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Fountaingrove, Santa Rosa: Homes, Rebuilds & What to Check

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Fountaingrove is a hillside neighborhood in northeast Santa Rosa, inside city limits, made up mostly of planned subdivisions built around a private golf club. The October 2017 Tubbs Fire burned through it, so a home here is now either a house that survived or a post-fire rebuild, and that difference drives inspections, insurance and price. The area also lies within the federally recognized Fountaingrove District wine appellation.

This guide covers what to verify on a Fountaingrove property: rebuild permits and the building code, association layers, fire zone status, insurance, utilities, transfer tax and getting around. For citywide prices, rent rules and neighborhood comparisons, start with our Santa Rosa real estate guide.

Fountaingrove homes for sale

Fountaingrove market report

Where Fountaingrove is and who governs it

Fountaingrove sits in the hills above Highway 101 on Santa Rosa’s northeast side. Because it is inside the city, the City of Santa Rosa handles planning, building permits and code enforcement, and the city’s real property transfer tax applies on top of the county’s.

Santa Rosa Water supplies drinking water and sewer service here, as it does across the city. The city’s utility reports more than 53,000 water accounts and more than 49,000 sewer accounts, and wastewater goes to the Laguna Treatment Plant, which runs a regional reuse system serving about 230,000 people.

The name is older than the subdivisions. Fountaingrove was a 19th-century utopian community founded by Thomas Lake Harris, and its vineyards and winery were managed by Kanaye Nagasawa. The Round Barn, built in 1899 by carpenter John Lindsay for Nagasawa from Harris’s plans, stood above the city for 118 years before it was lost in the 2017 fires.

Housing stock: survivors, rebuilds and open space

Most of Fountaingrove is detached single-family housing on hillside and golf-course lots, laid out as planned communities with private streets in some sections and shared open space. One example is Fountaingrove II, described by its open space association as nearly 600 homes, with recorded documents going back to a 1991 planned community policy statement and a 1996 open space declaration covering its East, West and Summit sections.

The fire changed the mix. Citywide, the October 2017 firestorm destroyed more than 3,000 residential units in Santa Rosa, and by October 2025 just over 2,500 structures had been rebuilt, with nearly 850 housing units still in permit review or under construction, according to the city’s recovery dashboard as reported by KRCB. Fountaingrove was one of six “Resilient City” zoning areas the city created to ease rebuilding.

On a single street you may find a 1990s house that survived, a 2020 rebuild and a lot that is still vacant. Those are different products. Compare a rebuild with other rebuilds and a survivor with other survivors, and treat a vacant lot as land, with its own questions about permits, utilities and fire access.

Rebuilds and the wildfire building code

For years, California’s wildfire construction rules sat in Chapter 7A of the California Building Code, which set materials and construction methods for exterior wildfire exposure in mapped zones. Many Fountaingrove rebuilds were permitted under that chapter.

That has changed. California adopted a stand-alone California Wildland-Urban Interface Code as Part 7 of Title 24, replacing Chapter 7A, and the 2025 edition of the state building standards code, including Part 7, took effect on January 1, 2026. A home started after that date may be reviewed under different rules than its neighbor permitted in 2019.

Before you rely on a rebuild’s age or a seller’s description, work through the records:

Pull the permit history from the City of Santa Rosa for the address, including demolition, rebuild, solar, pool and any later additions.
Confirm each permit reached final inspection. An open or expired permit is a negotiation item and can delay a lender or insurer.
Ask for the approved plans, the code edition the permit was issued under, and any contractor or window, roof and solar warranties that transfer.
Compare permitted square footage and bedroom count with the listing and the county assessor’s record.
Have a general home inspector, and where useful a roofer or a wildfire-hardening specialist, review the house against what the permit says was built.

Fire zones, defensible space and insurance

CAL FIRE’s Office of the State Fire Marshal maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones. Its State Responsibility Area maps took effect in April 2024, and it released Local Responsibility Area maps, which cover cities such as Santa Rosa, in four phases between February 10 and March 24, 2025.

Permit Sonoma posts a separate LRA map for the City of Santa Rosa, so check the specific parcel rather than the neighborhood name. Our guide to fire hazard severity zones in the North Bay explains what each zone means.

Fire isn’t the only mapped hazard to check. The U.S. Geological Survey has traced the Rodgers Creek fault through central Santa Rosa, and where a parcel lies in a state Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zone, the seller must disclose it and most new homes need a geologic investigation by a California-licensed geologist before a permit is issued. The California Geological Survey’s EQ Zapp map shows fault and seismic hazard zones by parcel, and the natural hazard disclosure report in escrow will state them.

If the home is in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, Civil Code section 1102.19 has required the seller, since July 1, 2021, to give the buyer documentation of defensible space compliance where a local ordinance or an inspection program provides it. If the seller has none, buyer and seller sign an agreement that the buyer will obtain it; where an inspection program exists, that is due within one year of closing. Our page on the AB 38 defensible space inspection walks through it.

Get insurance quotes before you remove contingencies. The California FAIR Plan’s dwelling policy is a named-peril policy covering fire, lightning, internal explosion and smoke, and the FAIR Plan suggests difference-in-conditions, flood or earthquake policies to cover other perils. Under the Department of Insurance’s “Safer from Wildfires” regulation, announced in October 2022, insurers must offer discounts for home hardening and defensible space and tell policyholders their wildfire risk score, which they can appeal.

Keep a file of roof, vent and vegetation work, because it supports those discounts. Our guides to getting homeowners insurance during escrow and wildfire home hardening go further. Diamond may refer you to partners we work with; you’re free to choose any provider.

