{"id":483573,"date":"2026-10-03T05:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T05:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483573\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T05:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T05:28:16","slug":"ai-execs-flock-to-san-francisco-for-low-tech-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483573\/","title":{"rendered":"AI execs flock to San Francisco for low-tech homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

They made their fortunes in artificial intelligence<\/a>. But that doesn\u2019t mean they want a mansion filled with smart gadgets.<\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s<\/a> newly minted AI millionaires are seeking warm woods, handmade furniture and wellness amenities, brokers and designers told The Post \u2014 with some even forgoing smart-home features in a stunning about-face.<\/p>\n

Their vision of a dream home puts natural materials, calm interiors and room to unplug high on the list.<\/p>\n

What homes are the AI elite shopping for these days? Northern California escapes that are heavy on nature, and light on tech for an unplugged escape. One such example is this $32 million listing in Belvedere. Hunter Bouche for Sotheby’s International Realty<\/p>\n

The dwelling, which is listed for sale and one that\u2019s fit for a newly minted AI millionaire, has all the features they would want \u2014 including light-filled interiors. Hunter Bouche for Sotheby’s International Realty<\/p>\n

Think saunas, cold plunges, red-light therapy, private gyms and libraries.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years ago, everybody wanted a wine cellar or a wine room,\u201d Annie Williams, a veteran San Francisco broker with Sotheby\u2019s International Realty, told The Post. \u201cEverybody\u2019s asking for, \u2018Where can I put my sauna?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u2018tsunami\u2019 of AI money<\/p>\n

The frenzy is unfolding amid what Williams, who has worked in San Francisco real estate for 25 years, called the hottest market she has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took off in January and nobody seemed to see it coming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Williams said the phenomenon stretches beyond founders and employees at companies such as OpenAI. Surging technology stocks have created a much broader \u201cwealth effect\u201d among investors, longtime tech workers and families whose portfolios are heavily exposed to AI-related companies.<\/p>\n

The flurry for luxury property began this year, brokers said. One such home for them is this tree-surrounded residence in Mill Valley. Open Homes Photography<\/p>\n

Lisa Smith, a founding agent at Serhant in San Francisco, said she began feeling the surge particularly strongly around May. Smith said AI buyers have also toured a $20 million off-market property she is marketing in Mill Valley, about 10 minutes from San Francisco. The remodeled historic home has five bedrooms and four bathrooms across roughly 3,800 square feet and sits on a half-acre lot within walking distance of downtown Mill Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m feeling a little bit like I\u2019m in a tsunami,\u201d Smith told The Post. \u201cThe request of what they want right now is just outpacing what we can get them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is that San Francisco has only so many mansions<\/a> to go around.<\/p>\n

Goodbye wine cellar. Hello cold plunge!<\/p>\n

Once they find one, the new generation of tech wealth is putting its own stamp on luxury.<\/p>\n

Smith said wellness features \u2014 particularly saunas, cold plunges and red-light therapy \u2014 have become increasingly common requests.<\/p>\n

Just before speaking to The Post, she had toured a home where red-light therapy had been installed directly on the wall of the primary bedroom.<\/p>\n

The off-market listing is just 10 minutes from San Francisco. Open Homes Photography<\/p>\n

Jennifer Jones, principal designer at Niche Interiors, who is currently working with several AI-industry clients, said she is seeing the same shift from the other side of the transaction.<\/p>\n

Clients who buy homes with wine rooms are increasingly asking her team to turn them into spas or saunas, she said. Others want full gyms, plunge pools and even dedicated rooms for at-home massages.<\/p>\n

Those amenities are increasingly showing up in homes drawing interest from the AI crowd, too.<\/p>\n

One such property they can consider is att 827 North Point St. in Russian Hill \u2014 a three-bedroom condo asking $2.95 million, listed by Neill Bassi of Sotheby\u2019s International Realty. The 1,643-square-foot home has its own private wellness setup, with a sauna and cold plunge opening onto a private deck.<\/p>\n

A $2.95M Russian Hill condo can be especially popular among AI buyers for one particular inclusion it has. Lunghi Studio<\/p>\n

The home\u2019s private wellness area opens directly onto an outdoor deck. Lunghi Studio <\/p>\n

A wood-lined sauna is among the property\u2019s wellness amenities. Lunghi Studio <\/p>\n

