This $88M Bay Area estate has a guest house, amphitheater, and even a massive aquarium

The Bay Area’s latest ultra-luxury listing is not just a big house, it is a full-scale private resort with its own guest compound, outdoor amphitheater, and a showpiece aquarium that turns daily life into spectacle. Set in the hills between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, the estate asks $88 Million and is designed to feel less like a suburban mansion and more like a Lake Como villa reimagined for tech-era wealth. If you are trying to understand what that kind of price tag actually buys, this property offers a remarkably clear, and remarkably extravagant, answer.

A Lake Como fantasy above the Bay

From the moment you approach the main drive, you are meant to feel as if you have left Northern California and arrived on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como. The architecture leans into that illusion with classical lines, terraced gardens, and water features that frame long views over the surrounding hills. Instead of the glass-and-steel minimalism that dominates many Silicon Valley trophy homes, this estate opts for warmth and ornament, inviting you to imagine long summer evenings on loggias and balconies rather than quick turnarounds between meetings.

The listing positions the property as a Lake Como inspired retreat in Hillsborough, a town that already ranks among the most exclusive residential pockets of the San Francisco Peninsula. That Italian reference point is not casual branding, it shapes everything from the massing of the main house to the way the grounds step down the hillside in layers, echoing the vertical drama of Lake Como’s historic villas. For you as a buyer, the appeal is as much about that narrative as the square footage, because the story of living in a private “Villa de Verano” style compound is part of what justifies the $88 M ask.

Why $88 Million in Hillsborough makes sense to the ultra-wealthy

At $88 Million, the price signals that this is not simply another large house in a wealthy ZIP code, it is a statement asset aimed at a global buyer pool. You are not paying only for bedrooms and bathrooms, you are paying for scarcity: a fully realized estate on a scale that rarely comes to market in this part of Northern California. In a region where teardown ranch homes can already command seven figures, a turnkey compound with resort-grade amenities is positioned as a once-in-a-generation opportunity rather than a routine listing.

The marketing leans into that scarcity by situating the property within the broader context of Silicon Valley wealth, describing it as one of the most extravagant private estates in Northern California and something that does not really have a direct peer in the area. When you consider the concentration of tech founders, private equity partners, and executives nearby, the $88 figure becomes less about cost and more about signaling that this property belongs in the same conversation as the region’s most significant holdings. For a buyer who wants to plant a flag in the hills between San Francisco and the South Bay, that positioning is part of the value proposition.

The main residence: six bedrooms, endless spectacle

Inside the primary residence, the scale is calibrated so you can host on a grand level without sacrificing privacy for day-to-day living. The core program includes six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, which sounds almost restrained until you factor in another 10 powder rooms that allow large gatherings to flow without bottlenecks. That ratio alone tells you the house is designed for entertaining at a level where dozens of guests are expected, whether for charity events, corporate retreats, or extended family holidays.

Those numbers come directly from the detailed breakdown of the home’s customized highlights, which notes that the six bedrooms, seven baths, and 10 additional powder rooms are part of a broader suite of features that push the property into resort territory. The same reporting that calls out those figures also highlights a 2,100-gallon saltwater aquarium as a centerpiece, underscoring how the interior is built around theatrical moments rather than just functional rooms. For you, that means the main residence is less about counting doors and more about experiencing a sequence of spaces that are meant to impress at every turn, as described in the Other customized highlights of the estate.

The guest house that functions like a private hotel

Beyond the main residence, the estate’s guest accommodations are designed so visitors feel as if they have checked into a boutique hotel rather than crashing in a spare room. A separate guest house allows friends, extended family, or business associates to stay on property with their own sense of arrival, their own outdoor spaces, and their own privacy. For you as a host, that separation is crucial, because it lets you maintain a quiet core household even when the property is at full capacity with overnight guests.

The way the guest quarters are integrated into the overall plan reflects the same “Elegance on an epic scale” philosophy that defines the rest of the compound. Marketing materials that describe the estate as Elegance on an epic scale emphasize that the property functions as a self-contained world, with enough space and amenities to keep multiple households comfortable for extended stays. In practice, that means the guest house is not an afterthought, it is a core part of the lifestyle on offer, giving you the flexibility to host multi-day events or long visits without ever feeling crowded.

