CFAH

12179 Hilltop Drive

It’s not often we’re caught nearly speechless. But this is one of those times.

Purchased for $2.6 million last year, the property at 12179 Hilltop Drive now includes 7,800 square feet of new construction, with seven bedrooms, seven and one-half baths, and “resort-like grounds” which “await the quintessential California lifestyle” in Los Angeles Altos Hills.

And the nouveau Silicon Valley pad is now on the market for $11.899 million.

Comments from Plugged-In Readers

  1. Posted by Eddy

    Very savvy developer here. Great design and smart build. Clearly areas were many would have spent more for lavish finishes or touches but overall this is a pretty nice project.

  2. Posted by curmudgeon

    Really Eddy? You think that taste level is acceptable of 11 mill? I’m shocked.

    • Posted by Eddy

      I’m just saying there is a lot going on here and the developer must have cut corners at every corner to get this back on the market at this price considering the lot price + build. On some level I think they did an ok job. Lots of room for improvements everywhere. Mixed feelings on this one.

  3. Posted by momonthego

    I’m confused — I’m paying almost $12M bucks and I still can’t get a proper water closet?! WTF

  4. Posted by Sohan

    The grounds maybe so so.. but the house itself — very cookie cutterish

    • Posted by ess

      Dwell on the inside, Santana Row on the outside!

  5. Posted by SFJohn

    I wouldn’t even call it ‘Los Angeles” it’s more like some monstrosity you’d see in Paradise Valley, Az………

  6. Posted by Mark

    I love how the fire pit is so uninviting…no built-in seating or room for seating around it.

    Hardly resort-like grounds.

    • Posted by thoughtlost

      The lonely flame, for contemplating why in the world you dropped $12m. on this chunk o concrete

    • Posted by ess

      That’s not a firepit, it’s an eternal flame commemorating the owner’s taste.

  7. Posted by Patrick

    One of the most vulgar, ostentatious houses I’ve seen in Northern California. In Southern California, it wouldn’t rate a second look.

    • Posted by The Milkshake of Despair

      Sadly there are many worse cases. At least this building is contemporary and not trying to replicate a historical form from another place. Fake Tuscans and faux chateaux are worse when a cursory glance reveals that they’re just stick built McMansions clad with stone veneer (or worse: the faux chateaux tend to use stucco in place of limestone).

      • Posted by Anon

        I looked over the pics several times, and no, there is nothing that I like about this house. I know that there are other houses out there with bad choices, but for this kind of money they made A LOT of poor choices in design and color (if white and grey are considered colors).

        Just checked the pics one last time – nope, it is just awful!!

  8. Posted by Bob

    You do need to appreciate how the double shower includes both a clear glass version and a frosted glass version. Other than that the home does look very cheep and opportunistic. I don’t think it will age well.

    • Posted by zero

      The frosted glass is an attempt at a classy [water closet], without the privacy you really need, with its sound and smell.

      • Posted by AnonAnon

        I was wondering why you would have two showers. That seems like a pretty odd design choice.

        • Posted by The Milkshake of Despair

          As zero implies, the frosted “shower” on the right might actually be the Chamber of Excremeditation.

      • Posted by momonthego

        exactly my point. sound and smell while you enjoy that bath.

    • Posted by ess

      Also notice the prevalence of peaked ceilings

  9. Posted by BobN

    There’s some really cool tile.

  10. Posted by GC

    soulless & banal

  11. Posted by Wai Yip Tung

    How can the city do without some rick folks chipping in 100,000 a year of property tax.

  12. Posted by Matt in Uptown

    Another quality. No, another quick design/build by Home Depot and Associates.

  13. Posted by soccermom

    This looks like a project built by someone catering to mainland Chinese tastes.

    The landscape architect’s use of mulch is masterful. It approaches Versailles.

    Good thing I’m still running XP, or else my browser couldn’t have opened that house tour web site.

    Tear out the palm trees, rip off the horizontal wood siding, put another $250K in the landscaping.

    Run it up the flag pole, see if anyone salutes. $7mm?

    • Posted by jwb

      Seriously, how many truckloads of mulch are we talking about here?

    • Posted by AnonAnon

      Yes, epic use of mulch and astro turf. $11 million just ain’t what it used to be.

  14. Posted by jenofla

    I suspect irreplaceable oak trees were chopped down for this monstrosity, to be replaced by one-day-installation palm trees. Ugh.

  15. Posted by thoughtlost

    Mulch Masters made a fortune on this project!

  16. Posted by thoughtlost

    Palm trees: exotic non native rat hotels. If even one oak was sacrificed here jail time is warranted.

  17. Posted by thoughtlost

    Impressive amount of astro turf though

  18. Posted by CalCulver

    That bath tub looks like something my horses drink out of. And very odd kitchen arrangement with the table and chairs positioned smack in the center. Always say something nice…. I do like the two tiered coffee table….

  19. Posted by ohmy

    Yes my friends, the end is near.

  20. Posted by WiseGuy

    Would love to hear what all the arm chair architects on this comment thread would be worth 11 million dollars if this house isn’t.

  21. Posted by katdip

    A bit over the top and certainly not my taste, but can’t quite figure all the HORREUR!. The interior looks like all the modernist boxes that are going into everything from victorians to mid-centuries to new construction (lots of marble, check; no mouldings, check; brushed steel bannisters, check, etc.). The grounds don’t seem very practical but given the size of the house and the lot the price doesn’t seem too crazy, though they may have missed the boom already.

  22. Posted by cleverpunhere

    Agree with katdip. There are a lot of things to like about this place, in particular they seem to have made things of livable scale even though the house is quite large–how many houses of this size have kitchens that you might want to cook something in? This one does. This house isn’t to everyone’s tastes but the tone of the responses here suggest something that just isn’t so. I’d take this place over some faux chateau any day.

    • Posted by Anon

      – you can have it for 11.9 million. I don’t like any of the interior and only a few select things from the exterior.

  23. Posted by San FronziScheme

    Busy, very busy

  24. Posted by Amewsed

    Yikes. Time to move to Europe where you can get much better for much less.

  25. Posted by dwf

    OK, say something nice. Here goes: given the original was purchased last year, they got the job done quickly and spared the neighbors a multi-year construction site.

Comments are closed.

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