The setup also includes a cold plunge just steps from the primary bedroom. Lunghi Studio <\/p>\n

Another penthouse, at 18 Lansing St. in Rincon Hill, takes the idea to the roof. The $2.39 million, roughly 1,940-square-foot home, listed by Justin Goldberg of Compass, has more than 1,000 square feet of private outdoor space, including a rooftop sauna and hot tub, along with a fire pit and an upper observation deck with panoramic views of downtown San Francisco and the Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost buyers touring our penthouse work in AI or tech, with offices just a few blocks away,\u201d Goldberg told The Post. \u201cWith a significant IPO market anticipated in the coming months, buyers are looking to get ahead of the potential liquidity expected to enter the neighborhood in 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sprawling rooftop turns wellness into an outdoor experience above San Francisco, which has lured in prospective AI buyers. David Kim<\/p>\n

A private sauna sits alongside the rooftop hot tub and outdoor kitchen. David Kim<\/p>\n

The hot tub comes with sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline. David Kim<\/p>\n

Daniel Kavanagh, principal of Rogue Sauna, said he has installed high-end saunas for a number of Bay Area clients working in AI and tech. Residential projects can run from around $40,000 to $100,000, he said, with cold plunges often part of the setup.<\/p>\n

For clients who spend their working lives immersed in technology, Kavanagh said the appeal is often getting away from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe irony is that they want something to decompress from tech,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want a break from technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sauna, he added, is \u201cone of the few places in the house that nobody checks email.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aesthetic beyond the sauna<\/a> \u2014 and into the general design of the homes \u2014 has changed, too.<\/p>\n

Where previous generations of Silicon Valley wealth often gravitated toward shiny metals, crystal chandeliers, dark wallpapers and other conspicuous displays of luxury, many of today\u2019s younger clients are asking for something softer.<\/p>\n

Rogue Sauna has installed high-end saunas for a number of Bay Area AI and tech clients. Rogue Sauna Company<\/p>\n

Residential sauna projects can run from $40,000 to $100,000, Rogue Sauna Company<\/p>\n

\u201cQuiet\u201d and \u201ccalm\u201d are words Jones said she hears repeatedly.<\/p>\n

The look is heavy on warm woods, handmade pieces, organic shapes, textured fabrics, muted palettes and sculptural furniture \u2014 a kind of California modernism meets \u201cquiet luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want light. They want airy,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThey do not want dark, moody rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

And quiet luxury doesn\u2019t mean quiet spending.<\/p>\n

Jones said AI clients have shelled out $150,000 for a custom glass-and-bronze chandelier and more than $100,000 for a hand-knotted silk-and-cashmere rug.<\/p>\n

The six-figure purchases reflect a particular appetite for custom craftsmanship, she said, even when the finished room is deliberately designed not to scream wealth.<\/p>\n

When ChatGPT becomes the mood board<\/p>\n

Of course, AI itself is also increasingly shaping what those homes look like.<\/p>\n

Jones said clients now arrive at the beginning of projects armed with their own ChatGPT-generated renderings \u2014 something designers would traditionally create much later in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018Here\u2019s an idea. Here\u2019s an idea,\u2019\u201d she said, describing clients rapidly generating different versions of rooms in their new homes.<\/p>\n

That has accelerated expectations for the rest of the process, too.<\/p>\n

Quiet luxury, as seen in this listing, is the name of the game today \u2014 not to mention light-filled interiors. David Kim<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want these projects done fast,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

The trouble is that the physical world doesn\u2019t always move at AI speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t make a hand-knotted rug in Nepal any faster,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jones said \u201cspeed is something that\u2019s become a new currency\u201d among this generation of clients.<\/p>\n

In one particular request, an AI client challenged her team to compete against artificial intelligence to design a custom piece of furniture. Both sides received essentially the same brief, and the client compared the results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won that challenge,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI\u2019m not worried that AI is taking over a job as an interior designer anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They made their fortunes in artificial intelligence. But that doesn\u2019t mean they want a mansion filled with smart…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2080,189360,13781,35036,3408,388,101,103,102,104,106,105,2280,16614],"class_list":["post-483573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-health-and-wellness-products","tag-luxury-real-estate","tag-mansions","tag-openai","tag-real-estate","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-silicon-valley","tag-venture-capital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}