Which Real Estate Agent Should I Hire in Atherton, CA?

Mary Gullixson has sold Atherton real estate since 1971, and the Gullixson Team she runs with her son Brent reports more than $4.7 billion in Atherton sales alone out of $8 billion across the Peninsula. Their Atherton record includes 98 Sutherland Drive at $36.75 million, 200 Polhemus Avenue at $36 million and 190 Almendral Avenue at $32.5 million, and they currently represent 349 Walsh Road at $49.68 million.

RealTrends Verified recorded $441.2 million on 27 sides for 2025, an average sale of about $16.3 million, and ranked the team 12th among small teams in the country. For the largest and most prominent Atherton estates, hers is the record every other agent is measured against.

Brent Gullixson partnered with his mother Mary more than 20 years ago and now co-leads the Gullixson Team, which closed $441.2 million on 27 sides in 2025 at an average of about $16.3 million per sale. He is co-listing agent on 349 Walsh Road at $49.68 million and 2 Carolina Lane, and the team represented the buyer of 112 Almendral Avenue at $33.25 million in August 2026.

A Menlo School and University of Arizona graduate, he works with many of the Silicon Valley founders and executives who buy and sell Atherton's largest properties, often quietly. Buyers at the top of the market should expect to see him on the other side of the table.

Tom LeMieux spent 15 years as an executive at a national homebuilder before selling real estate, and that background shows in his Atherton work: 267 Camino al Lago at $35.25 million, 30 Adam Way at $23.2 million, 5 Faxon Forest at $23.05 million and 335 Fletcher Drive at $22 million, with 27 Catalpa Drive currently listed at $8.95 million. Career sales exceed $3.5 billion since 1998.

LeMieux Associates, which he runs with Alicia Young, closed $77.64 million on 12 sides in 2025 at an average of about $6.5 million. Sellers of newer estates and buyers weighing a rebuild benefit from an agent who can read construction quality and cost.

Keri Nicholas was born and raised in Atherton and now runs Parc Agency from downtown Menlo Park. RealTrends Verified credits her with $330.53 million across 61 sides in 2025, the highest individual volume of any agent on this list and 30th in the nation, and her current Atherton listings include 123 Stockbridge Avenue at $14.99 million and 59 Somerset Lane at $16.8 million.

The Wall Street Journal has placed her among the top 30 individual agents nationally for 17 straight years, and she claims the leading market share in Menlo Park over the same span. Sellers who want the busiest individual agent in the area, rather than a team, should put her on the interview list.

Judy Citron leads The Citron Group, which closed $333.89 million on 53 sides in 2025, first among Menlo Park teams and 23rd nationally by volume in RealTrends Verified's 2026 rankings. Her Atherton sales on Compass include 244 Polhemus Avenue at $20 million, 269 Stockbridge Avenue at $19.6 million, 1 Sutherland Drive at $16.9 million and 68 Almendral Avenue at $15.75 million, and her site maintains a dedicated Atherton community page.

A Menlo Park resident for 35 years who has designed and built homes as well as sold them, she reports more than $3 billion in career sales. For a seller with a large, newer Atherton estate who wants the biggest marketing machine on the Mid-Peninsula, her team is the obvious comparison to make.

Michael Dreyfus is a broker and attorney who founded The Dreyfus Group and serves as president of Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty's Silicon Valley region. His Atherton record includes the $26 million sale of 97 Isabella Avenue and the roughly $13.85 million sale of 80 Coghlan Lane in 2023, and the group currently lists 333 Walsh Road at $9.85 million.

RealTrends ranked the team 23rd nationally by volume on 2024 sales at $272 million, and it reports more than $3 billion in career sales. Sellers with complex ownership or estate questions get the benefit of a broker who is also a lawyer.

Pierre Buljan has sold luxury property on the Peninsula for more than 40 years, including some of its most famous estates: the Carolands mansion in Hillsborough twice, the Tobin Clark estate and the Christensen estate. In Atherton his sales include 5 Betty Lane at $23 million, 335 Fletcher Drive at $22 million, 267 Atherton Avenue at $9 million and 44 Marymont Avenue at $8.9 million, and he currently represents 267 Atherton Avenue at $35 million.

