Woodside Partner Trying To Sell Home for Reduced Sale Price of, Gulp, $38M

Kelly Porter, a managing director at Woodside Capital Fund in Palo Alto, may not have a brand name in the venture industry, but he may own one of the nicest houses — at least, until he manages to sell it.

Porter, who focuses on media, consumer software and enterprise software startups, bought his 30,000-square-foot Tudor mansion — nestled on nearly eight acres in Los Altos Hills — back in 1999 for $5 million. Now, as the LA Times reports, he’s trying to sell it for $38 million, down from its summer listing price of $45 million. (He and his ex-wife apparently poured tens of millions of dollars into the estate’s renovation.) He’s not lowering the listing price again, either, says his agent, though Porter is willing to “consider less,” she says.

If you’re filthy rich and interested in Jacobean architectural bling, this could be the place for you. According to marketing materials, the “opulent interior includes formal living room with Italian style 12 foot wood ceilings, an antique carved marble fireplace, a ballroom with 16th Century gilded Venetian ceiling paintings, a grand oak entry stair hall with plaster ceilings, library with mahogany bookcases and a secret room with wet bar and beer taps, inlaid wood floors, gourmet kitchen with mahogany island and onyx counters, and breakfast room with new Gothic arch windows.” That’s saying nothing of the seven bedrooms, seven baths, expansive gym, garden building, caretaker’s house or three-car garage.

Porter made part of his fortune when CatchTV, an interactive TV software company where he was chairman and CEO, sold in 1999 to ACTV, a then-publicly traded company later acquired by Liberty Media in 2002. The USC and Stanford grad was also one of the founders of Fox Television’s cable news division, according to his Woodside bio. Before joining Woodside, Porter ran a short-lived venture firm called ZAP Ventures.

As Porter notes in his bio, he’s also the son of Bill Porter, a founder and former CEO of E*Trade.

Click here and scroll down to see photos of the house.