Blog > Wine Cellars, Elevators, Gated Estates and Horse Property: Silicon Valley Luxury Home Features (2026)
Wine Cellars, Elevators, Gated Estates and Horse Property: Silicon Valley Luxury Home Features (2026)
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What do Silicon Valley’s biggest houses have that others don’t? We read the listing descriptions of all 21,740 houses sold in 31 Silicon Valley cities in the two years to October 27, 2026 and pulled out four features that show up mostly at the top of the market: wine cellars, elevators, gated entries and horse facilities. Here’s how many sold, what they cost and where.
The short answer
- A wine cellar or wine room: 480 sales, median $4.4M, 43% at $5 million or more.
- An elevator: 73 sales, median $6.8M, 67% at $5 million or more.
- A gated entry or gated community: 483 sales, median $2.8M, 20% at $5 million or more.
- Horse facilities: 50 sales, median $2.75M, 12% at $5 million or more.
- All houses: median $2M; 7% sold for $5 million or more.
Next steps
- Search homes for sale, then use Save Search to get new listings by email.
- What’s my home worth? A starting estimate, then a real one from a Property Nerd.
- Talk to a Property Nerd about what you’re weighing.
The four features side by side
| Feature | Sales | Median price | Median sq ft | Median lot | $5M or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A wine cellar or wine room | 480 | $4.4M | 3,530 | 12,040 sq ft | 43% |
| An elevator | 73 | $6.8M | 5,290 | 21,780 sq ft | 67% |
| A gated entry or gated community | 483 | $2.8M | 2,697 | 9,890 sq ft | 20% |
| Horse facilities | 50 | $2.75M | 2,813 | 2.4 acres | 12% |
A wine cellar or wine room
480 sales; where they sold most: San Jose (87), Los Gatos (48), Atherton (35), Palo Alto (31), Menlo Park (30) and Los Altos (24).
An elevator
73 sales; where they sold most: Atherton (10), San Jose (8), Menlo Park (7), Palo Alto (7), Hillsborough (6) and Los Altos Hills (6).
A gated entry or gated community
483 sales; where they sold most: San Jose (127), Gilroy (48), Morgan Hill (41), Los Gatos (40), Redwood City (24) and Atherton (20).
Horse facilities
50 sales; where they sold most: Gilroy (10), Morgan Hill (10), Los Gatos (7), Woodside (7), Los Altos Hills (4) and Monte Sereno (3).
Reading it right
- These are counts from listing descriptions. Some listings describe a house in a few lines, so the real numbers are higher.
- Horse facilities depend on zoning and lot size as much as the house; ask the town what’s allowed before you count on keeping horses.
- An elevator needs regular service and inspection; ask for the records along with the disclosures.
- Big houses sell for less per square foot, so we show median price and size here rather than a price-per-square-foot premium.
How we counted
Closed sales of houses (MLS property type “single family home”) between October 28, 2024 and October 27, 2026 in 31 cities of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, reported to the MLS and read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, with repeat records from different feeds removed (normalized address plus sale date). A house counts when its listing description says so, so the true number is higher than shown. Price per square foot uses sales with 400 sq ft or more; “vs. its city” compares each sale’s price per square foot with the median for all houses in its own city (cities with at least 30 such sales). Past sales aren’t a forecast or the value of any one home.
Go deeper
The Luxury Market Report tracks the top of the market, and where $5 million homes sell ranks the neighborhoods. More from the same sales: what Silicon Valley buyers pay more for (every feature ranked), single-story homes, homes with an ADU, with a pool and with a view.
Buying or selling at the top of the market?
A Property Nerd will pull the recent sales closest to the home you’re weighing and show you what buyers paid. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.