The Knight Group Logo
The Knight Group Logo

Mills Estates Real Estate | Burlingame, CAListings

Mills Estates Real Estate | Burlingame, CA

Mills Estates is a Burlingame neighborhood in the city’s southern section, positioned near the boundary with Millbrae and taking its name from the Mills family — one of the most significant early California land grant families, whose holdings in San Mateo County shaped the Peninsula’s development history. The neighborhood reflects Burlingame’s established mid-century residential character, with single-family homes on tree-lined streets, proximity to the schools and amenities that define the city’s appeal, and pricing that represents a mid-range entry into Burlingame’s single-family market.

Mills Estates Real Estate | Burlingame, CA

Mills Estates is a established southern residential neighborhood in Burlingame, in the southern portion adjacent to the Millbrae border. Mills Estates occupies the southern section of Burlingame, with Mills Elementary School access and the established residential character this area provides. The community provides direct access to Burlingame’s amenities, schools, and employment corridors while maintaining its own residential identity within the broader city fabric.

Neighborhood Character

Mills Estates reflects the residential pattern of Burlingame’s established southern residential areas, with the property mix, lot sizes, and streetscape character that the neighborhood’s position within the city defines. Buyers drawn to this area typically prioritize the specific combination of location, school access, and price point that Mills Estates delivers within the Burlingame market.

Market Position

$2.2M–$3.5M: Entry Mills Estates. Properties at the more accessible end of this neighborhood’s range, providing the Mills Estates address within Burlingame.

$3.5M–$6.5M: The primary Mills Estates range. Well-positioned properties delivering the neighborhood’s full residential value.

Current Mills Estates Listings

Connect with TKG about Mills Estates real estate in Burlingame.

Search all homes for sale in Burlingame real estate and explore the broader San Mateo County market.

[showcaseidx_hotsheet name=”Los Angeles”]

Mills Estates Real Estate | Burlingame, CA in Burlingame

Burlingame Real Estate: The Peninsula's Most Desirable Upscale City

Burlingame is the most broadly desirable upscale residential community on the San Francisco Peninsula, a city of approximately 32,000 residents where the combination of the Burlingame Avenue and Broadway shopping and dining districts — with independent boutiques, acclaimed restaurants, and the specialty retail that draws shoppers from across the Peninsula — the Caltrain station connecting to San Francisco in 30 minutes and Silicon Valley in the other direction, the Burlingame High School's strong academic performance, the California Avenue residential streets with their mature London plane trees, and the proximity to the Hillsborough border creates the Peninsula lifestyle that the largest cross-section of Peninsula buyers pursues. Burlingame consistently ranks among the top residential communities in the Bay Area across multiple quality-of-life metrics, reflecting the breadth of its appeal beyond any single demographic or buyer profile.

Burlingame's position adjacent to San Francisco International Airport creates a geographic reality that both challenges and contextualizes the residential market. The noise corridors from SFO flight paths affect portions of the city differently — the neighborhoods closest to the Bay in the eastern portion of the city experience more flight noise than the western neighborhoods closer to the Hillsborough border. Buyers researching Burlingame properties should evaluate specific neighborhood positions relative to the flight paths, as the city's topography and the flight approach patterns create significant variation in noise exposure across the relatively small area.

The Burlingame School District serves K-8 students, and the San Mateo Union High School District provides secondary education, with Burlingame High School serving the city. The Burlingame School District's academic performance and the family-oriented residential character of the established neighborhoods make Burlingame a primary destination for Peninsula family buyers.

What are the neighborhoods in Burlingame?

Burlingame's 10 GeoJSON-mapped neighborhoods span the range from the downtown commercial adjacency of Downtown Burlingame and Burlingame Village through the mid-Peninsula residential character of Burlingame Park, Burlingame Gardens, and Lyon Hoag to the hillside settings of Burlingame Hills. The Mills Estates area on the southern portion of the city and the Polo Field neighborhood reflect the variety within a city that despite its small area encompasses meaningfully different residential environments.

How is the Burlingame real estate market?

$2M–$3.2M: Entry Burlingame. Older homes in the flatland residential areas and the eastern portions of the city, providing the Burlingame address and the Caltrain access at the most accessible tier.

