‘Most expensive zip code’ lives up to billing: Atherton mansion sells for $36M

An Atherton home has sold for $36 million, adding to a string of high-priced transactions in the country’s most expensive zip code.

The deal for the property, located at 49 Tuscaloosa Avenue in Silicon Valley,, closed on May 12, according to data from PropertyShark. The sellers are Liang Xiao Jing and Chen Ming Yong. The pair bought the home from Pacific Peninsula Group in a $23 million deal from 2017. The new owner of the 1.5-acre estate is Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based entity Joplin Group, LLC.

The 14,019 property is a Tudor-style estate that dates back to 1929, according to a previous listing from brokerage Hugh Cornish & Associates. The home, also known as Squirlwood, was originally built as a wedding gift for the daughter of an Atherton family that lived in an adjacent parcel. One of the guests at the wedding was John McLaren, the landscape designer of Golden Gate Park. He supposedly created the gardens on the grounds as a gift to the newlyweds, according to local lore.

The main residence of the compound is a three-level mansion serviced by an elevator, according to a previous report from Patch. The upper level contains five bedroom suites. The lower level has a home theater, a gym, a spa and a sauna.

The transaction adds to the list of high-priced deals in Atherton this year. An entity managed by Jonathan Ratner paid $44.8 million for 119 Tuscaloosa Avenue in March, marking the priciest sale in the area in at least the last three years.  Earlier this month, another deal breached the $40 million mark. The property in that transaction, with the address of 98 Sutherland Drive, changed hands in a $41.1 million deal. The current price record in the area still belongs to a 12-acre property that sold for $53 million in 2011.

Liang Xiao Jing could not be reached for comment.