A century-old Catholic landmark perched above Highway 280 in Los Altos has changed hands in a blockbuster deal. County filings show the Maryknoll Residence, a 57-room complex built in 1926 at 23000 Cristo Rey Drive on roughly 29 acres, sold yesterday in an all-cash transaction for about $43 million. The deal ends nearly a century of continuous ownership by the Maryknoll mission community and underscores just how rare large parcels are on the Midpeninsula.
Public records list buyer and price
According to The Mercury News, Santa Clara County documents list the buyer as Saint Therese Holdings, a Nevada LLC. The transfer was recorded earlier this week with a purchase price of roughly $43 million, and the sale was filed with the county yesterday as an all-cash transaction.
What the estate includes
Commercial listings and the broker's offering memorandum describe the site as a 40,500-square-foot compound set on about 29.2 acres, with 57 bedrooms, 54 of them with en-suite bathrooms, plus a chapel and institutional support spaces. The Sequoia Realty Services brochure highlights a commercial kitchen, dining rooms, administrative offices, conference rooms, laundry facilities and workshops. A listing on LoopNet also points to the parcel's pre-annexation status and its sweeping views over the peninsula.
Possible links to a Silicon Valley philanthropist
The Mercury News reports that the buyer's listed contact information matches an address used on the Bia-Echo Foundation's recent tax filings, a detail that has prompted reporting about a potential connection. Public nonprofit records and fundraising databases show that Bia-Echo, founded by Nicole Shanahan, lists a Reno filing and a San Francisco family-office "c/o" address on earlier filings, per nonprofit data compiled by Granted AI. Shanahan was named as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate in 2024, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Zoning and next steps
Commercial property pages indicate the parcel is zoned agricultural but has been pre-annexed into the city of Cupertino, which would put any major redevelopment under municipal review. Given the site's visibility from Highway 280 and its adjacency to Rancho San Antonio Preserve, any large-scale change would likely trigger environmental review and public hearings. That means any future proposal, once filed, could take months to work through the permitting process.
A local landmark with layers of history
The Maryknoll Residence was built in 1926 as housing for seminarians and was redesigned in the 1970s as a retirement center for missioners, according to Maryknoll's local history page. The broker's marketing leans into that legacy, calling the complex a bucolic haven and the jewel of Highway 280, language that highlights both its cultural value and the tricky calculus involved in repurposing such a distinctive site.
For neighbors and local planners, the sale raises immediate questions about preservation, privacy and long-term land use. The next chapter will unfold on paper first, so anyone curious about the future of the hilltop landmark will be watching county records and municipal filings to see whether the buyer seeks permits, starts work or files plans that would bring the project into public view.
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