After months of visiting South Florida’s most fortified islands and branded penthouses, the latest stop on the “billionaire bunker” circuit reveals a shift in the ultra-high-net-worth psyche.
Wealthy transplants no longer just buy security. They buy history. Hidden behind the lush, designer landscape of an $18 million Gothic-modern estate, the era of ‘Silicon Grove’ has begun.
Here, the bunker is not a modern glass box, but instead features large spaces, hand-carved stone objects and even a giant chessboard on the roof that feels more like a European cathedral than a Miami residence.
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As taxes scream on the Northeast and West Coast, the titans of industry are discovering that true luxury in 2026 means a private dock, an angular-edged infinity pool, and the freedom to walk to a local bookstore without a security detail involved, including Google co-founder Larry Page, who just poured more than $188 million into the neighborhood.
“And that makes it everything I’ve always said: Coconut Grove is a hidden gem. It has everything… from water, to walks, to parks, to shops, to family.”
Homes in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, March 23, 2026. (Zak Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Coconut Grove is Miami-Dade County’s oldest neighborhood, founded by settlers in the 1870s and annexed by Miami in 1925. Its rise began in the 1960s when it was renamed “The Grove” and attracted mostly bohemian artists, musicians and writers.
In the 1980s, money started flowing due to the peak of the economy The American cocaine explosionand while Coconut Grove retained some of its hippie atmosphere, new residential developments took over the landscape.
Fast forward to today, and “suddenly it started picking up again because [people] Note, if you have a place, if there is no more land, and you have a location that meets all your needs in terms of schools, parks, shopping, lifestyle, privacy, then you go for it. You start building it up,” Alatriste explained. “You take the areas that are great and make them even better.”
Huge, smooth-plastered white fireplaces act as anchors, while antique stained glass windows – set high like clerestory windows – cast colorful, geometric shadows over modern white bouclé armchairs and French cast bronze chandeliers.
The primary room’s balcony overlooks Biscayne Bay. | FOXBusiness
According to Alatriste, the home’s asking price of $18.9 million is actually “a little bit below” expectations.
“When I give awards, there are always three awards for me: a wow factor… then there [are] the regular prices comparable to the price comparisons in the area, and there is the price that I have to sell tomorrow. So with that said, I think Coconut Grove has retained its wow factor,” she said.
‘You have an opportunity now that I don’t know if you will have later. Ash [prices rise] and as more people come in, because we still have a lot of people, and remember, Florida doesn’t just have a certain point [migration demographic]like New Yorkers or Californians, they have everything. They have Mexico. They have Brazil…Chicago. It’s a melting pot of different states and countries coming here.”
While Indian Creek Village, Four Seasons Surf Club and Allison Island rely on private security forces, the Grove relies on a culture of “respectful distancing.” The homes are designed to allow high-profile owners to interact with the world on their terms, with outdoor spaces that look out without being seen.
Its most notable residents include Madonna, LeBron James, Sylvester Stallone, Jimmy Buffett, Derek Jeter, Christian Slater and, for history’s sake, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell.
“You want to go to dinner and come back and not [have] fear or whatever. You want to go on a trip and know that your area is covered, that you don’t have to worry. There will always be something out of our control, but basically the people around you will always take care of you,” Alatriste said of the sense of community in Coconut Grove.
“They’re not crazy about stars. … They have a lot of respect for others.”
For tech titans like Page and other industry forces, the appeal to Florida has apparently shifted to a lifestyle change rather than being purely business.
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“I think they will always talk about taxes. Money screams,” Alatriste said. ‘But with that caliber, your lifestyle is of course more important than the money.
“Wellness, authenticity and community. … Those are the three words that best describe Coconut Grove.”
