Google co-founder Larry Page’s plans for a 5,900-square-foot contemporary house in leafy Palo Alto has stirred a ripple of anxiety among neighbors.
Page lives in a historic home, with an assessed value of $7.2 million as of July 2008, on a cul-de-sac in one of the city’s nicest areas, just a block from fellow billionaire and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. It’s an old Palo Alto neighborhood that appreciates its privacy, but Page’s plans for an eco-friendly property have shone a spotlight on it.
Page added to his property by buying lots on an adjacent street and demolishing the buildings there. He now owns four lots, all of them through limited liability corporations, with a total assessed value — including his home — of $15.2 million. He hasn’t yet filed plans with the city for the new house.
The demolitions — part of a long string of remodels and tear-downs in a neighborhood making way for bigger homes — has stirred some worry.
“I know a number of people in the neighborhood who had concerns about that,” said City Councilman Pat Burt, “and it ended up raising a question, going forward, about whether demolition permits should be issued without any preliminary construction plans.”
Rachel Whetstone, a spokeswoman for Page, said the existing buildings were “deconstructed” and the materials donated for reuse.
A Mediterranean-style home with a large circular driveway and gardens was one of those torn down to make way for the new construction. That upset some neighbors, many of whom had attended parties held by the previous owners, Len Ely, a well-known former car dealer, and his wife Shirley.
Liz Rau, who has lived two doors down from the Ely property since 1974, said Tuesday, “I haven’t gotten over it yet.” She said “that’s why everybody wanted to live here, was for all these wonderful old houses.”
Whetstone said the neighbors have been kept up to date about what’s happening on the property, though some neighbors disputed that. And one neighbor said Page had sent Dean & DeLuca gift boxes for Christmas to people who lived nearby.
Whetstone said Page is planning soon to apply for a permit to build the home, which totals 5,900 square feet, not including the basement.
The two-story home, with four bedrooms, will be contemporary in style, and is designed to “minimize the impact on the environment.”
For example, the home’s exterior will include zinc cladding and plenty of windows. The property has about 60 trees; most will be retained, while others that are not healthy will be replaced with native species that don’t consume a lot of water.
Page also is applying for “Green Point Certification,” the home industry’s rating system for energy efficiency. The home will have a roof garden with solar panels.
Page, who is married with no children, bought the first parcel in the area in 2005. He “loves the neighborhood” and the “community feel,” Whetstone said.
Ralph Britton, a 74-year-old retired electrical engineer who lives nearby, said he’s one of those who have raised concerns.
“The concern is that really excellent homes are being destroyed in the process, just being replaced by something different,” Britton said. “The concern is the character of the community is modified in this process.”
Britton said that people who have lived in the neighborhood “are finding the community we once enjoyed is being turned into a different place, and structures of great quality are being destroyed.”
Another neighbor, who asked not to be named, said her concern is that the project “has gotten a fair amount of publicity. I think they deserve their privacy,” she said. “That’s the way I feel about it.”
Lynn Fielder, who lives across the street from Page’s property, said the project is evidence that the economic slowdown hasn’t impacted her neighborhood. “This block is booming,” she said.
A few doors down is a nearly completed remodel, and next door to that is a two-story home in the midst of construction.
Mercury News Staff Writer Tracy Seipel and Researcher Leigh Poitinger contributed to this report. Contact Sue McAllister at smcallister@mercurynews.com. Contact Pete Carey at pcarey@mercurynews.com.
