North of Montana asks 3.4 times as much as Santa Monica does as a whole.
Santa Monica, California · Neighborhood guide
North of Montana
Santa Monica's single-family streets between Montana Avenue and the canyon rim, from Ocean Avenue to 26th Street
Median askingNorth of Montana$6.7M54 for sale
See homesNorth of Montana, in short.
North of Montana, or NOMA, is the single-family part of Santa Monica between Montana Avenue and the city's northern edge at Adelaide Drive and the canyon rim, from Ocean Avenue east to 26th Street. About 89% of its zoned land is R1, and the county parcel map shows roughly 2,550 houses, most on lots of 7,500 to 9,500 square feet; 50 by 150 feet is the standard lot. County records date about half the houses to before 1940, though many have been rebuilt. On September 25, 2026, the 34 houses listed for sale here were asking about $3.9 million to $69 million, most of them between $5 million and $10 million. Montana Avenue's shops run along the southern edge.
North of Montana by the numbers.
- 9,629Population
- 65%Homeowner-occupiedoccupied homes
- 78%Bachelor's degree or higherage 25+
- $12,900/moMedian asking rentCurrent MLS listings
- $164,226Median household income
- 48.7Median age
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2019–2023; neighborhood facts compiled by The Slava House.
The single-family side of Santa Monica
Where NOMA starts and stops, and what's inside the lines.
North of Montana is the part of Santa Monica between Montana Avenue and the city's northern edge, from Ocean Avenue east to 26th Street. Locals shorten it to NOMA. The north edge follows Adelaide Drive and the rim of Santa Monica Canyon, which is in the City of Los Angeles, and 26th Street is the line with Brentwood. The city's map of neighborhood associations draws the south edge just behind the shops on the north side of Montana, so the storefronts sit on the line rather than inside it.
It's almost all houses. About 89% of the zoned land inside our map is R1, the city's single-unit zone, and the county parcel map shows roughly 2,550 houses. San Vicente Boulevard cuts across on a diagonal with a wide grass median, and most of the neighborhood's condos and apartments sit along San Vicente and Ocean Avenue. Everything else is a grid of numbered streets from 4th to 25th, plus Lincoln Boulevard and Euclid Street, crossed by Georgina, Marguerita, Alta and Carlyle avenues.
North of San Vicente a handful of short streets, among them La Mesa Drive, Woodacres Road and Esparta Way, run along the canyon rim. Census numbers for the two tracts that cover most of NOMA show about 65% of households own their home, against about 29% for Santa Monica as a whole.
Live from the MLS
North of Montana compared with all of Santa Monica.
A square foot in North of Montana costs 62% more than across Santa Monica.
North of Montana$1,694
All of Santa Monica$1,045
Listings in North of Montana have been on the market 22 fewer days than across Santa Monica.
What’s for sale
67% of the homes for sale in North of Montana are single-family houses.
- Single-family67%36 homes
- Condo31%17 homes
- Other2%1 home
Homes for sale in North of Montana are 2.1 times the size of those across Santa Monica.
North of Montana3,486 sq ft
All of Santa Monica1,685 sq ft
Each card sets the median in North of Montana against all of Santa Monica. The arrow on a card lists every Santa Monica neighborhood we cover. Asking prices for homes on the market right now inside each mapped area, not sale prices. Updated October 4, 2026, 5:00 AM PT
Homes for sale in North of Montana
54 active listings in the mapped area
$795,000
Condo1 bd1 ba679 sqft
515 San Vicente D
$3,995,000
Single-Family3 bd3 ba1,947 sqft
533 Lincoln Boulevard
$1,945,000
Condo2 bd3 ba1,624 sqft
701 Ocean Avenue 110
$829,900
Co Ownership1 bd1 ba510 sqft
201 Ocean
$4,299,000
Condo3 bd3 ba2,694 sqft
603 Ocean Avenue 2A
$6,895,000
Single-Family5 bd6 ba3,723 sqft
363 22nd Street
$13,998,000
Single-Family6 bd8 ba8,008 sqft
528 Marguerita Avenue
$10,495,000
Single-Family6 bd9 ba7,027 sqft
618 15th Street
$8,295,000
Single-Family5 bd5 ba5,129 sqft
223 24th Street
$7,595,000
Single-Family5 bd5 ba3,280 sqft
421 19th Street
$12,785,000
Single-Family7 bd6 ba5,547 sqft
248 19th Street
$5,695,000
Single-Family5 bd4 ba5,034 sqft
215 23rd Street
$4,995,000
Single-Family3 bd3 ba2,148 sqft
1902 Georgina Avenue
$3,895,000
Single-Family5 bd3 ba2,713 sqft
624 Alta Avenue
$3,395,000
Single-Family3 bd3 ba2,039 sqft
756 Kingman Avenue
$12,495,000
Single-Family5 bd5 ba4,260 sqft
624 23rd Street
Still deciding? Ask me.
