Although the deal(s) went down several months ago, it’s only now — thanks to the Wall Street Journal sleuths — that Mark Zuckerberg’s surreptitious real estate ways in the resort destination of Lake Tahoe have become public knowledge. For those geographically-challenged folks, Lake Tahoe is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains and is the largest alpine lake in all of North America. Straddling a state border — the western side lies in California, the eastern in Nevada — the 71-mile-long waterhole is one of the biggest tourist draws west of the Rocky Mountains.

The Facebook head honcho and $74 billion man used a mysteriously named corporate entity to cloak his identity, stealthily paying $22 million for a Tahoe waterfront mansion last December. The following month, he shelled out $37 million for the larger property next door. All involved parties were required to sign nondisclosure agreements, and the homes’ MLS images were ordered scrubbed from the internet.

All that near-paranoid secrecy is quite ironic when one considers the numerous privacy scandals Facebook (and by extension, Zuckerberg) has long engendered. Critics continue to lambast the social media near-monopoly for being too lax with its users’ personal information. But apparently what’s good for the geese isn’t good enough for the gander. Or something like that.

Anywho, both lakefront estates have marina-style piers and spectacular water views. Situated on the western shore — that would be the lake’s California side — in casually chic Tahoe City, the compound spans nearly 10 acres in all, with a whopping 600 feet of uninterrupted lake frontage.

The smaller $22 million property — it’s been christened the Carousel Estate — sits on 3.5 acres and includes a Tudor-style main house built in the early 1930s. Other features include separate guest/caretakers’ quarters, two buoys and a marina-style pier capable of accommodating a yacht. The property was sold to Zuckerberg by heirs of the late Woodside, Calif.-based investment banker Robert Quist.

Known as the Brushwood Estate, the larger $37 million property includes an approximately 7,000-square-foot woodsy main house built in 1964, plus two detached guesthouses totaling another 4,000 square feet of living space. There are three buoys, rolling lawns and a lakeview jacuzzi. Massive pine and redwood trees dot the estate, which was sold by elderly San Francisco-based philanthropist Tamara Fritz.

According to the Journal’s sources, Zuckerberg and his longtime wife Priscilla Chan may raze one or both mansions that comprise the new $59 million mega-estate. The couple has also allegedly made overtures about acquiring a third Tahoe City property — this one a landlocked mini-estate directly across the street from the other two — but have yet to finalize a purchase agreement.

And though it’s likely we don’t know the full extent of his real estate holdings, Zuckerberg also maintains property in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco and a 700-plus acre mega-estate on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. His main residence, however, is widely reported to be a $43 million, five-parcel compound in the enormously wealthy Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto.

The $22 million estate was listed by Mark Moore of Oliver Luxury Real Estate, and the $37 million estate by Bill Dietz of Tahoe Luxury Properties. Zuckerberg was repped by Jennie Fairchild of Oliver Luxury Real Estate.

Mark Zuckerberg

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