The Buljan Group, which he runs with his son Alex, closed $91.59 million on 10 sides in 2025 at an average price of $9.16 million. Born in France and raised in Burlingame, he works from the Burlingame office, so he suits sellers of significant architectural estates more than buyers who want a Menlo Park neighbor.

Katy Thielke Straser is a Silicon Valley native who founded the Straser Silicon Valley Team at Compass and leads Forster Jones International's Northern California division. Her Atherton sales include 35 Isabella Avenue at $14.75 million, 52 Middlefield Road at $11.4 million, 6 Knoll Vista at $9.5 million and 137 Hawthorne Drive at $8.2 million.

The team closed $103.12 million on 43 sides in 2025, and her membership in Compass's Sports and Entertainment Division reflects a client base of athletes and executives who often need discreet, fast transactions.

Hugh Cornish represents buyers and sellers in Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Woodside, the four towns named across the top of his own site, and has done so for more than 30 years. RealTrends Verified placed him third by volume in Menlo Park for 2025 with $162.39 million across about 25 sides, which works out to an average sale well above $6 million.

He works with a support team of assistants and marketing staff from Coldwell Banker Realty's Menlo Park office. His public review footprint is thin, so ask for recent Atherton references directly.

Carol Carnevale came to real estate in 1986 after teaching high-school French and working in banking, and has since sold more than 500 homes in Palo Alto alone. Her Atherton sales include 83 Alejandra Avenue, a 12,000-square-foot estate at $15.3 million, 40 Laburnum Road at $12 million and 85 Greenoaks Drive in Lindenwood at $11.9 million.

Her team with Nicole Aron and James Steele has ranked among the WSJ and RealTrends Top 100 teams nationally every year since 2006 and closed $114.66 million on 28 sides in 2025, fourth among Menlo Park teams. A fit for sellers who want a long-tenured team that works Atherton, Menlo Park and Palo Alto as one market.

Nicole Aron is Carol Carnevale's longtime partner on a Compass team that has sat in the WSJ and RealTrends Top 100 nationally since 2006. Her Atherton transactions include 40 Laburnum Road at $12 million, 85 Greenoaks Drive at about $11.9 million, and homes on Encinal Avenue and Selby Lane, and she represents clients from San Carlos to Mountain View.

A UC Berkeley graduate who is fluent in French, she serves on the advisory council of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. Buyers relocating to the Peninsula who want one team covering several towns will find that range useful.

Scott Dancer has specialized in Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton and Menlo Park since 1984 and reports $2.5 billion in career sales. His Atherton record includes 81 Atherton Avenue, a 10,258-square-foot home on 1.08 acres that sold for $20 million, and his 2012 Woodside sale was the highest-priced residential sale in the United States that year.

From 2000 onward he sold more Woodside and Portola Valley homes than any other agent, and RealTrends Verified put him fourth by volume in Woodside for 2025 with $43.9 million on eight sides. He works from the Compass Woodside office, a natural choice for sellers of architecturally significant or equestrian property.

Veronica Kogler lives in Atherton and has sold on the Peninsula since 2007 from Coldwell Banker Realty's Menlo Park office. Her Atherton transactions include 132 Isabella Avenue at $17.7 million, 224 Atherton Avenue at $11 million and the listing of 58 Deodora Drive, which sold at $10.95 million, and her site reports 44 closed sales totaling $119 million over the prior five years.

A Columbia MBA and UC Berkeley graduate, she carries a 5.0 rating across 36 Google reviews, one of the strongest public review records on this list. A fit for clients who want a resident agent with a smaller book and more attention per transaction.

