Here’s a property coming on the market that you don’t see every day.  The Cats estate in Los Gatos is for sale.  It’s right off Highway 17 just a mile south of downtown Los Gatos, next to the The Cats Restaurant & Tavern.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Kir from Inside Los Gatos for passing this item along.

More info, and videos, are at the agent’s site.  The property is nine separate parcels consisting of over 75 acres of land, with three different originally built houses.  Views galore, of course.  It can be yours for $8,995,000.

Facts and Features

Main House:

3985 Square Feet
Built in 1925
5 Bedrooms
4 Bathrooms
Remarkable Valley Views
Finished Basement-perfect for wine cellar
View Amphitheater
Terraced Courtyard
Famous collection of notable “attached” art work

Additional Buildings:

The Gatehouse
The Poet’s Cottage
The Ranch
The Geodesic Dome
The Teacher’s House
…more

Additional Features:

Gated entry featuring the famous Stone Cats
Riding/biking trails
Poet’s Canyon
The secret benches
The round bench
Superb acreage for horses
Natural splendor, a photographer’s paradise
Natural springs
Suitable for vineyards
Mountain, valley and lake views

Chain of ownership:

1920-1955
Charles Erskine Scott Wood & Sara Bard Field
1955-1960
Fred G. Hampton
1960-Current
Ogilvie Family

Does nine million seem like the right price for a property like this?  Think of all the fun you’ll have with everyone who ever knew you in elementary school dropping by because “they were in the neighborhood.”

This is the gatehouse above right.  Below is the main house.

All these pictures were snagged from the videos on Duane Adam’s site.  Below left is a view inside the main house, and below right is the Poet’s Cottage.  The latter gives just a taste of the views from the property.  Plenty more in the videos, plus footage from the 1930s!

Watch the daughter of the current owner get all choked up over the property being sold.  She says whoever gets the property will be “very lucky,” so why didn’t they price it at $8,888,888?

One thing we did discover that isn’t on Adam’s site: the actual address.  If you bought the Cats Estate, you’ll be receiving your mail at 17525 Santa Cruz Hwy, Los Gatos, CA 95033. 

Thanks very much to Burbed reader Kir for passing along this nugget from her blog Inside Los Gatos.  While this is a commercial property, there’s no reason why it couldn’t be returned to its original purpose as an ostentatious trophy home.

Pride of Ownership Retail Investment | Los Gatos

115 N. Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030
$4,900,000

Building Size: 7,300 SF
Price/SF: $671.23
Property Type: Retail
Property Sub-type: Free Standing Bldg
Property Use Type: Net Lease Investment with 10+ years left on lease
Cap Rate: 5.14%
Occupancy: 100%
Tenancy: Single
Lot Size: 17,987 SF

Highlights

• Iconic Historic Building – One of Los Gatos’ Most Well Known Landmarks
• Irreplaceable Downtown Los Gatos Location
• 100% Leased to Experienced Restaurant Operators
• New 10 year Lease w/Scheduled Increases
• Minimal Landlord Obligations
• Recent Extensive Renovations

Here’s what Kir had to say about this place over on Inside LG:

Coggeshall Mansion is For Sale

One of our readers sent me a real estate flyer about the Coggeshall Mansion. I was going to post it in my "Where to Build a School" column, but decided it would be just too ridiculous of an idea; however, I want to share the fact that you can own a piece of historic downtown Los Gatos.

The history of the Coggeshall Mansion is interesting, to say the least. The house was originally built for Mary G. Coggeshall, a wealthy widow with two children. According to Alastair Dallas, "Once a grand home, one of many along N. Santa Cruz Ave., the Coggeshall Mansion was built in 1891 and converted into the Place Mortuary in 1917. When it re-opened as the Chart House restaurant in 1976, the bar in the back was called the Embalming Room. After the Chart House closed, the restaurant was known as Trevese from March 2007 to Fall 2009…" Now, Palacio inhabits the mansion.

Hooked on Los Gatos has a 1949 flyer depicting the Place Funeral Home. You can check it out HERE. In fact, many of the locals swear the mansion is haunted.

So not only is the former home being sold at a premium as commercial in-town property, it comes with “bunus” ghosts.  Here’s some more on the hauntings mentioned above.

Unfortunately the link above is to yet another Google product called “knol” that’s being abandoned for insufficient awesomeness. That means the link above may not work after May 1st.  Sorry about that. 

Here are the links given in that article about the ghosts, like the one who runs up huge bar tabs or the little girl who turns wine bottles hiding the label, or the little boy running outside the building.

This house/restaurant/funeral parlor is definitely for someone who had a huge pile of stock option cash dumped in their lap who wants to one-up all those Facebook poseurs househunting in Palo Alto and Hillsborough.

Thanks very much to Kir for allowing us to reprint articles that mention real estate.