Remember when tech startups were supposed to launch from humble garages? Yeah, those days are basically dead. Today’s founders are trading in the scrappy startup aesthetic for something way more glamorous: luxury mansions that serve as hybrid office-living spaces. And honestly, it’s a total vibe shift that says a lot about where the industry is headed.

Zach Dive, founder of Adam, an AI company that generates 3D models, completed Y Combinator last summer and faced a choice that would’ve seemed absolutely unhinged just a few years ago. Instead of finding a cheap studio or garage, he leased a $5.5 million Spanish-style villa overlooking the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. His reasoning? “We came to this realization that we’re doing our life’s work”, the 26-year-old explained. “So why not live in the best place possible so we feel inspired every day?”

Adam’s five employees now live and work in this five-bedroom mansion, which has been transformed into part hacker house, part Mediterranean dream home. The living room is decked out with office equipment, while Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” hangs above the dining table. It’s giving luxury retreat meets startup grind.

Adam isn’t alone in this trend. Companies like Artisan, Cognition, and Cluely have all set up shop in multimillion-dollar homes across the Bay Area. Some venture capitalists are even buying mansions outright to house their portfolio companies. Real estate agents say they’re getting inundated with requests from startups looking for eight-plus bedroom homes, and they’re willing to pay top dollar, sometimes $30,000 a month or more.

So what’s driving this shift toward startup mansions? The AI boom has completely changed the math. Unlike earlier eras, today’s startups are raising bigger funding rounds with fewer employees because AI coding agents can handle way more work. Dive, for example, doesn’t plan to hire anyone new and believes his team could stay in the mansion indefinitely.

There’s also an emerging infrastructure supporting this lifestyle. Programs like The Residency and HF0 are live-in incubators housed in palatial properties where founders get meals, housing, therapy sessions, and coaching, basically removing all the boring survival stuff so they can hyperfocus on building. It’s Maslow’s hierarchy of needs meets startup culture.

Of course, this isn’t without complications. San Francisco’s residential shortage is getting worse as startups scoop up large rentals. Zoning issues have also popped up, Cluely famously got caught having employees live in a commercially zoned property and eventually moved to New York. And some neighbors aren’t thrilled about having startup parties and events happening next door.

But the trend is undeniable. We’ve gone from garages to hacker houses to full-blown mansion mode. Whether this signals a new era of founder comfort or just another unsustainable bubble in tech culture remains to be seen. Either way, the days of ramen-profitable startups grinding in dingy coworking spaces are looking increasingly quaint.