Mansion Mondays: Hillsborough Pair

Movin’ on down the Peninsula, I tried to find a home in Redwood City that would qualify as a mansion, but there was nothing over the $3mil mark and the closest match at $2,995,000 just didn’t do the job in my book. Unfortunately, San Carlos didn’t fare any better, and its highest priced home was $2,495,000 and only on one-third of an acre. Nothing to write home (or Sweet Digs) about. Mid-priced homes (if I may use that term) also seem to populate the town of Belmont, where no mansions exist at all and the highest price home is $2.5mil, also on one-third acre. Ditto Foster City with a high of $2,275,000 and San Mateo at $2,895,000 (which is on a lot of 5,590 sf!!!). I finally landed in the Peninsula bastion of old money, also known as Hillsborough.

I had my choice of 17 homes over the price of $5mil, the highest being an even $18,000,000. Located at 150 New Place Road and sitting on 2.83 acres is a two-story Mediterranean-style home built in 1976. From the outside, this is not your typical mansion, and in fact looks a bit pedestrian and like many new homes in housing developments these days. Inside is a different story, with soaring ceilings, grand staircase, and bathrooms bigger than my living room. You get 6 bedrooms and more than enough baths, as well as a guest house, pool, tennis court, and room to roam. On the market 382 days, the sellers must not be in any hurry to sell, as the price has not been lowered once.

More intriguing to me than the highest price home in Hillsborough is the second-highest priced home at 262 W. Santa Inez, which is an eighteenth-century style French manor which is, according to the listing, “clad entirely in French limestone.” This is a one-of-a-kind home, and befitting of its $11,995,000 price (down from $13,800,000 after over 800 days on the market). In all fairness, this appears to be a new home, and part of the listing period is during construction. Exterior details are magnificent, but not over the top. Understated elegance would be a good term for this one. At 11,000 square feet, its beautifully manicured grounds look like something out of a movie. The interior also has a grand entrance foyer, large formal living room, fully paneled office, media room and wine cellar. There is a two-bedroom guest house, as well as a large workout studio (with spa and sauna) above the 4-car garage.

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