Luxury Builder Quietly Sets New “Price Ceiling” for Atherton

Sales of several $30 million-plus Atherton homes by the same builder — Pacific Peninsula Group — may “reset the ceiling” for the nation’s most expensive zip code, according to luxury San Francisco Peninsula agents.

On Feb. 18, Atherton notched its first $30 million-plus sale recorded in the multiple listing service for 2025: 112 Almendral Ave sold for $33.5 million to Amberhill Trust, according to the deed. It was a custom built by Pacific Peninsula Group for the previous owner, former Altera CEO John Daane, after he and his wife Linda bought the 1-acre parcel for $8 million in 2018, according to deed records and city permits.

Compass agents Mary and Brent Gullixson listed the property and did not confirm the identity of the buyer or the seller, but Brent said that the custom home’s high price speaks to “the buyer’s desire to buy a new home in order to avoid the time it takes to build.”

“With such a low number of new homes in the pipeline, prices for new construction have reached a new high,” he added.

At the end of last year, Pacific Peninsula Group quietly sold 358 Walsh Road for $36 million, according to San Mateo County records, the biggest sale in the infamously expensive community in 2024 and close to an all-time Atherton record. The buyer was 358 Walsh LLC, a Delaware-based entity.

The developer was also behind the sale of another $30 million-plus Atherton build — 63 Santiago, which sold for $32.4 million in October to Santiago Avenue LLC, another Delaware-based entity.

Pacific Peninsula Group did not respond to emails and calls for comment. At both the Santiago and the Walsh properties, the buyers’ agents and identities are unknown.

The current record for a single residential sale in Atherton reported to the MLS is 233 Park Lane, which sold for $40 million in 2023 and was built by Pacific Peninsula Group for the owners, who ended up selling it with everything included down to the linens. Gap co-founder Doris Fisher also sold two parcels of her long-time Atherton estate for a combined $48 million to one buyer in 2024.

Pacific Peninsula Group bought a different 2-acre parcel of the Fisher estate for $15 million last year as well. Permits to demolish the existing residence were approved before the property even closed escrow. Permits for a new main residence, pool house and detached garage were approved in August.

Michael Repka of DeLeon Realty represented the seller on the Park Lane sale as well as the seller in a 2023 deal where Pacific Peninsula Group bought a 2.5-acre estate for $25 million and said the company understands the formula for building houses that ultra-luxury buyers want, with strong resale value.

“PPG is an exceptional builder, but they are also exceptional business men,” he said. “They are consistently able to command a premium over builders that are less in touch with the market.”

Sales like these “reset the ceiling” in the Atherton luxury market, he added.

“Once you have a few high-priced sales of this nature it is easier to get others to fall into that price range,” he said.

Compass agent Omar Maissen, the co-listing agent on Atherton’s most expensive listing, agreed that a few very high-end sales can help move the needle on the market because they help buyers feel like $30-plus-million prices are reasonable.

“Buyers seek the comfort of knowing they are not the first to the dance and this provides a great springboard to boost confidence in the market,” Maissen said of the recent Pacific Peninsula Group sales.

Repka said, in general, the Atherton market has seen a “dramatic uptick” in activity from international buyers in the ultra-high end, especially Chinese buyers. This includes buyers from Hong Kong and mainland China, he said, though they typically already have a presence in Atherton and are looking for move-up properties.

Compass agent Tom LeMieux said the Peninsula had a relatively flat year overall in 2024, especially compared to the run-up in prices during the pandemic. But the upper end of the market, spurred by international buyers and the tech sector, has been seeing more sales. In 2023, he said, the only sale over $30 million in Atherton was the Park Lane sale. But in 2024, there were six, he said, including the ones on Santiago and Walsh.

“For some of these very choice areas or these larger lot opportunities or, in the case of 358 Walsh, these newer, highly amenitized homes, it does speak to the demand we have for that in our market recently,” LeMieux said.