A sprawling English manor-style house in Northern California’s Silicon Valley had seen better days when Gordon Moore, co-founder of computer company Intel, and his wife Betty bought it and the surrounding 25 forested acres in 1991.
The Moores spent millions on renovations to the 1927 home, known as “Mountain Meadow,” to bring it up to modern standards, but kept its original appearance. They also hired a couple to manage the grounds around the house, including the extensive landscaping, an apple orchard and trails that link to the adjacent Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Moores passed away in 2023, but the gardeners still work there and live in a caretaker house on the property.
The Peninsula Open Space Trust, which acquired the roughly 9,000-square-foot house and land as a gift from the Moores, listed the property at 100 Canada Road for sale in May for about $30 million. It’s a rare find, according to listing agents Hugh Cornish of Coldwell Banker Realty and Erika Demma of Compass.
“It’s like you’re buying your own private park,” Cornish said in an interview. “It has so many interesting features — the meadow, the apple orchard, the redwood groves, a creek that flows through the property. It’s really enchanting to walk through the grounds.”
Architect Gardner Dailey, who designed a number of residences in the Bay Area and buildings for the University of California, worked on the house while the grounds were the product of landscape architect Bruce Porter, who also was behind the gardens at the nearby historic house Filoli. Thomas Church, another well-known Bay Area landscape architect of the same era, designed the small outdoor swimming pool at Mountain Meadow.
The home’s interior includes a number of distinctive elements, such as spiral stairs that lead to an upstairs office where Gordon Moore, an avid fly fisherman, would spend time tying flies, according to Cornish. There’s also a restored servant’s call button system, an elevator and a walk-in safe off the kitchen.
A large greenhouse on the property and adjoining outdoor growing plots give the gardeners ample room to do their work. Nearby is a garage large enough to hold at least 12 cars.
When the Moores bought the property, they assigned a conservation easement on the land to the open space trust. The easement terms prevent anyone from changing the outside appearance of the house, Cornish said, though the interior could be renovated again.
The apple orchard, which likely pre-dates the house, produces more than the Moores could eat, so they used to give much of it away, Demma said in an interview.
While the property offers a lot of privacy in its secluded location, it’s also just a 15-minute drive from Palo Alto, the center of Silicon Valley. That’s an element Cornish and Demma like to highlight when they talk with potential buyers, along with the conservation protections. On the other hand, the house feels quite removed from the nearby urban area.
"Some will love this estate’s historic architecture and privacy, while others might prefer something with a more contemporary layout or closer to everyday conveniences," Cornish said.