Shelley Puentes Real Estate Services
- (510) 427-5399
- [email protected]
- CaDRE# 01395691
Though strategically located near the Bay Area and close to major freeways, Mountain House was designed not simply to be another commuter town, but to be a self-sufficient community offering employment, goods, services, and recreation all within its boundaries. Land use and circulation are designed to encourage walking, bicycling, and transit use in a highly landscaped, visually attractive community. It has a current population of approximately 10,000 (2010 census data) and is expected to grow to nearly 44,000. Mountain House was designed to maximize community benefits while minimizing adverse impacts on surrounding areas. With the influx of residents, businesses, and industrial areas, Mountain House ensured that people would be able to live, work, attend school and shop without having to drive outside the community, thus reducing traffic impacts.
Mountain House (MH) is an unincorporated community (in the process of becoming an incorporated city) in San Joaquin County. The first residents moved into their homes in 2003 and the estimated population in 2021 is about 24,000-25,000 (approximately 6500-7000 homes). At full build out, the community should have 48,000-50,000 residents (14,000-15,000 homes)
Villages
There are 7 villages (Wicklund, Bethany, Altamont, Questa, Hansen, Cordes and College Park) in MH right now with several more in the plans. Each village will eventually have 800-1000 homes and most surround a K-8 school and a village park.
Local government
The Mountain House Community Services District (MHCSD) is the local government and is governed by 5 elected board members (similar to a city council), a board president (similar to a mayor) and a general manager (similar to a city manager.) The MHCSD has 18 powers including providing police (contract with San Joaquin Sheriffs), fire (contract with French Camp Fire), library services, water, sewer, garbage (West Valley Disposal), public recreation, road maintenance, street lights, graffiti abatement, CC&R enforcement, dissemination of information, transportation, underground utilities, flood control protection, wildlife habitat mitigation, pest/weed abatement, telecommunication services, etc. The MHCSD is NOT in charge of economic development or land use.
Library
The Moutain House library is the newest library in the county and one of the largest (3rd). It is currently open 6 days a week (closed on Sundays). Many programs and activities are offered at the Moutain House Library.
Parks
Each village has a park with various sports fields and play structures but MH also has a larger Central Park (with a water fountain, tennis courts, picnic areas, etc.) and a Creek Park near the center of town. Central Park will be expanded over the next few years and additional community parks (north and south) are planned.
Economic Development
The MHCSD is not responsible for economic development like most cities (one of the few city powers that we do not have). The three primary developers in Moutain House are Trimark or SunChase (the master developer who started this project in the 80s-90s), CalPERS (who bought much of the remaining land from Trimark in 2006) and Moutain House Investors. The land that CalPERS owns is managed by Resmark (formerly MH Developers which was formerly Shea Mountain House). There are also several new developers in MH.
Property taxes
Moutain House does not have a fixed tax rate. The tax rate changes with the value of your house. Our rate is similar to some the some of the other new local developments (Discovery Bay, Lathrop, River Islands, etc.)
Let’s take a more detailed look at our tax bill. The prop 13 portion is usually 1% of your property’s net total assessed value. If your house and land is worth $700,000 then the prop 13 portion of your tax bill is $7,000. The remainder of the bill comes from various school bonds, the 4 Moutain House special taxes and a few misc. taxes. The special taxes portion is not based on the value of the house but based on the size of your house (living space) and lot. The 4 Moutain House special taxes can be raised up to 4% a year by your elected board although on average it has only been raised about 2% per year over the last 12 years. If the special and misc. taxes add up to $3500 then your total tax is $9000 and your effective tax rate is 1.5% ($10500/$700,000). But if your house and lot are bigger and more expensive ($900K) then your effective tax rate would be different.
Businesses
There are numerous businesses in Moutain House but some of the non-day care businesses with a physical location in Wicklund Village are: The Wicklund Market, Mountain House Dental (Dr Isabela Putzlacher), Elite Training Academy-Liv Fitness, Valley Chiropractics and Kumon Math and Reading Center. Splash Dental & Orthodontics is located on the second floor in the old MHCSD building on Arnaudo. Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Mountain House is currently operating in the Town Center and will have another location in Cordes in the near future. Many more businesses are in the plans. Safeway should be coming to Moutain House by next year at the corner of Moutain House Pkwy and Byron Hwy (northeast corner of Moutain House).
Utilities
The utility (water and garbage) bill comes from MHCSD. This utility bill includes a “debt services” component (about $90-110 per month) which essentially pays developers back for the water & wastewater infrastructure. The water services is provided by Inframark. The garbage services provided by West Valley Disposal is $39.06 a month. Gas is provided by PG&E. Electricity is provided by MID. Cable is provided by Comcast/Xfinity. There are numerous internet providers including Comcast/Xfinity and AT&T.