$3.2M–$5.5M: The primary Burlingame range. Well-maintained homes in the established residential neighborhoods with the downtown walkability and the Hillsborough border adjacency.

$5.5M–$12M+: Premium Burlingame. The Burlingame Hills estate properties, the most architecturally significant homes in the older residential areas, and the large-lot properties closest to the Hillsborough border.

Current Burlingame Listings

Connect with TKG about Burlingame real estate.

Browse all San Mateo County real estate.

More about Burlingame

Community

What is Mills Estates known for?

Mills Estates occupies the southern portion of Burlingame, near the city’s boundary with Millbrae. The neighborhood’s connection to the Mills family name reflects the historical significance of the Mills land grant, which covered a vast portion of San Mateo County in the nineteenth century and whose subdivisions shaped the residential development patterns of multiple Peninsula cities. Today Mills Estates is a fully built-out residential neighborhood without direct connection to the historic estate, but the name persists as an identifier for this section of the city.

The housing stock in Mills Estates is primarily mid-century single-family construction with the range of styles that characterize Burlingame broadly. Properties from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s predominate, with renovation levels varying from extensively updated contemporized homes to properties that retain most of their original character. The neighborhood’s southern position in Burlingame means that it draws buyers who are specifically seeking the Burlingame address and school district over the Millbrae alternatives — a choice that reflects a preference for Burlingame Elementary District schools and the Burlingame community identity over Millbrae Elementary District and the BART-Caltrain intermodal access that Millbrae’s northern position provides.

The proximity to Millbrae’s Caltrain and BART station — accessible in approximately 5 to 10 minutes from most Mills Estates addresses — is a practical transit asset that benefits from the neighborhood’s southern position without requiring residence in Millbrae. Buyers who commute using BART (to San Francisco BART-served destinations) can access the Millbrae intermodal station efficiently from Mills Estates while maintaining Burlingame’s school district assignment and community identity. This combination is a specific advantage of Mills Estates’ geographic position at the southern end of Burlingame.

Lot sizes in Mills Estates follow the Burlingame mid-section standard, with most properties on 5,000 to 7,500 square foot parcels supporting homes of 1,500 to 2,500 square feet. The neighborhood’s outdoor spaces are well-maintained — Burlingame’s mild climate and the area’s established tree canopy create backyard environments that function year-round for outdoor dining, gardening, and children’s play. For buyers with specific outdoor space priorities, Mills Estates properties should be evaluated on a parcel-by-parcel basis since lot dimensions vary more than typical grid-layout neighborhoods.

Mills Estates: Premium Southern Burlingame with Hillsborough Adjacency

Mills Estates is one of Burlingame’s premium southern neighborhoods — the area’s proximity to the Hillsborough border creates the Hillsborough-adjacent residential quality that many buyers specifically seek as the combination of Burlingame’s accessibility with the estate-scale residential character that Hillsborough typifies. The neighborhood is named for the Mills Estate — the historic estate of Darius Ogden Mills that occupied much of this part of the mid-Peninsula in the 19th century and whose subdivision created the residential neighborhoods that carry the Mills name. The larger lots, the substantial homes, and the proximity to the Canada Road open space and Crystal Springs Reservoir create the residential environment that positions Mills Estates as one of Burlingame’s most desirable addresses for the buyer who has identified the southern Burlingame / Hillsborough-adjacent premium as the residential target.

Area Details

Which schools and transit options serve Mills Estates?

Burlingame’s school district is a consistent strength that draws families from across the Peninsula. The Burlingame Elementary School District serves K-8 with a network of campuses that have maintained strong academic performance and community engagement. Roosevelt Elementary, Franklin Elementary, Washington Elementary, and Hoover Elementary serve the city’s different residential areas, with Lincoln Elementary serving students in the eastern portions. For high school, Burlingame students attend Burlingame High School in the San Mateo Union High School District — a comprehensive campus with strong academic programming and one of the better-funded public high school environments in San Mateo County. Mills High School in Millbrae also serves portions of the area. Private school options including Notre Dame de Namur University’s preparatory programs and the range of independent schools in the peninsula are accessible within 15 to 25 minutes.

