Gavin Newsom’s homes have been some of the priciest sold in decades. How much did he pay?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been splitting his time between the Bay Area and Sacramento since the summer.
News broke this month that he and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom just closed on a $9.1 million deal for a hidden estate in the posh Marin County town of Kentfield, near San Francisco.
When it comes to purchasing homes, the governor seems to prefer shopping at the highest price points in a real estate market.
How high?
The governor’s new home represents the fifth most-expensive residential sale in Kentfield since 1999, according to Sacramento appraiser and housing analyst Ryan Lundquist.
“Newsom is a fan of outlier properties,” Lundquist said. “He purchased the highest sale ever in Fair Oaks, and the home in Kentfield is also one of the highest sales ever. The property in Fair Oaks, in particular, was a fantastic property in terms of privacy because it was gated with nearly eight acres, so I can understand why this home was targeted to be used as his residence.”
The “sleek” six-bedroom, 5,600-square-foot mansion in Kentfield sits on a 0.89-acre lot and features outdoor sculptures, a guest house, a swimming pool and spa, according to the property listing. The spread has glass walls with views of Mount Tamalpais.
The price the Newsoms paid was 7% more than the asking price, according to a report from the San Francisco Standard. The home was previously owned by billionaire Daniel Pritzker, a Hyatt Hotels heir.
Kentfield homeowners association head Jeff Leh told the Standard that Newsom will be welcomed among the neighborhood’s list of celebrities. He did not identify anyone famous by name.
“He’ll probably fit right in,” he said.
Lundquist said in his Sacramento Appraisal Blog that the Kentfield property property sold for $10.1 million in July 2022 “before taking a million-dollar haircut in 2024.”
“This property is one of the top sales ever on MLS, so it’s flirting with outlier territory,” he wrote.
The Newsoms and their four children moved in the summer from their Santa Barbara-style, 12,600-square-foot Fair Oaks home near Sacramento back to Marin County. Newsom bought the six-bedroom Fair Oaks spread for $3.7 million in 2018, The Sacramento Bee reported.
The Fair Oaks property was purchased through a limited liability company, registered in the name of Gavin Newsom’s cousin Jeremy Scherer, the co-president of a hospitality company Newsom founded, The Bee previously reported.
Newsom previously owned a home in Kentfield that he bought in 2011 for $2.2 million and sold in May 2021 for $5.9 million, according to the Press Democrat newspaper.
Siebel Newsom attended the private Branson School in Ross, near Kentfield.
Newsom is not alone among governors who have split time between Sacramento and somewhere else in California. Jerry Brown commuted from Oakland. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to the state capital from Los Angeles.
Newsom’s office declined to discuss the move, or whether Newsom personally bought the Kentfield property, but a spokesperson did tell The Bee that “to ensure continuity in their children’s education, the family continues to split their time between Sacramento and Marin counties.”
The Newsom family briefly lived in the governor’s mansion, in downtown Sacramento, while their Fair Oaks home was being renovated. The mansion, which is designated as a state historic park, is currently closed to the public.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
