Members of Mark Zuckerberg’s local community in California say the Meta CEO’s decision to move in has completely upended life in their otherwise peaceful and leafy district.
“No neighborhood wants to be occupied,” Michael Kieschnick, who lives in a home in Crescent Park, a neighborhood in Palo Alto that’s surrounded on three sides by properties owned by the tech tycoon, told The New York Times Sunday. “But that’s exactly what they’ve done. They’ve occupied our neighborhood.”
Zuckerberg, along with his wife Priscilla Chan and their three daughters, moved to the community more than 14 years ago. In the time since, the family has spent more than $110 million buying at least 11 houses spread across just two streets, offering prior owners up to triple the value of their homes to move out.
The Zuckerbergs have apparently now turned five of those buildings into a single compound, complete with a main house, guest houses, luxurious gardens, a pickleball court and a large swimming pool—along with a now-notorious seven-foot statue of Chan herself.
Another building is apparently being used by the family as a private school for more than a dozen children, even though the NYT reports this is against Palo Alto city codes. “He’s been finding loopholes around our local laws and zoning ordinances,” Greer Stone, a local council member, said. “We should never be a gated, gilded city on a hill where people don’t know their neighbors.”
Beneath the complex, Zuckerberg has apparently also drilled down to create cavernous areas referred to in building permits as “basements,” and better known among his neighbors as “bunkers” or the billionaire’s “bat cave.”
Construction is understood to have spanned more than eight years, with neighbors complaining their streets have been almost constaantly filled with building equipment and loud noises.
Others have taken issue with the fact that Zuckerberg’s homes are apparently rigged with extensive surveillance equipment, including cameras that allegedly overlook other houses in the neighborhood.
“Billionaires everywhere are used to just making their own rules—Zuckerberg and Chan are not unique, except that they’re our neighbors,” Kieschnick told the paper. “But it’s a mystery why the city has been so feckless.”
The Zuckerberg family has been willing to make some concessions after their fellow community members have complained in the past. Their security guards are understood to drive electric cars, rather than louder gas-fueled vehicles.
On one occasion, when the racket from the Zuckerberg property got too loud, the billionaire and his wife reportedly sent gift baskets out that included bottles of sparkling wine, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and noise-cancelling headphones.
The Daily Beast has contacted Zuckerberg and Chan’s representatives for comment.
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