Silicon Valley

Hillsborough's Storied de Guigne Estate Takes $60.1M Price Cut

By Tracy Elsen Jul 22, 2015, 11:23am PDT

When Hillsborough's historic de Guigne estate first listed for $100 million more than two years ago, it came with some very interesting conditions attached. The home's current owner, Christian de Guigne IV, wanted to retain the right to live out the remainder of his life on the 47.4-acre property. De Guigne was 75 at the time, meaning that the new owners may have had to wait years and years to move in. Not surprisingly, no one took the bait, and the de Guigne estate was removed from the market last May. Now, however, it is back and asking just $39.9 million, a whopping $60.1 million discount. Perhaps more importantly, de Guigne has removed the exclusive-use condition.

The estate has a long, complicated history dating back 150 years, one filled with nasty divorces and opulent parties. The main part of the estate, de Guigne Court, was built by starchitects Bliss & Faville around 1912. It holds five bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, a ballroom, a flower arranging room, and a servants' wing with additional bedrooms. The pool and grounds were designed later by renowned landscape architect Thomas Church.

The estate has been in the de Guigne family for the entirety of its existence, and many of the interiors date back to the 1960s, when then owner Christian de Guigne III and his wife, Eleanor, hired famed decorator Anthony Hail to design them. The current owner, Christian IV, took over the estate with his wife, Vaughn Hills, of the Hills Bros. coffee family. When they divorced they tried to sell off the estate for future subdivision, but their plans were thwarted by environmentalists and neighbors.

The estate sits on a Hillsborough hilltop and has played host to "many society galas, U.S. presidents, and dignitaries," according to the listing. Christian IV told the Wall Street Journal that he would miss the privacy, the walking trails, and the views.