- Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has been rankling his neighbors in Palo Alto as he works on expanding and modifying the 11 homes that he has purchased in the area. To smooth over tensions, the New York Times says Zuckerberg gifted his next-door neighbors noise-canceling headphones as a peace offering.
Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire cofounder of Facebook and CEO of Meta, reportedly gave noise-canceling headphones to his neighbors in the Crescent Park neighborhood of Palo Alto in an effort to address years of frustration over ongoing construction and disruption surrounding his expanding residential compound, according to the New York Times.
The once-ideal neighborhood of lawyers, business executives, and Stanford University professors has been transformed into a space dominated by construction equipment, surveillance, and frequent extravagant parties as a result of Zuckerberg spending more than $110 million on at least 11 homes on Edgewood Drive and Hamilton Avenue over the previous 14 years.
In an area where there is a severe housing shortage, some of these properties are vacant, while others have been transformed into guest houses, lush gardens, a pickleball court, a pool with a hydrofloor, and—for a while at least—a private school for Zuckerberg’s kids and a number of others (a use that seems to violate local zoning laws).
Underneath the compound, Zuckerberg added 7,000 square feet of space described as “basements,” which to area residents are more akin to “bunkers” or a “billionaire’s bat cave.” Zuckerberg similarly added a 5,000-square-foot underground structure to his compound in Hawaii, which he insists is not a “doomsday bunker.”
Much of the discontent centers on the nearly eight years of continual construction. Several neighbors cited street blockages, debris, and relentless noise as ongoing issues.
Zuckerberg’s property controversy
The noise-canceling headphones were among several gifts extended by Zuckerberg’s staff to appease neighbors during particularly loud periods, along with bottles of sparkling wine and boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. These gestures, however, have not always been effective. Some of his neighbors say their community has been transformed—and not in a good way—by absentee ownership, strict privacy barriers, and heavy security presence, including cameras overlooking adjacent properties and frequent patrols by private security guards.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zuckerberg and his neighbors have previously spat over real estate developments. A plan to destroy four houses and build a larger compound with smaller residences and spacious basements was turned down by Palo Alto officials in 2016. In the end, Zuckerberg moved slowly, completing identical work piecemeal to avoid additional regulatory obstacles, even though the city rejected the particular application. Since then, the Palo Alto City Council and several locals have denounced what they say is the city’s regulatory passivity and the abuse of zoning loopholes.
The range of homes in Zuckerberg’s portfolio goes well beyond Palo Alto. He has a 2,300-acre estate in Kauai, Hawaii, and his development plans and land purchases have occasionally sparked controversy in the community.
He also owns homes at Lake Tahoe and a mansion in Washington, D.C.
