A striking Bay Area estate (and two adjacent parcels) owned by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich are for sale off-market at $12 million. His heavy metal band recorded “Welcome Home” and this luxurious home screams the same—although this isn’t some showbiz song “sanitarium”, it’s an isolated Tiburon, California hilltop mansion with exceptional vistas.
The 11 Place Moulin estate is touted as “Tiburon’s grandest panoramic view estate” and the home of an “anonymous rockstar.” As a Rock-n-Roll Hall of Famer, drummer Ulrich certainly qualifies as a major rockstar, even if he pounds the skins from the back of the stage during Metallica’s head-banging stadium gigs. He’s the one who provides the hell-raising beat for their epic anthems like “Enter Sandman,” “Master of Puppets” and “Fade to Black.”
The off-market listing is represented by Compass’ Steve Mavromihalis, who recently sold actor Robert Redford’s Danza del Sol estate in Napa Valley for $7 million. Mavromihalis wouldn’t comment on this owner’s identity.
Public record sleuthing reveals the home was held in a trust (Place Moulin) by the late Leo Frederick Duffin, a financial planner for many musicians, including “members of the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame,” according to his 2012 obituary. Metallica was inducted into rock’s pantheon in 2009.
The gated home looms large over Tiburon’s highest peak, near the end of a secluded cul-de-sac—indulging unobstructed, telescopic Marin County views in all directions to San Francisco Bay, the city skyline, Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Belvedere Island, Alcatraz, the Marin Headlands, Mount Tamalpais, and all the grandeur in between.
“Views are unsurpassed and the location gives a fortunate buyer easy access to the richness of the city’s cultural and business offerings with restful water views from the home,” says Mavromihalis. “There is no estate in the Bay Area that offers this unique bridge to bridge view in quite this spectacular way.”
The compound comprises three separate parcels spanning more than two acres—the home’s main 20,000-square-foot lot which is protected by two other buildable lots Ulrich acquired to secure his privacy. The additional lots include a 19,380-square foot lot to the east (7 Place Moulin, also with sweeping vistas), and a 1.26-acre lot to the south (107 Mount Tiburon)—both of which are on cul-de-sacs with street frontage. The lots are offered together but would be considered separately, if the price is right.
Just beyond the grand courtyard entrance, the 13,000-square-foot residence (one of the largest in Marin County) boasts 25 rooms, including a monumental great room, six bedrooms, six full bathrooms, three half baths), five fireplaces, a library, safe room and a sound studio that rocks. There’s also a basement sports court (for basketball or squash), six-person sauna, media room, a pool, hot tub and scores of storage space.
An aquarium hovers over the master bathtub and living space walls crave a personal art collection while a grand terrace and soaring double-height windows frame the exterior dreamscape like some fringed iconic photograph. The home also features an extra large shower, double-island kitchen, high angled ceilings (some coffered), arched doorways, and contemporary interiors.
“With multiple bedrooms and recreational features including the sport court and pool, the house is ideal for a family,” says Mavromihalis. “Yet the estate’s expansive interiors were designed to feature a world-class art collection. Outdoor entertaining areas makes this an ideal choice for the tech titan who loves to entertain his or her friends or host large philanthropic events.”
The tranquil, secluded enclave is distant from city life yet only a 20-minute trek to the Golden Gate Bridge and seven-minute drive to the Tiburon Ferry which offers quick access to downtown San Francisco. Tiburon is waterfront town of less than 10,000 residents, with boutique shops, restaurants, an annual film festival, Corinthian Yacht Club, and water-lined parks, including a popular area called Blackie’s Pasture where joggers, walkers, cyclists, soccer players, and possibly world-class drummers unwind.
Metallica’s Ulrich marches to a different drum. Not only because he rocks millions of heavy metal fans. He’s fiercely private until he feels compromised by outside forces like Napster’s intrusive peer-to-peer music sharing service. Ulrich is staunch defender of artists’ creative and financial rights. He was the most outspoken critic of Napster’s “copyright infringement,” holding the company accountable via a successful lawsuit and even testifying before Congress.
Still, Ulrich has done quite well for himself. Some evidence lies in Tiburon where his stunning home awaits a new owner. Metallica’s “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” says “Sleep my friend and you will see…That dream is my reality.” Place Moulin isn’t quite the dream Metallica imagined in song, but it will be someone’s dream home very soon.