Mobile
In a recent Mountain House Facebook Page survey (1/28-29/21), 43.9% of respondents use Verizon, 36.5% use AT&T, 10.0% use Xfinity and 8.1% use Sprint/T Mobile.
Schools
The schools in Moutain House are part of the Lammersville Unified School District (LUSD) which is one of top school districts in California. The district consists of 7 K-8 schools (6 in Moutain House and 1 just outside of Moutain House) and 1 high school. Mountain House High School is one of the newest high schools in the state and one of the California Distinguished Schools (top 5%). There are over 6000 kids in the school district. The school district is governed by 5 elected board trustees and a superintendent and all the schools consistently rank in the top of San Joaquin County.
With state of the art schools, Mountain House demonstrates its dedication in providing opportunities to learn and relax in this family friendly community. Each community in Mountain House boasts a K-8 school with excellent educational facilities and top-notch equipment. Already ranked among the best in the county, these schools will be complemented by an all-new central high school and Delta Community College. In addition to a multitude of adult educational programs, parents will have access to their children’s school through a community-wide intranet.
We are proud to announce the public availability of the Lammersville Unified School District App for all the elementary schools and the High School. In the Apple app Store or the Google Play store search: lusd entappiaOr use these direct links to download the app:
The App is a public beta, so is under continuos improvement. So please please provide feedback at “[email protected]“.
Sports
There are numerous youth and adult sports organizations in MH (this list is not all inclusive). The first one founded was Moutain House Little League in 2008. The second was Moutain House Flag Football in 2009. After that, Moutain House Soccer (now West Coast Soccer) started in 2010, and Moutain House Jr Mustangs (formerly Hurricanes) Tackle Football and Cheer in 2011 (but no longer operating), Moutain House Jr Mustangs Track, MH Youth Basketball (part of the Moutain House Jr Mustangs) and Moutain House Girls Softball (but no longer operating). Moutain House Golf Club and Moutain House Tennis Club both started in 2011 and are part of the Moutain House Flag Football nonprofit organization. Moutain House Flag Football also has cheer program (started in 2012) and a spring and summer adult flag football leagues. There are also many travel basketball (including Moutain House Wolverines, Royal Kings/Queens, etc.), baseball and soccer teams. Many residents are part of the Moutain House Cricket Club and the newly established Mountain House Tracy Tennis Foundation and Central Valley Tennis group.
Clubs
There are so many official and unofficial clubs in Mountain House. I think the Mothers Club (started by Lori Cohen Francis) was probably the first one, started in 2003. I would list them but there are too many. Just go on FB and type MH (insert some sort of club) and you will probably find a club page.
Events
The MHCSD sponsors many community events including the Bike Rodeo in May, the Kite Festival in June, 4th of July Parade and Picnic, Music in the Park events in the summer months that feature different artists, farmer’s market. Other organizations and residents in Moutain House also put on events such as the Great Egg Hunt, Cinco De Mayo Festival, Moutain House Kite Run, the Moutain House Halloween Parade and Costume Contest, Jacobsen Pumpkin Festival and Food Drive, MHFF Treasure Hunt, Diwali, Holi, MH Jingle Run and various Christmas events. The pandemic, of course, put on hold on most of these events.
Crime
We have crime like any other town but our crime rate is one of the lowest in the county and consistent with most east bay cities. We also have bad drivers like any other town with roads, cars and people. In addition to the sheriffs, Rank Securities was hired in 2019 to help reduce various property crimes. Over 60 Cameras and LPRs were installed in 2021 and should provide additional protection for our residents in the near future.
Hospital
There is no hospital planned for Moutain House. The closest hospital is Sutter Tracy Community Hospital. There are also several urgent care clinics in Tracy. The closest Kaiser hospitals are in Manteca, Modesto and Antioch.
Newspaper
The local paper, Moutain Home Matters, is published by a Moutain House resident, Bryan Harrison, comes out once a month. It’s a great place for local businesses to advertise.
Wind
Yes it’s windy sometimes. And when I say windy, I don’t mean a warm gentle summer breeze windy. We’re talking about keeping your toddlers and pets in the house windy. But it’s not always windy. On the sizzling hot summer days, most of us wish there was more wind. Some people think it’s windy here because of the windmills on the Altamont. 😉
Food
Other than the Wicklund Market, there are no grocery stores in Moutain House yet so most of us shop in Tracy (Costco, Walmart, Winco, Safeway, etc.) or Livermore. We do sometimes have the farmer’s market on Sundays. Many Tracy restaurants deliver to MH either directly or through Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc.
Gas Stations
There are no gas stations in Moutain House at this time. There is one a couple of miles south of the 205 on International Pkwy, however, an Arco will be built in the near future at the corner of Grantline and Moutain House Pkwy (Mustang Square). There are of course many gas stations in Tracy which is not far.