Google Adds A Garage
At 1,880 square feet, the house at 232 Santa Marguerita Avenue in Menlo Park, California could fit neatly inside the Googleplex, but once upon a time all of Google occupied that home's garage.
The House That Google Bought used to belong to Google's Susan Wojcicki, now a vice president of product management at the search advertising company.
She needed some extra cash to help pay the mortgage, and the not-yet-Googlers wanted a place to develop their nascent search engine. For $1,700 per month, Sergey Brin and Larry Page were able to set up shop as many have in Silicon Valley, in a garage.
AP reported the company purchased the home, but did not disclose the price. The listing at Zillow.com included a "Zestimate" of $1.17 million, while AP noted homes in the area have sold for $1.1 million to $1.3 million.
Apparently not all of the time Brin and Page spent at the house involved marathon coding sessions:
During Google's five-month history there, the garage became like a second home for Page and Brin.
The entrepreneurs, then just 25, seemed to be always working on their search engine or soaking in the hot tub that still sits on the property. They also had a penchant for raiding Wojcicki's refrigerator - a habit that may have inspired Google to provide a smorgasbord of free food to the 8,000 employees on its payroll.
When Page and Brin first moved in the garage, Google had just been incorporated with a bankroll of $1 million raised from a handful of investors.
No plans have been set for the home, though a Google spokesperson quoted in the article said it would be preserved "as a part of our living legacy."
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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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