Caltrain service from the Burlingame station connects north to San Francisco’s 4th and King station (approximately 25 to 30 minutes) and south through the Peninsula to San Jose (approximately 45 minutes). For commuters who use Caltrain as their primary mode, the station’s central position within the city makes it genuinely walkable or bikeable from most Burlingame residential neighborhoods. Highway 101 and Highway 280 provide freeway options for car commuters, with 101 providing the fastest direct route to SFO and the Bay corridor. The city’s Caltrain station and Broadway commercial district are the dual civic anchors that most Burlingame residents organize their daily life around.

Broadway is Burlingame’s most significant lifestyle amenity — a commercial corridor with an unusually high density of locally owned and operated restaurants, boutiques, and service businesses that reflects the city’s affluent but community-oriented residential culture. The street is walkable, maintains a genuine neighborhood commercial character, and consistently attracts new restaurant and retail openings. For buyers evaluating Burlingame against neighboring cities — Millbrae, San Mateo, Foster City — Broadway is frequently cited as a differentiating quality-of-life attribute that tips the balance toward Burlingame for lifestyle-conscious buyers.

Market Trends

How is the Burlingame Real Estate real estate market?

Burlingame is one of the San Francisco Peninsula’s most consistently desirable mid-tier luxury markets, with a 2026 median home price of approximately $2.85 to $2.9 million and strong year-over-year appreciation driven by its proximity to San Francisco International Airport, Caltrain connectivity, and the mature tree canopy that earned the city its longtime designation as the “City of Trees.” Individual sub-neighborhoods vary significantly in their price positioning: Burlingame Park sits at the top of the market at a $3.8 million median, Burlingame Village trades in the $2.05 to $3.2 million range for single-family homes, and Downtown Burlingame’s condo and apartment inventory creates a much lower sub-$1.5 million entry point into the city.

Market velocity in Burlingame reflects a moderating Bay Area environment following the intensity of the pandemic-era competition. Approximately 52% of homes sell above asking price — still a strong seller’s market indicator — but down from the 70-plus percent peaks of prior years. Homes are spending slightly more time on the market than during peak periods, giving buyers modestly more time to evaluate and negotiate than was possible in the most competitive years. For buyers who were shut out of Burlingame’s market during the peak, this moderation represents an improved entry window into a market with fundamentally strong long-term characteristics.

The fundamentals driving Burlingame’s sustained demand are structural: SFO proximity (under 5 minutes by car), Caltrain service to both San Francisco and San Jose from the Burlingame station, excellent schools in the Burlingame School District (consistently among San Mateo County’s highest performers), and the residential amenity of Broadway’s dining and retail corridor that gives Burlingame an active commercial identity that Hillsborough and other neighboring estate communities deliberately lack. These factors attract a broad buyer pool — technology and biotech professionals, frequent travelers, families focused on school quality, and buyers who value active commercial street life within a residential city framework.

Per-square-foot pricing in Burlingame ranges from approximately $900 to $1,400 depending on neighborhood, property condition, and lot size. The city’s tree-lined residential streets and well-maintained housing stock support consistent price performance across market cycles. Buyers who purchased Burlingame real estate in any prior decade have generally seen meaningful appreciation over holding periods of five years or longer, and the combination of limited supply and sustained demand is expected to continue supporting that long-term trend.

How is the Burlingame Real Estate real estate market?

Burlingame — officially designated the “City of Trees” for its famous tree-lined residential streets — is one of the San Francisco Peninsula’s most desirable family residential communities, combining the walkable downtown Broadway corridor (with its distinctive boutique retail, independent restaurants, and the Burlingame Avenue commercial strip) with the Burlingame School District’s excellent elementary schools, the convenient SFO proximity (approximately 10 minutes), and the Caltrain commute access to San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Median home prices in Burlingame range from approximately $1.6M for entry-level single-family homes to $4M+ for the larger properties in the premium neighborhoods, placing Burlingame firmly in the mid-to-upper tier of the Peninsula residential market.

Burlingame’s residential market is driven by the combination of the school district quality (the Burlingame Elementary District and the San Mateo Union High School District’s Mills High School are consistently ranked among the top in San Mateo County), the Broadway corridor’s walkable amenities, the Hillsborough adjacency (Burlingame shares borders with Hillsborough, the county’s most exclusive community, and many Burlingame neighborhoods have a character that approaches Hillsborough’s residential quality), and the Caltrain Baby Bullet stop that provides the express service to San Francisco and San Jose. The Bay Area’s persistent housing demand and Burlingame’s limited development capacity create the supply constraint that sustains consistent appreciation in the Burlingame residential market. TKG’s Peninsula expertise includes the Burlingame market and the broader North San Mateo County residential landscape.