An outdoor amphitheater built for performances and parties

One of the most distinctive features of the estate is its outdoor amphitheater, which turns the grounds into a natural venue for performances, talks, and large-scale celebrations. Instead of renting out a hotel ballroom or club every time you want to host a major event, you can stage concerts, film screenings, or product launches on your own property. The terraced seating and open-air setting also reinforce the Lake Como narrative, evoking the feeling of watching a performance against a backdrop of hills and sky.

In the context of Silicon Valley’s social and corporate culture, that amphitheater is more than a novelty. The estate is already framed as one of the most extravagant private properties in Northern California, and the presence of a purpose-built performance space underscores that it is meant to host gatherings that blur the line between personal and professional life. For you, that means the property can double as a stage for philanthropic galas, investor presentations, or intimate concerts, all without leaving your own hillside.

The 2,100-gallon aquarium and other over-the-top amenities

Inside, the 2,100-gallon saltwater aquarium is the kind of feature that instantly tells visitors they are not in an ordinary luxury home. A tank of that size becomes a living wall, a kinetic artwork that anchors circulation spaces and common rooms. For you, it functions as both a conversation piece and a daily reminder that this house is engineered for spectacle, with infrastructure that quietly supports complex systems behind the scenes.

The same source that details the six bedrooms and seven bathrooms also highlights the 2,100-gallon aquarium as part of a suite of custom elements that align the property more with a high-end resort than a typical residence. That comparison is reinforced by references to hospitality benchmarks like the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which help frame the level of finish and ambition you can expect from the estate’s interiors. When you walk through spaces built to that standard, you are stepping into an environment where every surface, sightline, and amenity has been calibrated to deliver a sense of arrival that rivals top-tier hotels, as laid out in the estate’s Other customized highlights.

From private-equity vision to Silicon Valley status symbol

The story of how this estate came to exist is as revealing as its current price tag. In the early 2000s, private-equity investor and philanthropist Ted Kruttschnitt and his wife, Alexia Kruttschnitt, set out to create a residence that could accommodate their family life, their charitable commitments, and their social calendar on a single property. That origin explains why the house feels as much like an event venue and retreat center as a private home, with spaces sized and equipped for large-scale hosting.

Descriptions of the property’s history emphasize that Ted Kruttschnitt and Alexia Kruttschnitt approached the project with a long-term, almost institutional mindset, investing in amenities like an executive-length golf course and extensive entertaining areas. Over time, as Silicon Valley’s wealth and global profile expanded, the estate’s location in Hillsborough placed it squarely in the path of a new generation of buyers who see such properties as both personal sanctuaries and strategic assets. For you, that backstory matters because it means the house was conceived from the start to handle the demands of high-profile, high-traffic living rather than retrofitted after the fact.

Villa de Verano and the new language of tech wealth

The estate is marketed under the name Villa de Verano, a branding choice that signals how luxury real estate in this tier increasingly borrows from the language of resorts and historic estates. You are not just buying a street address in Hillsborough, you are buying into a named property with its own identity, one that can sit comfortably alongside yachts, art collections, and other marquee assets in a global portfolio. That kind of naming also makes it easier to treat the estate as a venue for events or retreats, because it sounds like a destination rather than simply a house.

Promotional materials that describe Villa de Verano as one of Silicon Valley’s most exclusive offerings highlight features like the executive-length golf course, expansive terraces, and resort-style amenities as proof that the property belongs in a rarefied category. For you, that framing is important because it clarifies who the seller expects the buyer to be: someone for whom $88,000,000 is not just a housing budget but a strategic allocation toward a flagship lifestyle asset that can host deals, celebrations, and quiet retreats with equal ease.

How this estate fits into the future of Bay Area luxury

Seen against the broader backdrop of Bay Area real estate, this $88 M listing illustrates how the region’s top end is evolving from large houses to fully programmed compounds. You are no longer looking at a single structure with a pool and a view, you are evaluating a campus that includes a main residence, guest quarters, performance spaces, recreational amenities, and hospitality-grade infrastructure. That shift reflects the way global wealth holders now use their homes, as multi-functional hubs that must support work, leisure, and hosting without compromise.

The fact that this property sits in San Francisco Peninsula territory, in Hillsborough, while drawing on imagery from Lake Como and hospitality benchmarks from Las Vegas, shows how porous the boundaries of luxury have become. For you as a potential buyer or simply as an observer of the market, the estate stands as a case study in how Silicon Valley era fortunes are reshaping what a private home can be, turning a hillside lot into a personal resort that compresses the experiences of travel, entertainment, and retreat into a single, highly choreographed address.

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*This article was developed with AI-powered tools and has been carefully reviewed by our editors.