Dana Carmel founded the Dana Carmel Group at Represent Realty in Menlo Park and has built one of the busiest teams on the Mid-Peninsula in under a decade: $105.72 million on 45 sides in 2025 per RealTrends Verified. Her documented Atherton sales include 49 Rosewood Drive at $10.4 million, 43 Valley Road at $8 million, 47 Manzanita Road at $7.3 million, 315 Fletcher Drive at $6.8 million and 123 Hawthorne Drive at $6.4 million.

Her team's average sale is lower than the estate specialists above, which makes her a strong fit for Atherton's smaller legacy lots and for buyers also considering Menlo Park. Her aggregated rating is 4.96 across 209 reviews.

Erika Demma has lived on the Peninsula her whole life and in Woodside for more than two decades, and her Compass profile cites expertise across Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Palo Alto as well. RealTrends Verified ranked her first in Woodside for 2025 with $188.91 million across 25 sides, and she carries a 5.0 rating across nine Zillow reviews.

Her practice covers listing and buyer representation, relocation and new construction. For an Atherton seller whose likely buyer pool also shops Woodside and Portola Valley acreage, she is a strong second interview.

Jackie Schoelerman is an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Realty in Palo Alto whose Atherton sales include 1 Odell Place at $6.78 million and 40 Selby Lane at $5.2 million. She holds degrees in architecture and finance, and her husband and partner Richard Schoelerman is a Realtor, architect and general contractor, which makes the team unusually useful on Atherton properties bought for their lot or needing substantial work.

Her site reports more than $525 million in Mid-Peninsula sales across 310 homes, and RealTrends Verified recorded $44.22 million for 2025. She also speaks Farsi.

Grant Villeneuve was born and raised in Atherton, attended Sacred Heart Preparatory, and is the second generation of Villeneuve Properties, a Menlo Park team that has served Bay Area clients for more than 30 years and now operates under Compass. His Atherton sales include 6 Camino Por Los Arboles at $11 million and a home on Alameda de las Pulgas.

His team describes off-market buyer strategies as a core skill, and HomeLight shows 74 career transactions, most of them single-family homes, with a 5.0 rating across seven reviews. He is a good fit for buyers who want an agent who grew up on these streets rather than a high-volume team.

Kathy Bridgman is a Compass broker associate based in Los Altos who lists Atherton among her service areas alongside Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Menlo Park. RealTrends Verified recorded $223.83 million across 41 sides for 2025, 62nd in the nation, and The Wall Street Journal has placed her among the top 80 U.S. agents by volume every year since 2008.

Her documented sales cluster in Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto at roughly $9 million to $18 million rather than in Atherton itself, so she is best suited to an Atherton seller whose buyers are also considering those towns.

John Young co-leads the Young Platinum Group at Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty with his wife and partner Gloria Young. The team works Palo Alto, Atherton and the surrounding towns in the $2 million to $40 million range, reports more than $500 million in closed transactions, and has developed eight luxury homes itself, including in Atherton, which gives it a builder's read on new-construction value.

Young came to real estate from venture capital and technology leadership in New York. No individual Atherton sale was located for this profile, so ask the team for its recent Atherton closings.

Farnad Fakoor works from Milad Real Estate, a Palo Alto boutique founded in 2014 and led by broker and attorney Aria Vatankhah. Her Atherton transactions include 5 Ridge View Drive at $8.05 million and 64 Fairview Avenue at $7.9 million, and she is currently listing a $2.75 million Atherton lot on Alameda de las Pulgas.

With a background in luxury development and design, she markets a concierge-style practice built around sourcing off-market and exclusive properties from private sellers and builders, including for international clients. She is newer to the business than most agents on this list, so ask for recent references.

Milana Ostroy is a founding member of SERHANT.'s California operation and a broker associate covering San Francisco and the Peninsula, with Atherton, Menlo Park and Palo Alto among her stated markets and more than $700 million in career sales. She has bought, renovated, built and held property herself and advises clients on relocation, downsizing, divorce and estate transitions.

She is president of the Women's Council of Realtors for 2025 and 2026. No individual Atherton transaction was located for this profile, so treat her as a Peninsula generalist with luxury range rather than an Atherton specialist.