Associations and the Fountaingrove Club

Many Fountaingrove homes sit under more than one layer of private rules. An open space association may be limited to maintaining open space, as the Fountaingrove II association’s articles describe, while a separate subdivision association may set dues, architectural review and use rules. Read every layer; our explainer on how HOAs work covers the basics.

When a home is in a common interest development, Civil Code section 4525 requires the seller to provide the governing documents, a statement of current and special assessments and anything unpaid, unresolved violation notices, any rental restrictions, board-approved assessment changes and, on request, the last 12 months of approved board minutes.

The Fountaingrove Club is a private, member-owned club with an 18-hole course designed by Ted Robinson Sr., managed by Troon Privé since January 2019. Its clubhouse was destroyed in the Tubbs Fire, and a new two-story, 22,100-square-foot clubhouse costing $20 million was completed in December 2021. The club lists family and individual memberships but does not publish prices, and its site does not say membership comes with buying a home, so confirm costs and terms with the club directly.

Layer	What it controls	Where to get it
City of Santa Rosa	Zoning, building permits, city transfer tax, water and sewer	City permit records and utility account
Open space association	Maintenance of common open space	Recorded declaration, listed in the preliminary title report
Subdivision HOA, if any	Dues, CC&Rs, design review, rental rules	Seller’s Civil Code 4525 package
Fountaingrove Club	Golf, athletic and social membership	The club’s membership office

The Fountaingrove District wine appellation

The Fountaingrove District American Viticultural Area, defined at 27 CFR 9.250, took effect on March 20, 2015. The federal rule describes about 38,000 acres northeast of Santa Rosa on the western slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, with about 35 commercial vineyards covering roughly 500 acres when it was approved.

The appellation is much larger than the neighborhood; its western boundary follows Mendocino Avenue and Bicentennial Way, and it runs east to the Napa County line. AVA status is about wine labels, not zoning, so it doesn’t by itself let you plant, make or sell wine on a residential lot. See our guide to Sonoma County wine appellations for how the regions fit together.

Getting around and nearby areas

Highway 101 is the main link south toward Marin and San Francisco. The nearest SMART rail stations are Santa Rosa North at 1500 Guerneville Road and Sonoma County Airport at 1130 Airport Boulevard; the line’s Larkspur station at 600 Larkspur Landing Circle connects to the ferry. Our page on homes near SMART and the ferry compares options.

Buyers who look at Fountaingrove often compare it with Rincon Valley, east of downtown, and with Oakmont off Highway 12, which has its own association structure. At the higher end of the price range, our Napa and Sonoma luxury real estate guide covers estate-level due diligence.

Selling a home in Fountaingrove

Buyers here ask about the fire first, so answer it in writing before they ask. A seller who hands over a complete file usually spends less time defending the price.

Rebuild file: permits with final sign-offs, approved plans, the code edition, warranties and any solar or battery agreements.
Fire file: defensible space documentation under Civil Code 1102.19, hardening work and current insurance with its premium.
Association file: the full Civil Code 4525 package for every association that applies, ordered early.
Pricing: sales of comparable rebuilds or survivors on similar lots and views, not a neighborhood average; our comparative market analysis guide shows how.

Transfer tax in Santa Rosa is the county’s $0.55 per $500 of value plus the city’s $2.00 per $1,000, or $3.10 per $1,000 in all. On a $1,200,000 sale that’s $1,320 to the county and $2,400 to the city, $3,720 in total. In Diamond’s North Bay markets the seller customarily pays, but it’s negotiable and local custom varies; our California transfer tax guide has the details.

Questions people ask

Is Fountaingrove part of the City of Santa Rosa?

Yes. Fountaingrove is inside Santa Rosa city limits, so the city issues building permits, provides water and sewer through Santa Rosa Water, and charges its $2.00 per $1,000 transfer tax on top of the county’s rate.

How much of Fountaingrove burned in the Tubbs Fire?

We haven’t found an official neighborhood-level count. CAL FIRE lists the Tubbs Fire at 36,807 acres, 5,636 structures and 22 deaths across Napa and Sonoma counties, and more than 3,000 residential units were destroyed in Santa Rosa alone. Check the history of the specific address.

What does a Fountaingrove Club membership cost?

The club doesn’t publish prices on its membership pages. It lists family and individual memberships with access to golf, the athletic center, tennis and the pool. Ask the club’s membership office for current initiation and dues, and confirm in writing whether any membership transfers with a home.

Is there an HOA in Fountaingrove?

Often more than one. Some sections have an open space maintenance association, and many subdivisions have their own homeowners association with dues and design rules. The seller’s Civil Code 4525 package and the preliminary title report show which apply.

Were Fountaingrove rebuilds built to wildfire standards?

Rebuilds in mapped zones were generally reviewed under Chapter 7A of the California Building Code. Since January 1, 2026, the new California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Part 7 of Title 24, replaces that chapter. Confirm what applied to a given house from its permit file.

Is Fountaingrove in a very high fire hazard severity zone?

Check the parcel, not the neighborhood. CAL FIRE released Local Responsibility Area maps in early 2025, and Permit Sonoma posts the City of Santa Rosa’s map. The natural hazard disclosure report in escrow will also state the zone.

Is Fountaingrove a wine region?

Yes. The Fountaingrove District AVA took effect in 2015 and covers about 38,000 acres northeast of Santa Rosa. The appellation is much larger than the residential neighborhood and doesn’t change residential zoning.

If you’re weighing a Fountaingrove purchase or preparing a rebuilt home for sale, we can pull the permit, fire zone and association records for the specific address and price it against true comparables. Start with a home valuation, or see our wider Sonoma County guide.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.