Offered at US$135,000,000, this breathtaking, historic, and ultra-private location amid Northern California’s majestic natural surroundings yet only minutes from Woodside’s town center is a dreamy oasis and an ideal safe haven for extended family

New York, New York (February 26, 2021) — Green Gables is indeed located just a virtual stone’s throw from the global tech center of Silicon Valley, yet at the same time it is a remarkably private and serene 74-acre world unto itself. Mortimer Fleishhacker, banker and founder of Anglo California Bank and the Great Western Power Company.created this stunning estate with its marvelously landscaped gardens starting at the turn of the last century.

Ideal either as a family compound with its seven separate residences, or as an exclusive corporate retreat, the estate already offers on-site recreation, while its many assets include the historic mansion, a masterpiece of the craftsman era architects Charles and Henry Greene, along with a majestic Roman pool and tea house.  Green Gables also boasts three swimming pools, an exquisitely ornate edible garden, tennis court and an artist’s studio used back in the day by the talented matriarch Bella Gerstle Fleishhacker, whose family was equally noted as pioneers and entrepreneurs in of the Western United States. 

The estate is arguably the largest privately owned tract of land offered for sale in all of Woodside, with San Francisco less than 30 minutes away.  Its abundant land provides a fresh canvas to add other features, which could include golf holes, an equestrian facility and/or winery, as well as endless opportunities for idyllic gardens, vines and orchards.

Green Gables currently offers a total of 32 bedrooms across its numerous residences and is represented by Christie’s International Real Estate, the real estate arm of Christie’s, the world’s leading art business, and by COMPASS, in a specially arranged collaboration to sell this one-of-a-kind property.

Dan Conn, CEO of Christie’s International Real Estate, said: “The undisputed lodestar in luxury real estate is, of course, location. 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.”

Green Gables, true to its understated elegance, is accessed off a country road and introduced by an inconspicuous drive lined with fieldstone walls, initially revealing grasslands and forest views as well as a glimpse of the estate’s remote yet valuable lake. The meandering drive terminates at a motor court flanked by the historic main residence and a turf parterre leading to a gorgeous lily pond.

Mortimer Fleishhacker fell in love with the area in 1907 and spent the next few years assembling nine adjoining lots to create his family compound. He then commissioned Charles Sumner Greene with this brother Henry Mather Greene in 1911 to design the primary home. While they were leading Arts and Crafts architects in the early twentieth century, the Greenes modified the style to create the nearly 10,000-square-foot home reminiscent of a thatch-roofed cottage in the English countryside. Unlike traditional Arts and Crafts, the interiors are flooded with light and airiness, their large windows welcoming the expansive views of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

For ultimate privacy, the six other residences, built over time, are discreetly interspersed through the property, each private and spaciously protected from the other. Noteworthy among them is a lovely 1930s home designed by acclaimed Modernist architect William Wurster. The estate is also home to orchardsand impressive vegetable and flower gardens.

Amenities on the 74-acre estate include:

• The 60-by-300-foot Roman pool, with its aqueduct-like stone edifice, which is located in a copse of old-growth trees. This hidden treasure is revealed at the steep edge of a terrace 65 feet above, and accessed by dual grand and gently curving stone staircases edging a garden of succulents
• The tea house, a two-story rustic stone building situated on a quiet outpost of Green Gables, with a meditative loggia above and kitchen below
• An expansive lily pond, which captures breathtaking reflections of both the grand main residence and heritage pines against an enduring Western mountain backdrop
• A free-form pool, which is believed to be the first in the state, if not the country. The design is the result of the owners’ insistence that no trees be felled to construct a pool that would have otherwise exhibited a more conventional design
• World-renowned gardens. Since gardening was a passion of the family matriarch, the estate is replete with orchards, an olive grove, vegetable and cutting flower gardens and an allée of trees with its canopy shading a walking path
• A built environment that offers a total of seven residences, an artist’s studio, and a barn structure adaptable and expandable for equestrian use
• Designation as a wine appellation with an abundance of water to create a thriving vineyard in this temperate climate.

Green Gables has long been a gathering place for global dignitaries, including European royalty, senators, congressmen, governors, business leaders and creative luminaries. In 1965, the United Nations selected Green Gables as the site for its 20th anniversary commemoration gala. 

Stanford University’s Medical Center is less than ten minutes away. Woodside itself is Silicon Valley's wealthiest and most prestigious enclave on the San Francisco Peninsula, home to discreet billionaires and tech entrepreneurs alike.

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About Christie’s International Real Estate

Christie’s International Real Estate has successfully marketed high-value real estate around the world for more than 30 years. Through its New York City brokerage and invitation-only Affiliate network spanning 48 countries and territories, Christie’s International Real Estate offers incomparable services to a global clientele at the luxury end of the residential property market. The company has offices in London, New York City, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Palm Beach, and its affiliated brokerages have recorded approximately US$500 billion of real estate transactions over the last five years. (Data as of December 31, 2020.) For additional information, please visit christiesrealestate.com.