Top Realtors in Glen Ellen, CA (2026 Guide)

For Glen Ellen, hire an agent who has sold hillside and creekside homes here before and can read what drives value in a village of about 1,080 homes: the water source, sewer or septic, any fire rebuild history, and what the Sonoma Developmental Center plans mean for nearby blocks. These licensed agents list Glen Ellen or the neighboring Sonoma Valley towns on their public profiles.

Redfin put the median sale price for ZIP code 95442, which also covers Eldridge and overlaps the Kenwood area, at $1,554,327 in August 2026 (Redfin).

Glen Ellen at a glance

Glen Ellen is an unincorporated village in the middle of Sonoma Valley, so Sonoma County, not a city council, sets its planning and permit rules. ATTOM counts about 1,080 residential properties here, averaging 1,798 square feet, with roughly 22 residential sales over the past year (ATTOM). Redfin’s market page for 95442, covering the three months to June 2026, showed homes taking a median of 84 days to sell, 30 days longer than a year before, at a sale-to-list ratio of 98.1% (Redfin: 95442 market).

With so few sales, any single transaction can move the averages, which is why a Glen Ellen price opinion should rest on named comparable homes rather than the ZIP median.

Parks, preserves and the mountain

Jack London State Historic Park spreads across about 1,570 acres of Sonoma Mountain above the village, with more than 29 miles of trails, the surviving walls of Wolf House, which burned in 1913, and the House of Happy Walls museum. Jack London Park Partners runs it, the first nonprofit to take over management of a state park (Jack London State Historic Park). Sonoma Valley Regional Park borders the village off Highway 12, with the paved Valley of the Moon Trail and the Elizabeth Perrone Dog Park; parking is $7 (Sonoma Valley Regional Park). Along the Sonoma Highway, the Bouverie Preserve covers more than 500 acres around Stuart Creek and is open to visitors only during scheduled events (All Hands Ecology).

The land also carries wine names. The USGS Glen Ellen map is one of those used to define the Sonoma Valley AVA, established in 1981 (27 CFR 9.29), and the Sonoma Mountain AVA, created in 1985, begins at the 400-foot contour on the slopes above town (27 CFR 9.102).

The Sonoma Developmental Center plan

The former state campus in Eldridge, just south of the village, is slated for major redevelopment. The county’s 2022 Specific Plan set a base of 620 homes, each capped at 1,800 square feet, and protected 700 acres of open space (Permit Sonoma: 2022 plan). The developer’s application, deemed complete in March 2025, asks for 990 homes, 200 of them affordable to lower-income households, about 130,000 square feet of commercial space and a 150-room hotel, and Permit Sonoma says no Draft EIR will be released during 2026 (Permit Sonoma: SDC project).

County rules and systems in Glen Ellen

• Water: the Valley of the Moon Water District serves a 12-square-mile area from Glen Ellen to the City of Sonoma, mostly with Russian River water bought from Sonoma Water plus its own wells; outside established systems, thousands of rural households and farms depend on private wells (Civil Grand Jury).
• Sewer: the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District serves an area from Glen Ellen in the north to Schellville in the south (Civil Grand Jury), so some village homes connect to sewer while others use septic. Confirm which applies to the parcel.
• Fire service: Sonoma Valley Fire District formed on July 1, 2020, by consolidating the Glen Ellen and Valley of the Moon fire districts with the Mayacamas volunteer company, and covers about 74 square miles (SVFD overview). It enforces the county’s year-round defensible-space rules in County Code Chapter 13A (SVFD: legal requirements).
• Fire history: the October 2017 Nuns Fire started on Highway 12 north of Glen Ellen, and, with the other fires of the Central LNU Complex, burned 44,573 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties and destroyed 1,355 structures (CAL FIRE); at the Bouverie Preserve alone, it burned about 75% of the wildlands and 7 of 9 buildings (All Hands Ecology). On a rebuilt home, ask for the permits and final inspections.
• Vacation rentals: Permit Sonoma handles permits and licenses in eligible zones, and in 2023 staff and the Planning Commission recommended an exclusion zone for a 22-parcel Glen Ellen neighborhood that already had 3 vacation rental permits (Permit Sonoma: ZCE23-0001). Check the adopted map.
• Transit: Sonoma County Transit Route 30 stops at Arnold Drive and London Ranch Road and at the Sonoma Developmental Center on its run between Santa Rosa and Sonoma Plaza (Sonoma County Transit).
• Schools and taxes: Glen Ellen’s public schools are run by the Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD), and as an unincorporated area Glen Ellen pays only the county transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000 (Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder).

Agents who list Glen Ellen or Sonoma Valley

In alphabetical order. A few profiles name Glen Ellen itself; the rest list nearby Sonoma, Eldridge or El Verano, as the last column shows.

11 agents, in alphabetical order. 3 of them name Glen Ellen on a public profile; the other 8 list a nearby town or the wider county, as the last column shows.

Interview questions for a Glen Ellen agent

1. Water district, mutual company or well? Ask the agent to confirm the source for the parcel and, for a well, to arrange a yield and water-quality test.
2. Sewer or septic? If the home is outside the sanitation district, ask for the county septic permit record and an inspection that includes pumping the tank.
3. Was the house rebuilt after 2017? Ask for building permits, final sign-offs and any defensible-space report, and how insurers have treated recent sales on that road.
4. Which sales would you compare? In a village with about 22 sales a year, the agent should name the homes and explain each adjustment.
5. How close is the SDC campus? Buyers in Eldridge and along Arnold Drive should follow the EIR and what 990 proposed homes could mean for traffic and services.
6. Can it be rented short term? Have the agent check zoning and the county’s vacation-rental map for the parcel before you count on income.

For more on the village, read our Glen Ellen community guide and the guide to hillside living on Sonoma Mountain. Compare agent lists for Kenwood, Sonoma and Sonoma County. Rural buyers should see our wells and septic guide and vacation rental rules, and our explainer on buying beyond city limits covers how county rules differ.

Glen Ellen questions

Does the City of Sonoma govern Glen Ellen?

No. Glen Ellen is an unincorporated community, so Sonoma County handles zoning, permits and vacation-rental rules, and no city transfer tax is added to the county’s $1.10 per $1,000.

How many homes sell in Glen Ellen each year?

Roughly 22 residential sales in the past year, out of about 1,080 residential properties, according to ATTOM.

Will the Sonoma Developmental Center project be built soon?

Not soon. The application for 990 homes and a hotel is still in environmental review, and the county doesn’t expect to publish the draft environmental report during 2026.

Who provides fire protection in Glen Ellen?

Sonoma Valley Fire District, formed in 2020 when the Glen Ellen and Valley of the Moon districts consolidated with the Mayacamas volunteer company.

Sources & notes

• California DRE license lookup
• ATTOM: Glen Ellen; Redfin: 95442; Redfin: 95442 housing market (retrieved October 2026)
• Jack London SHP fact sheet; Sonoma Valley Regional Park; Bouverie Preserve; 27 CFR 9.29; 27 CFR 9.102
• Permit Sonoma: SDC Specific Plan, SDC project, ZCE23-0001; Civil Grand Jury; Sonoma Valley Fire District; SVFD defensible space; CAL FIRE: Nuns Fire; Route 30; SVUSD; Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder

Glen Ellen is not covered by Census QuickFacts, so local figures come from ATTOM and Redfin. Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.