Tech Pioneer Lists Sonoma County Estate for Possible Record

A luxury estate north of Petaluma has entered the race to set a new record for the most expensive residential sale in Sonoma County.

Known as “The Summit,” the property at 3100 Sonoma Mountain Road is on the market for just under $40 million, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The estate spans 1,119 acres and features a 10-bedroom, seven-and-a-half bathroom home built in 2016 as well as various private lakes, greenhouses, barns and swimming holes.

The Summit is linked to Donald and Rebecca McKinney, according to public records cited by the Business Times. Donald McKinney is a former technology industry executive who founded International Network Services, a Mountain View-based network consulting and security services provider, in 1991. The tech company was acquired by Lucent Technologies in 1999 for $3.7 billion on the precipice of the dot-com bubble burst.

If The Summit sells for anywhere close to its $40 million list price, it will blow the Sonoma County record out of the water. The record, set in 2010, sits at $30 million, according to listing agent Kristie Eddy of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty.

It isn’t the only property for sale in Sonoma County that could shatter the previous price record.

Last week, the 227-acre Ghost Donkey Ranch property at 13800 Highway 128 between Healdsburg and Calistoga listed for $35 million. The property is owned by Adam Gordon, managing partner of New York development firm Wildflower, who purchased the land in 2011 with his then-wife, a founder of design firm AvroKo. The couple divorced last year.

Ghost Donkey Ranch operated strictly as a cattle ranch and remains a working cattle and agricultural ranch today, though the property was transformed under Gordon’s ownership. The couple built a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house spanning 4,200 square feet on the property. Gordon uses the ranch for his company, Knights Valley Wagyu, which sells beef to local chefs. — Chris Malone Méndez