Maybeck Estate, AOL Executive's Tiburon Home Hit Marin Market

A well-known wealth manager and a marketing icon of the 1990s are parting with their Marin County estates, each with eight-figure asks.

Both homes — one located at 126 Winding Way in Ross and another at 1860 Mountain View Drive in Tiburon — hit the market as the region’s artificial intelligence boom has set off a buying frenzy, pushing San Francisco’s median home price past $2 million in April. With limited inventory in the city, the exclusive enclaves to the north are drawing more interest as homebuyers and investors look for value.

Both properties carry architectural significance as well, with the Mountain View property listed for close to $20 million and the Winding Way home listed for just under $13 million.

Marin County, where even the public civic center is a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, hosts the work of several important architects, from the bungalows of Julia Morgan to Beverley Thorne’s Case Study House 26. The two homes to recently hit the market in Ross and Tiburon exemplify the county’s aesthetic range.

Andrew Casino, a hedge fund manager with Pleasant Lake Partners, is selling his 1.2 acre estate on Winding Way in Ross, after purchasing the property in August with his wife, Caroline, for $10.7 million, property records show. Casino was formerly a partner with the David Tepper-led hedge fund, Appaloosa Management in Miami Beach.

Famed California architect Bernard Maybeck designed the estate’s chalet-styled home in 1906 for lumber baron J.H. Hopps. Perched atop a hill amid oak woodlands, the 5,500-square-foot home has five bedrooms, a pool and spa, and sweeping views of Ross Valley and Mt. Tamalpais.

Maybeck is most famous for designing San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, the concrete rotunda built in 1915 that became one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

Ross, home to only one school and under 800 homes, sees about 20 trades per year, according to listing agent Margot Edde of City Real Estate Marin. The community often draws families looking to relocate out of the bustle of San Francisco, or those looking for a weekend home, she said.

“There is a similar draw from the international crowd,” said Edde, who pointed to the artificial intelligence boom as a driver. “It feels as though people are looking to diversify their portfolio… As prices climb in San Francisco, and competition gets more gnarly, people are looking to the north and south for equally beautiful real estate at relative value.”

To the south, the ultra-exclusive peninsula of Tiburon, Marin County has a new priciest active listing after a former tech executive decided she’s over her fancy hilltop home.

Janice Brandt, who served as America Online’s chief marketing officer during its heyday between 1993 and 2002, has put up her half-acre property at 1860 Mountain View Drive for just under $20 million.

Brandt was the mind behind AOL’s so-called “carpet-bombing” marketing strategy that sent installation CDs to tens of millions of homes across the country, which cemented the online service provider as a household name during the early days of the internet.

She bought her Tiburon home in 2016 directly from designer-builder Lowell Strauss, right after Strauss’ company, Amalfi West, completed construction. The four bedroom, 4,500 square-foot home drew some press attention upon its completion, and has been referred to as a “modern masterpiece.” Located atop Haven Hill, the home’s standout feature is the collapsable, panoramic glass walls on both floors that face unimpeded views of the San Francisco Bay. Retracting those walls gives the home’s open layout an indoor-outdoor feel, with the Golden Gate Bridge and Mt. Tamalpais in the background.

Even the listing agent, Alexander Fromm Lurie of Lurie Group, carries Bay Area clout as the brother of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.