I’m a Long Beach Realtor and I work Santa Monica too. Tell me what you’re after in North of Montana and I’ll help you get there.
Slava Ploshkin · DRE #02323623English and Russian
Where to eat, shop, and explore in North of Montana
The restaurants, cafes, shops, parks, and landmarks that give North of Montana its everyday character, most within a short walk.
11 places
Pick one and I’ll show you where it is.
Park20 min walk
The city's park along the top of the bluff on Ocean Avenue, about 26 acres in all. The stretch north of Montana is NOMA's western edge.
Open 5 a.m. to midnight. The views are best in the last hour before sunset.
Park15 min walk
A small grass park at 600 Palisades Avenue, in the middle of the blocks west of 7th Street.
Recreation10 min walk
The wide grass median down the middle of San Vicente, which the city maps as a park of about 10 acres. It's NOMA's running track.
Shopping · Nearby15 min walk
The neighborhood's shopping street, with cafes, restaurants and small shops from about 6th Street to 17th. NOMA's south edge runs just behind the storefronts on its north side.
Coffee · Nearby15 min walk
An espresso bar at 925 Montana Avenue.
Restaurant · Nearby15 min walk
The burger and beer bar at 1018 Montana Avenue.
Landmark · Nearby15 min walk
The Streamline Moderne movie house the Douglas Aircraft Company built in 1940. The American Cinematheque runs it as a repertory theater.
Landmark · Nearby20 min walk
The Santa Monica Public Library branch at 1704 Montana Avenue.
Recreation · Nearby10 min walk
The public staircase at 4th Street and Adelaide Drive that drops into Santa Monica Canyon. People use it for workouts.
Shopping · Nearby30 min walk
The small shopping court at 26th Street and San Vicente, just across NOMA's east edge.
Beach · Nearby20 min walk
The city-run community beach house on the sand at 415 PCH, below the bluff at the west end of NOMA.
Many NOMA houses are newer than their records say
What the lots look like and what's standing on them.
The standard NOMA lot is 50 by 150 feet, about 7,500 square feet, and the county's parcel map shows roughly 960 house lots right at that size. About a thousand more run 7,600 to 9,500 square feet, and the median house lot works out to about 8,700. The biggest lots are in two places. West of 7th Street, between the First Court alley and Adelaide Drive, the zoning code keeps lots at least 100 feet wide and 175 feet deep, and on the canyon-rim streets north of San Vicente, such as Woodacres Road and La Mesa Drive, the median house lot is about 17,400 square feet, twice the NOMA norm.
County records date about half the houses to before 1940 and about 15% to 2000 or later. That recorded year usually describes the first house on the lot, and plenty of NOMA houses have been gutted, added onto or replaced, so a 1925 date can sit on a house that's mostly new. The 34 houses listed for sale in late September 2026 ran from one built in 1912 to new construction due in 2027 and 2028. The median house on the county roll is about 3,300 square feet.
The city has designated more than 30 landmarks and structures of merit inside our NOMA map, most of them houses from 1905 to 1926. Six are by the architect John Byers, two of them adobes, and Oscar Niemeyer's 1964 Strick House on La Mesa Drive is on the list too. In 2016 the city made San Vicente's courtyard apartment buildings a historic district.
Condos and apartments are a small market of their own. About 1,000 condo units sit mostly on Ocean Avenue and San Vicente, in buildings from the 1960s and 70s, and the county counts about 1,250 apartment units, nearly all in buildings from before 1979.
- Standard lot 50 by 150 feet; median house lot about 8,700 sq ft
- About half the houses date from before 1940 on paper, and many have been rebuilt
- Condos cluster on Ocean Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard
The R1 rules decide the size of the next house
The code gives you more floor area if you keep the old house.
