Move over, Masa: Century-old estate hopes to best Softbank chief’s record buy

A historic estate is seeking to break the record for the priciest sale in the Bay Area.

The 74-acre property was purchased over a century ago by businessman Mortimer Fleishhacker, Sr. and now his descendants are looking to sell, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Named “Green Gables,” the sprawling estate is “likely” to become the most expensive property deal in San Francisco’s Bay Area, according to listing agent Michael Dreyfus of Golden State Sotheby’s International Realty. But the sellers aren’t even setting a price — arguing that the property is so unique that there’s no telling what the market may be willing to pay.

Currently, the record in the Bay Area belongs to the nine-acre Woodside estate that SoftBank head Masayoshi Son bought for $117.5 million in 2012. The runner-up is the Los Altos Hill property that sold for $100 million in 2011, the report said. The grounds include giant sequoias, Monterey pines and a flower and vegetable garden, according to the Journal.

Fleishhacker’s family’s fortune dates back to the Gold Rush. He founded Anglo-California Bank, later known as Crocker Bank, which became part of Wells Fargo. [WSJ] — Meenal Vamburkar