Villa de Verano just listed for $88 million in Hillsborough, and the amenities read like a private resort

Villa de Verano arrives on the market at $88 million as a statement about how far a private estate can go when it borrows the playbook of a five-star resort. Instead of choosing between a grand residence, a wellness retreat, or a sports complex, you are effectively buying all three on a single Hillsborough hilltop. The result is less a traditional home and more a self-contained destination designed for someone who wants scale, privacy, and spectacle in equal measure.

The $88 million question: what you are really buying

At first glance, the $88 million price tag reads like a headline number meant to grab attention, but the underlying package is what sets Villa de Verano apart. You are not just purchasing a large house in Hillsborough, you are acquiring a fully realized compound with a main residence, extensive grounds, and dedicated facilities for sport, wellness, and entertaining that mirror the infrastructure of a boutique resort. The property sits at 3000 Ralston Avenue in the Carrollands area, a pocket of the Peninsula long associated with legacy estates and tech wealth, which helps explain why the listing leans into exclusivity rather than subtlety.

The main residence alone is described as a 12,404-square-foot structure that anchors roughly a dozen acres of manicured land, with the rest of the compound organized around it like a campus. That footprint is spread across three levels, all serviced by an elevator, which means the house is scaled for large events but still navigable day to day. When you factor in the additional pavilions, sports installations, and water features, the $88 million ask is less about price per square foot and more about the cost of replicating this level of programming in one of the most tightly held residential markets in the country.

A Lake Como fantasy above Silicon Valley

The design brief for Villa de Verano leans heavily into European romanticism, and you feel that from the moment you see the long approach and formal landscaping. The architecture and grounds are modeled on the villas that ring Italy’s Lake Como, with symmetrical facades, stone balustrades, and water features that frame the main house as if it were a grand hotel on the shore of an alpine lake. For a buyer used to glass boxes and sharp angles, the effect is intentionally transportive, a way to step into a different aesthetic era without leaving Hillsborough.

Inside, the Lake Como inspiration continues in the way the public rooms are scaled and finished, with formal salons, dining spaces, and galleries that are designed to handle large gatherings without feeling cavernous when you are alone. Reporting on the property notes that the estate was conceived as a Bay Area echo of those Italian retreats, with Other customized highlights that go beyond surface-level styling. The result is a house that feels like it belongs in a travel magazine spread, yet is wired and equipped for contemporary Silicon Valley life.

Inside the 12,404-square-foot main residence

Once you step through the front doors, the main residence is less about one showpiece room and more about a sequence of spaces that are choreographed for different kinds of living. You move from formal entertaining zones to more relaxed family areas, then down to amenities that would usually be outsourced to a club or hotel. The three-level layout, tied together by an elevator, means you can host a black-tie dinner on one floor while a quieter movie night or late work session unfolds elsewhere without overlap.

The listing materials describe the 12,404-square-foot residence as overlooking an elegant pool, a reflection pond, and formal gardens, which means the interior is constantly in conversation with the landscape. Large windows and terraces pull your eye outward, reinforcing the sense that you are living in a private park rather than a suburban lot. For a buyer who entertains, that visual connection matters: guests are never far from a view, and every reception can spill naturally onto the terraces and lawns without feeling staged.

Bedrooms, baths, and the 2,100-gallon showstopper

For all its public-facing drama, Villa de Verano still has to function as a home, and the private quarters are laid out with that in mind. The estate includes six bedrooms and seven full bathrooms, a ratio that gives each sleeping suite a sense of autonomy, plus an additional 10 powder rooms so guests are never routed back into family spaces during events. That kind of plumbing density is not about excess for its own sake, it is about making sure the house can absorb large crowds without strain, whether you are hosting a fundraiser or a weekend-long celebration.

One of the most talked-about features is a 2,100-gallon saltwater fish tank that acts as a living sculpture within the home. Rather than being tucked away in a den, it is integrated into the architecture, turning a circulation area into a destination in its own right. The same reporting notes that some of the finishes and fixtures nod to high-end hospitality properties, including references to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which helps explain why the interiors feel more like a curated resort than a conventional single-family residence.

