Hidden Cash, Gold Bars and a Barn Dungeon: What Bay Area Estate Sale Managers Find in Billionaires' Homes

Estate sale managers across the Bay Area say clearing out the homes of the ultrarich regularly turns up surprises, from a fully equipped dungeon in a Woodside barn to $20,000 in rolled bills stuffed inside a tampon box. One client even left a permanent 30-foot Christmas tree standing in a mansion.

Amanda Kuzak, an estate sale specialist based in Los Altos, has worked with wealthy property owners in Silicon Valley for 20 years and estimates she has liquidated more than 1,000 mansions. She said homes in the $30 million to $40 million range are common in her work, in towns such as Atherton and Los Altos Hills. Of the Woodside dungeon, she said it had straps on the walls and dog cages, though no dogs were kept in them. "Nothing really shocks me anymore," she said.

The business model varies. Some clients pay a flat fee based on the assessed value of a sale, with appraisers often brought in for high-value pieces. Others split revenue with the seller, which averages about 30% of total sales. Estate sales date back to medieval times, when they helped settle debts and redistribute property, but sellers say the Bay Area, home to the world's highest concentration of billionaires, is a market of its own.

Vicky Kearsey, who runs Beehive Estate Sales, focuses on East Bay communities such as Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda. She said about 20% of her clients are families moving up from $10 million starter homes to mansions worth $20 million to $50 million, while the rest are downsizing, redecorating, or selling a deceased relative's estate. Her finds include a hidden room of silver coins behind a closet, a gold bar among office supplies, gold coins in a Tupperware jar and, in an Oakland Hills home once owned by a defense attorney, 50 loaded handguns that police had somehow not fully cleared.

Al Bolo, 59, founder of Bolo's Estate Liquidations, said 80% of his clients are relocating, whether a venture capital partner leaving Atherton for Montana or a Pacific Heights resident heading to Marin. He once found $250,000 of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry in a shoebox at an Atherton sale; the owner had forgotten it. He also sold the contents of a Woodside mansion converted into an Egyptian showpiece, with a pool dyed green, to the Luxor Las Vegas. He said San Francisco buyers favor bronze statues and abstract art.

Wealthy clients can behave differently from most homeowners, the sellers said. One of Kuzak's clients bought an $18 million mansion on impulse, used it for two months, and then asked her to prepare it for sale. Another employed 20 full-time staff to maintain an estate they had not visited in years.

Shoppers can benefit. Kearsey's sales have included a 2.5-carat alexandrite ring valued at $24,000, Tiffany and Christian Dior necklaces, and designer clothing from Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes; the priciest items are displayed in glass cases, sometimes under armed security. Discounts are set by the sale companies, except for fine jewelry and art, and are deep enough that managers sometimes buy items themselves. Kuzak said her team sold three Birkin bags a couple of weeks before the interview.

Technology relics are also popular. Kearsey has sold early Apple computers, Ataris and PlayStations, and said Discmans appeal to Gen Z buyers. Bolo found an Apple Lisa computer at a Woodside estate that sold for about $10,000. Kuzak said she is seeing more pandemic-era home gyms and work-from-home setups come to market. In July 2023 she launched an app, Kuzak's Closet, moving her business online, while Beehive remains in-person only and keeps each sale's address secret until 5 a.m. that day.

Kearsey said the volume of belongings is striking, as is what families decline to keep. She has sold works by Picasso, Dali and Chagall and Remington bronzes, and said many clients feel guilty parting with heirlooms while their children show little interest in them.