FAQs

What is the Mills family connection to this neighborhood?

Mills Estates takes its name from the D.O. Mills family, one of San Mateo County’s most significant nineteenth-century landowners. Darius Ogden Mills was a California banking and railroad magnate whose San Mateo County estate — Millbrae (which also gave Millbrae its name) — encompassed thousands of acres across what is now multiple Peninsula cities. The subdivisions of the Mills holdings shaped the development patterns of Burlingame, Millbrae, and surrounding communities in the early twentieth century. Mills Estates as a neighborhood name reflects the historical presence of this land within the former Mills holdings, now fully developed into contemporary residential use.

Is Mills Estates closer to Millbrae or to Downtown Burlingame?

Mills Estates sits at Burlingame’s southern edge near the Millbrae boundary. Downtown Burlingame and Broadway are accessible by car in approximately 5 to 10 minutes heading north through the city. The Millbrae intermodal BART/Caltrain station is a similar distance heading south into Millbrae. The neighborhood thus occupies a useful middle position between the two commercial and transit centers, with both accessible without a lengthy drive. Buyers who use Caltrain or BART regularly may find this positioning advantageous relative to Burlingame neighborhoods that require longer drives to reach transit hubs.

What schools serve Mills Estates?

Mills Estates is served by the Burlingame Elementary School District for K-8 education. The specific elementary school campus assignment for Mills Estates addresses is typically one of the city’s southern campuses — Lincoln Elementary or Hoover Elementary — though buyers should verify current boundary assignments with the district office. For high school, Mills Estates students attend Burlingame High School in the San Mateo Union High School District. Mills High School in Millbrae is in proximity but is in a separate school district and would require inter-district transfer for most Mills Estates students.

How does Mills Estates pricing compare to other Burlingame neighborhoods?

Mills Estates’ pricing reflects its position as one of Burlingame’s mid-range sub-neighborhoods, generally trading slightly below Burlingame Park’s premium tier and at a comparable level to Burlingame Village and Burlingame Gardens. The southern position near Millbrae and the slightly dated housing stock of the neighborhood’s dominant construction era create a modest discount relative to the city’s most premium sections. For buyers who want Burlingame school district quality and community at an accessible price point, Mills Estates offers a competitive entry into the city’s single-family market.

Burlingame Real Estate FAQs

What makes Burlingame’s “City of Trees” designation so significant? Burlingame’s exceptional urban tree canopy — planted primarily in the early 20th century by the city’s founders along the residential street rights-of-way — creates one of the most distinctive streetscape environments in the Bay Area. The trees (primarily large deciduous and evergreen species including elm, sycamore, maple, and redwood) provide the aesthetic character that distinguishes Burlingame’s residential streets, and the city’s active Urban Forestry program maintains and replaces the canopy as trees reach end of life. The tree canopy is a genuine driver of residential premium in the neighborhoods where it is most developed.

How are Burlingame’s schools? The Burlingame School District (elementary and middle) consistently ranks among the top districts in San Mateo County, with high test scores and strong parent engagement. High school students attend Burlingame High School (San Mateo Union HSD) or Mills High School (for properties in certain southern portions of the city). Both high schools are highly regarded; the district assignment depends on which elementary school the student attends.

How far is Burlingame from SFO? San Francisco International Airport is approximately 3-5 miles from downtown Burlingame — one of the closest residential communities to SFO of any Bay Area city with a strong residential market. The SFO proximity creates the noise tradeoff that the buyer must evaluate (the flight paths over the Bay mean some neighborhoods experience more aircraft noise than others), but for the frequent business traveler, the SFO proximity is a genuine lifestyle convenience that the Burlingame address specifically delivers.

Explore More

Explore more Burlingame neighborhoods:

Hey, You ALMOST MISSED IT!

Lucky for you we’re looking out.

Subscribe to this Custom Search to be alerted when new properties hit the market in the area.

Choose the frequency that works for you.

get alerts

[showcaseidx_contact]