The Montecito estate owned by the late venture capitalist Frank J. Caulfield will be coming on the market for nearly $40 million.
The Montecito estate owned by the late venture capitalist Frank J. Caufield is coming on the market for $39.75 million.
Mr. Caufield, who died last year at 80, co-founded Silicon Valley powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, which made investments in some of tech’s best-known companies including Amazon. Mr. Caufield stepped away from his daily role at the firm, now known as Kleiner Perkins, in 2000.
The nine bedroom, 12-acre, nearly 18,500 square-foot Montecito property features a Renaissance-inspired villa designed around 1927 by George Washington Smith, a prominent Santa Barbara architect, according to research by listing agent Sotheby’s International Realty.
The home still has many of its original details. These include inlaid golden travertine floors in the entrance gallery, hand-carved walnut paneled walls in the library and carved limestone arched windows in the dining room. The property has three separate wine cellars: one for white wine, one for red wine and one for aging, in addition to a solarium with a 38-foot pool and a beamed ceiling and a study.
The Montecito property also has extensive gardens; both the gardens and the house were inspired by Italian villas, including Villa Gamberaia near Florence, according to Sothebys’ research.
The landscape includes the biggest dragon tree in Santa Barbara, according to a search conducted by local growers in 2014, Sotheby’s said. At 43.5 feet tall, the tree is listed in the California Big Tree Registry.
The home is being sold by Mr. Caufield’s children: son Frank R. Caufield, who is also a venture capitalist, and daughter Kirsten Caufield. It is listed by Eric Lavey and Dusty Baker, of Sotheby’s.
email: mwhite@newspress.com
