Monday, February 4, 2013

Afternoon Tidbits and Links: Another Nine Figure Asking Price


On the heels of the spine-tingling—and record breaking—news that Bay Area financier Tully Friedman sold his nearly nine acre Woodside (CA) estate to multi-billionaire Japanese businessman Masayoshi San for $117,500,000 along comes a much larger and far more storied 47.4-acre spread in nearby Hillsborough with an toe curling asking price of $100,000,000

Although the largely wooded estate, situated about 20 minutes south of San Francisco, has been owned by the family of it's current shepherd, Christian de Guigné IV, for the last 150 years, the opulent and downright correct Mediterranean villa was originally designed in 1916 by the esteemed San Francisco architects Walter Bliss and William Faville. The existing residence currently weighs in with seven bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms—plus half a dozen or more staff rooms, a ballroom and a flower arranging room—in about 16,000 square feet of decorative decadence dreamed up and done done done by decorator Anthony Hail.

As the always on top of things kids at Curbed noted, there's a bit of a twist: 75-year old Mister de Guigné the Fourth wishes to retain a life estate on the property, a stipulation that would allow him to occupy the main manse for the remainder of his life. Now, children, let's get real. What bazillionaire buyer willing to drop anywhere close to a hundred million damn clams is gonna go for that sort of thing?

11 comments:

lil' gay boy said...

Life tenancy?

He's not looking to sell; he's looking to get laid.

FalseProfit said...

Tidbits on the property/family:

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/summary/opinion/ca-court-of-appeal/2002/04/30/109629.html

http://tdclassicist.blogspot.com/2011/09/guigne-court-and-anthony-hail.html

Gypsydog said...

Digging the front facade and the gardens, but really, all that land and the pool is crowded in so close to the house, you'd near fall in stepping out the back door? The rear facade looks like a block of flats...ugly!

Anonymous said...

Unless the man is completely insane, I have to think the ask with the condition of the life estate is just a way of drumming up publicity in the hopes that someone will come along and make him an exorbitant offer; I can't believe anyone in their right mind (or their realtor, business advisors, etc.) would actually believe someone would pay $100 million for a house that they potentially couldn't move into for 20+ years or more...

SigourneyBeaver said...

It's all about the land. That's a TON of prime, super-expensive land that someone will buy in the hopes of developing.

Petra's Petra said...

Depending on how cute he is, I'd consider buying this place. I have a feeling he's old and wrinkly though.

Anonymous said...

This is (or more so "was") very common amongst the aristocratic classes in Europe. Generally it was done when a well to do elderly person was running out of money but wished to live out the rest of their lives in the same home, thus they simply sold them with the stipulation they could live there until they died. Usually it was an investor or another wealthy person buying the home more for their family than themselves, so the potential wait wasn't a big deal to them. I had a great-aunt who owned an "estate," really it was simply a large home, certaintly not a mansion on about a hundred acres in an area where most such parcels had long since been subdivided. Property taxes and maintenance became a burden in her old age and developers came knocking at the door every other day. Needing the money but not wanting to develop the property she approached several, much younger, neighbors she felt would be interested in the home. As hers was one of the only remaining large parcels in the area she was able to set her own terms, namely that she would live in the home until death and was going to put restrictions in the deed prohibiting any further development. Needless to say, there were several interested parties and the top bidder was a neighbor across the way.

The final arrangement was that the neighbor put all the money down at the beginning, but half of it was put in a trust/escrow account and could not be touched until her death. She leased the house back for $1 a year and paid utilities. It was 5 years between the deal being signed and her death. However this was like a $10m dollar deal, I certaintly can't imagine someone with $100 m wanting an arrangement like this. With that kind of money you can set your own terms, not the other way around in my situation.

FalseProfit said...

People still do this in Paris. It's called a viager (reverse annuity here in the States). The idea is you get a very desirable piece of property and you get a discount, while the seller actually gets to enjoy the money while they're alive.

You won't see this often in the States, but this is a rare gem of a property without any real peers on the west coast. It certainly won't impress those obsessed with the Ecclestones or Beverly Park, which is exactly why it is so perfect.

Desert Donna said...

I would get a food tester if I were Mr. Guigne and he actually finds a buyer!

Anonymous said...

A way to start the negotiations with the only buyer who doesn't mind a life teanncy - The Nature Conservancy.

Terrazzo Polishing said...
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