Grounds that function like a private club

Step outside and the property shifts from grand residence to something closer to a members-only club that just happens to be reserved for you and your guests. The estate spans roughly 12 acres, a rarity in Hillsborough, which allows for a series of outdoor experiences that would be impossible on a standard lot. You have formal gardens for quiet walks, open lawns for large tents or outdoor screenings, and water features that double as visual anchors and cooling elements during warm Peninsula afternoons.

Marketing materials describe the setting as Elegance on an epic scale in Hillsborough, language that is not hyperbole when you consider the scale of the landscaping and the way the structures are sited. The grounds are not just decorative, they are programmed, with paths that connect the main house to the sports facilities, pavilions, and relaxation zones so you can move through the property the way you might circulate through a resort campus. For a buyer used to booking out entire hotels for privacy, the appeal of having that kind of spatial variety behind a single gate is obvious.

The Sports Pavilion and serious athletic infrastructure

Where most luxury homes stop at a pool and perhaps a tennis court, Villa de Verano leans into athletics with the ambition of a dedicated training center. At the heart of that effort is The Sports Pavilion, a separate structure that houses a two-story sports lounge and an elevated viewing platform. From that perch, you look down onto a sunken championship tennis court, turning a casual match into something that feels closer to a stadium experience, complete with spectators and sightlines.

Details from the listing explain that The Sports Pavilion is designed as more than a glorified cabana, with amenities that support year-round use and serious play. Additional reporting notes that the broader sports complex is described as one of the most comprehensive private facilities in the state of California, a claim that reflects the combination of court quality, viewing infrastructure, and adjacent lounge space. For you, that means the option to host everything from casual weekend games to charity tournaments without ever leaving the property.

From executive-length golf to resort-style water features

The athletic story does not end with tennis. Villa de Verano also incorporates an executive-length golf course woven into the landscape, giving you the ability to practice short game shots or stage friendly competitions without booking a tee time. The routing is designed to take advantage of the topography, so you are not just hitting into a net or across a flat lawn, you are playing a sequence of holes that feel intentional and varied. For a buyer who travels with clubs, that kind of on-site practice is a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade.

Alongside the fairways, the estate layers in the kind of water features you would expect at a destination resort. The main pool is positioned so the 12,404-square-foot residence overlooks it, with a reflection pond and surrounding terraces that turn the area into an outdoor living room. These elements are not just aesthetic, they create microclimates and gathering zones, from quiet morning swims to evening cocktail hours by the water. When combined with the golf and tennis facilities, the effect is that of a full-service country club that happens to be located in your backyard.

Entertaining at the scale of a boutique resort

If you are the kind of buyer who hosts, Villa de Verano is engineered to make large-scale entertaining feel almost routine. The flow from the motor court into the main reception areas is designed to absorb arrivals without congestion, while the multiple powder rooms and service corridors keep staff and guests moving smoothly. You can imagine a charity gala that begins with cocktails on the terrace, shifts to a seated dinner in a formal dining room, and ends with dancing in a separate lounge, all without reusing the same space twice.

The property’s social media marketing leans into this capacity, presenting the estate as a place where Villa de Verano can host events that rival those at high-end venues. The combination of indoor and outdoor zones means you can pivot quickly based on weather or mood, moving a reception from the pool deck to a gallery or from the sports lounge to a more intimate bar. For a buyer whose calendar includes corporate retreats, political fundraisers, or multi-day family gatherings, the ability to stage those experiences at home, with full control over privacy and security, is a significant part of the property’s value proposition.

How Villa de Verano fits into the Hillsborough market

In the context of Hillsborough, a town already known for its large lots and high price points, Villa de Verano still manages to sit in its own category. The combination of a 12-acre site, a 12,404-square-foot main residence, and a sports and wellness program of this scale is rare even in a market shaped by tech fortunes. The $88 million ask positions the estate among the most expensive listings on the Peninsula, but the seller is clearly betting that the right buyer will see it less as a house and more as a turnkey lifestyle asset.

Marketing language that describes the property as Elegance on an epic scale is not just branding, it is a signal about who the listing is targeting. This is a property for someone who might otherwise split time between a Lake Como villa, a Las Vegas penthouse, and a Bay Area base, and who would prefer to consolidate those experiences into one address. In that sense, Villa de Verano is less a reflection of the average Hillsborough buyer and more a bellwether for how far ultra-luxury residential design is willing to go to capture the imagination, and the checkbook, of a single, highly specific client.

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