Hollister, a mission town, and open ranch country — the last genuinely rural county within reach of Silicon Valley.

What it is

Hollister is the county seat and holds most of the population, a town that has grown steadily as people priced out of Santa Clara County have looked south. San Juan Bautista, a few miles north, is built around Mission San Juan Bautista — the fifteenth of the California missions, founded in 1797, and the setting Hitchcock used for the bell tower in Vertigo. Tres Pinos and Aromas are smaller again.

Beyond the towns the county is ranch land and oak hills, running south-east toward Pinnacles National Park, the youngest national park in California and the reason a good many people come here at all.

The housing stock

Newer subdivisions on Hollister’s edges, older houses in its centre, period property in San Juan Bautista, and ranch and agricultural parcels across the rest of the county. A third of what is listed at any time is land. Prices are the lowest on this site after the mountains, with considerably more land for the money.

What to know before you buy

• This is earthquake country. The San Andreas Fault runs directly through the county — Hollister is famous among geologists for creeping fault movement visible in kerbs and walls. Insurance and structural inspection deserve real attention.
• The commute is the trade. Highway 25 and then 101 to San Jose is well over an hour each way in traffic, and it is the single biggest factor in whether San Benito suits you.
• Wells and septic outside the towns, with the same cautions as Carmel Valley.
• Growth is contested. The county has fought about development for decades; zoning and building intentions are worth checking directly rather than assuming.