Mark Zuckerberg is padding his already impressive real estate portfolio with a 19th-century castle in southern Ireland. The Meta CEO and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are the new owners of Strancally Castle in County Waterford. They apparently acquired the 440-acre estate “several weeks ago” in an off-market transaction, per The Irish Times, which was the first to report the news.
While the exact price that the couple paid remains unclear, the Times estimated the estate was worth between €20 million and €30 million, or roughly $23.3 million to $35 million. The sellers are financier Michael Alen-Buckley and his wife, Giancarla Alen-Buckley, who purchased the compound 25 years ago and have spearheaded a complete restoration over the last two decades.
“Mark and his family are excited to continue caring for this historic home and look forward to spending time in Ireland, where Meta maintains its international headquarters,” a spokesperson for Zuckerberg told the Times.
Built in 1830 by architects James and George Richard Pain, Strancally Castle spans roughly 16,000 square feet and features a cut-stone Gothic Revival facade. It reportedly contains at least 11 bedrooms and four tower suites. The three-story house is so large that it supposedly takes 4.5 minutes to walk from the dining room to kitchen, per The Houses of Ireland, a 1985 book by Brian De Breffney and Rosemary Ffolliott.
Additionally, the property comes with a matching stone folly, also designed by the Pain brothers, plus a dock on the River Blackwater.
Zuckerberg, the world’s sixth-richest person, and Chan primarily reside in Palo Alto with their three children, Maxima, August, and Aurelia—but they also own numerous other properties. Among them is a $170 million Miami Beach home, a $23 million residence in D.C., and more than 2,300 acres in Hawaii.
The family won’t be moving to the Emerald Isle permanently, according to the Times. Instead, they will use the castle as a base when visiting Meta’s European headquarters in Dublin, about 125 miles away.
Geoffrey Montes is an associate editor at ELLE Decor with a serious love for all things real estate and design. Before that, he worked at Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Preservation magazines, covering everything from jaw-dropping listings to world-famous architects and design events like Salone del Mobile and Homo Faber.