There are luxury homes, and then there are American real estate icons. And Green Gables is one of them. The 74-acre property in the heart of Silicon Valley's exclusive Woodside enclave was built in 1911, includes seven residences, and is now on the market for $135 million.
Mortimer Fleishhacker, banker and founder of Anglo California Bank and the Great Western Power Company, commissioned Charles Sumner Greene and his brother Henry Mather Greene to design the 10,000-square-foot primary home that resembles an English countryside manor complete with a thatch roof. Over time, six more homes were added, including one built in the 1930s by famous Modernist architect William Wurster. Today, it's just as majestic with a plethora of amenities for a modern-day buyer.
RELATED: Welcome to the Age of Digital Home Design
In addition to the spacious and private residences, the estate features three swimming pools (one is a 60-by-300-foot Roman pool), an ornate edible garden, tennis court, and an artist's studio, a two-story tea house, lily pond, an olive grove, barn, and more. The listing suggests a golf course, equestrian facility, or winery could easily be added to the property.
You're also buying a piece of history. Global dignitaries, including European royalty, senators, congress members, governors, and business leaders, have visited the property while the United Nations hosted its 20th-anniversary commemoration gala in 1965 at the estate.
RELATED: How COVID-19 Has Changed What Buyers Are Looking for in Their Next Luxury Home
Incredibly, this massive retreat is located down the road from the global tech center. Stanford University's Medical Center is under ten minutes away, and San Francisco is just a 30-minute drive.
"The undisputed lodestar in luxury real estate is, of course, location," Dan Conn, CEO of Christie's International Real Estate, told Departures in a statement. "Green Gables offers a prime expanse of land rivaled by few in the area. Rare in its beauty and scope, the property was purchased six generations ago and held by the same family, the Fleishhackers. The family has carefully protected and maintained this grand estate ever since, which presents an increasingly rare opportunity to acquire an abundance of land and extended family living spaces in Woodside, Silicon Valley's wealthiest ZIP code."
