Mark Zuckerberg secretly snaps up $59M Lake Tahoe compound

Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan quietly purchased neighboring properties in Lake Tahoe. The couple paid a whopping $59 million for two lakefront estates—and they could buy even more.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “The deals were kept under wraps through the use of a limited-liability company, a high-end wealth manager and a series of nondisclosure agreements, which even required that listing pictures of the homes be removed from the internet.”

Indeed, such secrecy is ironic “given the recent scrutiny his company has faced over its handling of Facebook users’ personal information.”

The two circa-1920s properties—christened Brushwood Estate and Carousel Estate—were purchased for $37 million and $22 million, respectively.

Brushwood Estate, owned by San Francisco philanthropist Tamara Fritz, comes with 6.2 acres, a 5,322-square-foot main house with six bedrooms, a guesthouse, three yurts, and a private dock. It also played host to an annual Oscar de la Renta fashion show, frequented by San Francisco’s society’s blue blood B-listers.

And the Carousel Estate, spread out on 3.2 acres of land, comes a main house and two cottages featuring 14 bedrooms and 11.5 bathrooms. According to SFGate, “The main home has eight bedrooms and 9.5 baths and is separated into three separate living areas connected by breezeways. The dining and living rooms have soaring beamed ceilings painted in a white-wash style, while bedrooms are paneled in natural wood. There’s a two-car garage.”

But that might not be all for the tech titan. Zuckerberg could buy even more property in Lake Tahoe.

Wall Street Journal notes, “Mr. Zuckerberg has made overtures about buying a third property across the street, but hasn’t yet closed on a deal, according to people familiar with that property.”

Given his real estate track record, Zuckerberg and Chan could combine the two (or three) properties together, similar to what they did in Palo Alto, purchasing the four homes surrounding their main house. The couple also own property in San Francisco’s Dolores Heights and Kauai, Hawaii.

Though understated compared to other tony vacation spots, Lake Tahoe is known for old money and pricey homes. Take, for example, Crystal Pointe, which has lingered on the market for $75 million since 2017, or this 24-acre property on Zephyr Cove, which regularly served as the backdrop for the TV series Bonanza, asking $46 million.