The community of Ladera occupies land that was originally settled by the RamaytushOhlone peoples prior to the settlement of California by the Spanish. Ladera is located on the Rancho Corte de MaderaMexican land grant. The land was used for grazing and timber through 1927 when it was joined to the Ormondale Ranch, owned by the Macdonough family. The Macdonoughs raised cattle and sheep, and bred racehorses; their most famous stud, Ormonde, had raced in England and never lost a race. In the 1930s, the majority of the Ormondale Ranch land was developed and incorporated into Portola Valley. In 1944, the Peninsula Housing Association was formed with the goal of purchasing a tract land and developing a housing cooperative. Several prominent members of the Stanford and Palo Alto communities joined to develop the fledgling PHA co-op. It began subscribing members in 1945 and its 150 members purchased the remaining of the former Ormondale ranch for $155,000 on July 31, 1946. The co-op selected noted landscape architect Garrett Eckbo to lay out the design for the new community. Architects Joseph Allen Stein and John Funk were chosen to design several of the earliest model homes. The members chose the name Ladera to reflect the Spanish history of the land — ladera is Spanish for hillside. Streets are Spanish phrases or botanical names. Early members of the cooperative included author Wallace Stegner and Klystron tube inventor Sigurd Varian of Varian Associates. Due to financial difficulties caused by refusal to place restrictive covenants on the title deeds, the PHA failed after only a few houses had been constructed. The financial difficulties stemmed from the fact that banks would not finance loans or issue mortgages without government approval, and the Federal Housing Administration would not insure loans to co-ops that included African American members. The co-op proposed the inclusion of a quota system, promising that the proportion of African American member would not exceed the proportion of African Americans in California’s overall population. This stipulation was not sufficient for the government. The land was later sold to Hare, Brewer, and Kelley, who completed the development. Directly following completion, however, single family homes in the development were only sold to whites.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Ladera had a population of 1,426. The population density was 3,221.9 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Ladera was 1,269 White, 3 African American, 1 Native American, 98 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 5 from other races, and 50 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33 persons. The Census reported that 1,426 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 525 households, out of which 207 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 392 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 24 had a female householder with no husband present, 6 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 86 households were made up of individuals and 53 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72. There were 422 families ; the average family size was 3.05. The population was spread out with 405 people under the age of 18, 43 people aged 18 to 24, 243 people aged 25 to 44, 443 people aged 45 to 64, and 292 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males. There were 539 housing units at an average density of 1,217.8 per square mile, of which 481 were owner-occupied, and 44 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.2%. 1,312 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 114 people lived in rental housing units. Ladera is the most educated town in the state of California.
Political and Economic
As an unincorporated area, Ladera lies in the sphere of influence of Portola Valley. It draws its police services from the County of San Mateo and is a part of Woodside Fire District. School districts that serve Ladera include the Las Lomitas Elementary School District for elementary and middle school and the Sequoia Union High School District for high school. The local school in the community is leased to the private Woodland School. Along Alpine Road are two small commercial developments: a small shopping center to the north of La Mesa and an office complex south of La Mesa.