Most of NOMA is zoned R1, and Santa Monica's standards are strict about bulk. A new house can have two stories and reach 28 feet, with no wall higher than 23 feet, on lots up to 20,000 square feet. Floor area is capped as a share of the lot: 0.45 for a two-story house, 0.5 for a one-story house under 18 feet tall, and 0.55 if you add on to the existing house instead of demolishing it. On a 7,500-square-foot lot that works out to about 3,375 square feet for a new two-story house, or about 4,125 if you keep and expand what's there.
The code also requires upper-story stepbacks, side setbacks that add up to 30% of the lot width on a two-story house, and a 15-foot rear setback, so second floors tend to pull back from the neighbors. Balconies and roof decks are capped at 300 square feet or 3% of the lot, whichever is less.
R1 lots can add an ADU and a junior ADU, and the code has a section for duplexes and lot splits on single-family lots, the city's version of the state's SB 9. Before you plan anything, check whether the house is a city landmark, a structure of merit or on the historic resources inventory, because that changes what you can take down.
- Two stories and 28 feet, with walls no higher than 23 feet on most lots
- Floor area 0.45 of the lot for a new two-story house, 0.55 if you keep and add on
- ADUs are allowed, and so are duplexes and lot splits under the city's SB 9 rules
A state fault zone runs through the middle of NOMA
What the 2018 earthquake maps mean when you buy here, and where the 2025 fire map lands.
In January 2018 the California Geological Survey released new Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zone maps for this part of the Westside, and the zone crosses NOMA. When I lay the state zone over the county parcel map, about 760 of the roughly 2,550 house lots, around 30%, fall inside it, mostly on the numbered streets between 12th and 25th.
Being in the zone doesn't mean a fault runs under a particular house. It means the seller has to disclose it on the Natural Hazard Disclosure, and state law has the city require a geologic investigation before it approves development projects in the zone. If you're buying to rebuild, ask the city what fault study it will want for that lot before your contingencies run out, because the report can change where the new house goes.
The north half has its own paperwork. CAL FIRE's 2025 fire hazard map for Santa Monica rates San Vicente Boulevard and the canyon-rim streets, like Adelaide Place, Woodacres Road and La Mesa Drive, Very High. Georgina Avenue is mostly High, Carlyle Avenue mostly Moderate, and most blocks from Marguerita down to Montana are outside any zone; on my grid, a little over half of NOMA's land falls in one of the three levels. A Very High zone goes on the Natural Hazard Disclosure, and after the January 2025 Palisades Fire burned the hills to the northwest, I'd get a written insurance quote on any house between San Vicente and Carlyle before writing an offer.
- About 30% of NOMA house lots sit in a state earthquake fault zone
- Sellers must disclose it, and rebuilds can need a geologic study
- About half the land is in a 2025 fire zone, Very High along San Vicente
Rent control and a NOMA house
What applies if you rent out a house here, or buy one of the older apartment buildings.
People often say Santa Monica's rent control doesn't apply to houses. That's mostly true for the rent. The state's Costa-Hawkins Act removed rent-level control from single-family houses and separately sold condos when the tenant moved in after January 1, 1996, or the home is vacant or owner-occupied. The city's just-cause eviction rules still cover those homes, though, so a tenant can't simply be told to leave when the lease ends.
Some houses are fully exempt. The Rent Control Board grants a permanent exemption to a single-family home that wasn't being rented on July 1, 1984, or that the owner lived in for two years, and at the end of 2025 it counted 3,596 houses exempt by declaration and 370 by application. Before you count on rental income, ask the seller for the exemption paperwork or check the property's status with the Rent Control Board.
Apartments are a different story. Units built before April 10, 1979 are generally controlled, and the county dates nearly all of NOMA's roughly 1,250 apartment units to buildings from before then. The Board set the September 2026 general adjustment at 2.6%, capped at $70 a month for units at $2,674 or more.
- Costa-Hawkins frees the rent on most houses, but just-cause eviction rules still apply
- A house can be fully exempt if it wasn't rented on July 1, 1984, or after two years of owner occupancy
- Older apartment buildings are controlled; the September 2026 increase is 2.6%
What it's like to live near Montana Avenue
Most errands are a walk to Montana. Your elementary school depends on your street.
