valley Real Estate was granted to settler John Reed.
John Reed was born in Dublin in 1805, and went to sea with a seafaring uncle at 15. He left the ship at Acapulco, where he stayed for six years, learning to speak Spanish fluently, before sailing north to Yerba Buena-later to be named San Francisco. Having befriended many influential people along his journeys, he was eventually issued a land grant from the Mexican government near present day Santa Rosa. Unfortunately the Cotate Indians drove him back to the relative safety of Southern Marin where he married the commandant’s daughter and was awarded another land grant-what is most of modern day Tiburon, Corte Madera and Mill Valley CA.
Reed harvested trees from Corte Madera and Tiburon which built most of the Presidio in San Francisco; and to do that he needed a mill; which he did in a nearby valley-“Old Mill” in an area later named “Mill Valley”.
The primary buyer demographic for Marin County communities like Mill Valley are Bay Area families, primarily moving from San Francisco coming to escape the fog and gain access to Mill Valley’s renown public schools. Demand for Mill Valley homes follows an annual seasonal cycle: Spring is the most competitive time of the year amongst Mill Valley home buyers with families hoping to be situated for the following school year. The Spring market usually starts after the Super Bowl in early February and tapers off in late June. Things usually slow down significantly July and August before picking back up mid-September for another rush which ends abruptly on Thanksgiving. Off season buying is a great time to find a “value” but there are usually less homes on the market during these times to choose from.
Mill Valley is centrally located in Marin County– fairly equidistant from Sausalito, Tiburon, Corte Madera, Larkspur and Kentfield; and approximately equidistant from San Francisco, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael and Fairfax. This characteristic lends itself to evening and weekend sojourns to other nearby towns for movies, dinners, tennis and swim clubbing, and public parks / open space access. Nothing in Marin– or San Francisco for that matter– is really “too far away” from Mill Valley.
Mill Valley properties are comprised of many different neighborhoods located both within the “incorporated” town of Mill Valley as well as other parts that are “unincorporated” such as Strawberry, Tam Valley, parts of Homestead Valley etc. When looking for homes in Mill Valley it is important to understand the intricacies of varying neighborhood weather, traffic patterns and public school system access. Non rush hour driving time to the financial district in San Francisco, ranges from 20 to 30 minutes and almost twice that during rush hour.
The weather year-round in Mill Valley is fantastic. Spring in Mill Valley is characteristically breezy with typical lows in the high forties and highs in the upper sixties to lower 70’s. Summer is generally characterized by higher low temps-low mid to 50’s and temperamental highs ranging from breezy 60’s to gorgeous 80’s. Fall is generally the best weather of the year and even warmer than summer. Winter runs the gamut from cold, clear nights, sometimes (though not often) reaching below freezing, to strong pacific storms that bring rain (and heavy snowfalls to the Sierras), and beautiful winter days that typically reach into the low 60’s and sometimes higher. Almost every winter you can count on a string beautiful January and/or February days in the 60s. The more outdoor activities one enjoys (think sailing, surfing and snow), the more conscious one is of our wonderful seasons and changing weather patterns.