Silicon Valley castle asks $8.98 million

Some Silicon Valley homes are real keepers. Saratoga’s 21449 Toll Gate Road, on the other hand, is just a real keep.

While conventional wisdom holds that an owner’s home is his or her castle, the designer of this seven-bed, seven-and-a-half-bath mansion (circa 1985) took that as literally as possible.

The resulting Silicon Valley stronghold is back on the market now, asking more than $8.98 million—a royal ransom for a regal redoubt.

This medieval manor’s medieval manner goes a bit deeper than the stone courtyard, tower-top crenellations, and soaring Gothic windows (as if all of that weren’t enough), extending so far as stained-glass skylights, towering fireplaces, overloaded chandeliers, a “Gothic wet bar,” and, of course, the downright obligatory suit of decorative armor in the entryway.

Even the two-story dining room (or “banquet hall,” as the ad calls it) features rows of throne-like chairs built right in.

Beyond the facade and the grandeur of the two-story entryway and related rooms that play up the archaic adornment, the bedroom and bathroom spaces at the house’s extremities look a bit dated, as if time-warped back to the ’80s.

But calling a house with this kind of anachronistic augustness “dated” feels like falling for a practical joke, and in that way a property like this almost becomes critic-proof.

Buyers sincerely in the market for 20th-century Silicon Valley homes by way of 14th-century Scottish moors are unlikely to encounter a better offer, after all.

The grounds (fife?) surrounding this Toll Gate Road home include “a vineyard with 1,000 vines,” which is period appropriate, as well as a 50-foot heated pool, which is not. But what’s the point of owning a faux fortification if it doesn’t come with some patrician pleasures?

• 21449 Toll Gate Road [DeLeon Realty]
• Silicon Valley [Curbed SF]
• Stunning Berkeley Castle Goes on the Market for $5M [Curbed SF]