Most errands happen on Montana Avenue, between about 6th Street and 17th: cafes, restaurants, small shops. Father's Office pours beer and makes burgers at 1018 Montana, and the Aero Theatre at 1328 was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1940 and now shows repertory films for the American Cinematheque. The Montana Branch Library is at 1704.
Palisades Park runs along the bluff on Ocean Avenue, about 26 acres in all, and its north end is NOMA's western edge. From there the 4th Street stairs at Adelaide Drive drop into Santa Monica Canyon, and people use them for workouts. San Vicente's grass median, which the city maps as a park of about 10 acres, is where the neighborhood runs.
The beach is below the bluff, and the city-run Annenberg Community Beach House sits on the sand at 415 PCH. At the east end, the Brentwood Country Mart is just across 26th Street at San Vicente.
NOMA is in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. When I ran addresses through the district's school locator in September 2026, the ones on 14th Street and west came back Roosevelt Elementary at 801 Montana, and the ones on 15th and east came back Franklin Elementary at 2400 Montana. All of them went on to Lincoln Middle School and Santa Monica High. Boundaries move, so check your own address with the district before you count on a school.
- Montana Avenue's shops and the Aero Theatre are on the south edge
- Palisades Park, the 4th Street stairs, and the San Vicente median for exercise
- Roosevelt or Franklin Elementary by street, then Lincoln Middle and Samohi
What's listed, and where I start on a house
On September 25, 2026, NOMA held well over a third of the houses listed in all of Santa Monica.
The day I pulled listings for this guide, September 25, 2026, our NOMA map showed 34 houses for sale, asking from about $3.9 million to $69 million. Twenty-two of them were between $5 million and $10 million, and nine were above $10 million. There were also 14 condos, from about $775,000 to $5.9 million. Santa Monica as a whole had about 80 houses listed that day, so NOMA held well over a third of the city's house inventory.
On any NOMA house I start with the permit history, because the recorded year built often isn't the house you're buying. Then the Natural Hazard Disclosure for the fault zone, and a sewer line and foundation inspection on the older houses. If you're buying to rebuild, have an architect run the R1 numbers and ask the city about a fault study before the contingency period ends. If you plan to rent the house out, get its rent control status in writing.
- 34 houses listed on September 25, 2026, asking about $3.9M to $69M
- Permit history first, since the recorded year built often isn't the house you're buying
- Fault zone, R1 numbers and rent control status before you remove contingencies
More North of Montana facts
- ~2,550HousesSingle-family parcels on the county map
- 50 × 150 ftStandard lot7,500 sq ft; median house lot about 8,700
- 89%Zoned R1Of the zoned land inside our NOMA map
- ~52%Built before 1940By the county's recorded year built
- ~30%In a state fault zoneOf house lots, per the 2018 Alquist-Priolo maps
- 65%Owner-occupiedOf households in the two main census tracts
Rentals in North of Montana
33 active rentals in the mapped area
$32,500/mo
Single-Family4 bd5 ba4,057 sqft
730 San Vicente Boulevard
$40,000/mo
Single-Family5 bd7 ba4,800 sqft
133 17th Street
$2,650/mo
Apartment1 bd1 ba775 sqft
630 San Vicente W
$9,000/mo
Apartment2 bd1 ba1,200 sqft
423 W Ocean Avenue 5
$8,900/mo
Condo2 bd2 ba1,350 sqft
153 San Vicente Boulevard 4G
$12,900/mo
Condo3 bd2 ba1,750 sqft
153 San Vicente Boulevard 4H
$10,500/mo
Single-Family3 bd3 ba1,556 sqft
439 23rd Street
$27,500/mo
Condo4 bd5 ba3,175 sqft
515 Ocean Avenue SPHC
$22,000/mo
Single-Family4 bd5 ba3,654 sqft
231 14th Street
$3,500/mo
Apartment2 bd1 ba600 sqft
728 Euclid C
$2,600/mo
Condo1 ba424 sqft
757 Ocean Avenue 105
$4,200/mo
Condo1 bd1 ba726 sqft
757 OCEAN Avenue 314
$4,295/mo
Condo2 bd1 ba1,200 sqft
2227 Montana Avenue
$15,200/mo
Single-Family3 bd3 ba2,262 sqft
423 15th Street
$4,300/mo
Condo1 bd1 ba789 sqft
134 D San Vicente Blvd
$13,000/mo
Single-Family3 bd4 ba2,123 sqft
339 Adelaide Drive
Compare North of Montana
Compare North of Montana with another neighborhood
Questions & answers
North of Montana is the part of Santa Monica between Montana Avenue and the city's northern edge at Adelaide Drive and the rim of Santa Monica Canyon, from Ocean Avenue east to 26th Street. The city's neighborhood association map starts it just behind the shops on the north side of Montana. Brentwood, in the City of Los Angeles, begins across 26th Street.
