Menlo Park mansion goes on sale for record-breaking $21 million
Even in today’s out-of-control housing market, a truly jaw- dropping listing still pops up every nowand then — including a $21 million chateau.
If the 9,585- square-foot home with six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and a temperature- controlled wine cellar sells for anywhere near its asking price, it will be themost expensive home ever sold in Menlo Park, according to listing agent Billy McNair of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, who started marketing the property last week. The home’s seller is Dale Fuller, one of Silicon Valley’s first-generation entrepreneurs and the founder of people and Yellow Pages search engine Who Where?
“It’s a spectacular home,” McNair said.
The imposing chateau sits on just under an acre of land at the end of Robert S Drive, a cul- de-sac lined with impressive mansions within walking distance of downtown Menlo Park. It’s part of Moore’s Acres, land developed in the 1940s by the widow of prominent capitalist Robert Steven Moore. Fuller bought the property, tore down the existing mansion and rebuilt the home as it is today in 2003, McNair said.
The details of the home are impressive: The floor of the wine cellar is made of reclaimed brick from France, the roof is individual slate tiles fixed with copper nails, and there’s a fireplace in the pool house.
“They really just spared no expense in the construction,” McNair said.
Many of the other lots that once made up Moore’s Acres have been subdivided into smaller parcels over the years, and the Fuller property is one of the few that was kept intact, making it one of the largest in the area, McNair said.
Fuller and his wife, Jennifer Fuller, raised two daughters in the house and have decided to sell now that the daughters have grown up and moved out, McNair said.
“Our family has thoroughly enjoyed all that this exquisite home has offered us over the years,” Dale Fuller wrote in a news release. “We are excited to open another chapter of this home’s story to a new owner.”
While most homes that hit the market in the Bay Area get snapped up within days— often for an all-cash offer tens of thousands of dollars over the asking price — McNair acknowledged that there are fewer buyers who can afford to shell out $21 million. Nevertheless, buyers looking for a luxury home may jump at this one’s unique size, quality and proximity to downtown Menlo Park, and it may sell quickly, he said.
“It’s like a fine piece of jewelry,” McNair said. “It’s a one of a kind.”