Generations from now, this will come to be known as "The Battle at Presidio Wall."
Of course, we're referring to the months-long controversy that rocked pickleball players in the Presidio neighborhood of San Francisco, California.
In case you haven't heard about this, here's the short version:
- In August of 2023, multi-millionaires Holly & Carl Peterson launched a petition to shut down pickleball courts at Presidio Wall Park, which they live near.
- The couple asked the city to halt play there due to a range of issues, including fears that the noise "threatened native ecosystems" and that the "flood of fanatics" lowers neighborhood home values.
So far, this may sound like a familiar story. Plenty of neighbors across the country don't like pickleball for a whole host of reasons. But this story has a twist.
Soon after the Peterson's petition launched, a Reddit forum post revealed that Holly has "been trying to sell her overpriced house for over two years," -- and that their house features a pickleball court in its back yard.
"So, I guess the noise from her own pickleball court affects the neighbors differently than the ones in the nearby park?" the post's author adds.
The couple didn't succeed completely. But in response to the controversy, the city decided to close six of the 12 pickleball courts to smooth things over in the short term, much to the dismay of players, who already found the space in need of more courts.
A (Somewhat) Happy Ending
Holly's claim that pickleball somehow lessens the value of real estate is, of course, demonstrably false.
Either way, their claim didn't prevent the couple from listing their century-old home for sale at a cool $36 million.
The most recent publicly-available update lists the home as 'pending' with a $29 million sale price.
In an interview with Mansionglobal.com, Holly says cites the reason for selling is that their teenaged children are away at boarding school and they're focusing on renovating another of their homes.
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Now that the couple is moving, local players have petitioned the city to reopen the six courts they closed.
As local pickleball activist Lisa Shaw told the SF Chronicle, “She’s got her millions. We’d like our lines!”