Explore near North of Montana
2.5 mi awayOcean ParkSanta Monica's beach corner south of Pico Boulevard, with Main Street running through itRead the guide ›2.6 mi awaySunset Park1930s and 40s houses between Pico Boulevard and Santa Monica Airport, with Clover Park in the middleRead the guide ›3.5 mi away · Los AngelesBrentwoodCanyon houses above Sunset and big-lot streets below it, on the west side of the 405Read the guide ›4.0 mi away · Los AngelesVeniceSmall beach lots on canals and walk streets, inside the City of Los AngelesRead the guide ›6.0 mi away · Beverly HillsThe Beverly Hills FlatsCurving 1906 streets between Santa Monica Boulevard and Sunset, each planted with its own kind of treeRead the guide ›7.5 mi away · Beverly HillsTrousdale EstatesMidcentury houses on graded hillside pads above Sunset, held to 14 feet so the views stay openRead the guide ›
Where we check the facts
The facts in this guide (districts, zones, rules) come from the official records below. We re-check them before property tours.
- City of Santa Monica: neighborhood organization boundariesgisdata.santamonica.govwhere NOMA starts and stops
- Santa Monica Municipal Code, Chapter 9.07 (R1 district)ecode360.comheight, floor area, setbacks, lot size
- California Geological Survey: Alquist-Priolo fault zonesconservation.ca.govwhat the fault zone requires
- California Geological Survey: EQ Zapp mapmaps.conservation.ca.govfault zone by address
- Public Resources Code 2621.9leginfo.legislature.ca.govseller disclosure in a fault zone
- CAL FIRE: Fire Hazard Severity Zone viewerexperience.arcgis.comfire zones by address
Show all 17 sourcesShow fewer
- CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones (LRA 2025), LAFD map servicefiregis.lafd.org2025 zones on a grid over NOMA
- City of Santa Monica: Local Responsibility Area Fire Hazard Severity Zonessantamonica.govModerate, High and Very High areas in the city
- Santa Monica Rent Control Board: 2025 annual reportsmgov.netCosta-Hawkins, exemptions, controlled units
- Santa Monica Rent Control: maximum lawful rentsantamonica.govSeptember 2026 general adjustment
- SMMUSD school locatorlocator.pea.powerschool.comschool assignment by address
- City of Santa Monica: Palisades Parksantamonica.govpark size and hours
- American Cinematheque: Aero Theatreamericancinematheque.comtheater history
- City of Santa Monica GIS datagisdata.santamonica.govzoning, landmarks, historic districts, parks
- Los Angeles County Assessorportal.assessor.lacounty.govlot sizes, house counts, recorded build years
- U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Surveydata.census.govowner and renter shares
- CRMLSgo.crmls.orgactive listings
Photo credits (8)
- Sunset through the palms of Palisades Park near Ocean Avenue and San Vicente BoulevardSpikebrennan, CC BY 2.5
- Looking north from the Palisades Park bluff toward Santa Monica Canyon and MalibuMike McBey, CC BY 2.0
- Late afternoon on 15th Street, looking north from Montana AvenueScarlet Sappho, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Fan palms in Palisades Park near San Vicente BoulevardSpikebrennan, CC BY 2.5
- The Santa Monica Stairs at 4th Street and Adelaide Drive, on the way down into Santa Monica CanyonDocFreeman24, CC BY-SA 4.0
- The Henry Weaver House, a 1910 Craftsman bungalow on Adelaide DriveLos Angeles (Commons user), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Late sun on an espresso bar's bench and planters on Montana AvenueHillrachel, CC0
- The Annenberg Community Beach House, on the sand below the bluffBahooka, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped