"...the move mirrors readers' increasing preference for urban life..." Perhaps there is a shift to urban areas, but this is a rationalization; the mother company wanted to cash in on the real estate value. We went to the Celebration Weekend a couple times; while that is not often, I prefer the idea of driving past their landmark campus instead of yet another condo or office complex.

So are the new owners going to let the wonderful gardens go to pot and die? Perhaps using the excuse of water conservation. The city should at least keep an eye on the heritage trees to make sure they are maintained.

Perhaps a nonprofit could make an agreement to help maintain the gardens until the new owners get their act together.

BTW the Sunset editor sure has a condescending attitude towards Menlo Park.

We live near Sunset and it's a pleasant 10-minute walk to downtown Palo Alto with all sorts of restaurants and retail, a 15-minute walk to downtown Menlo Park with somewhat fewer amenities. All the urban excitement may not be outside my front door, but it's close enough, and I don't have to wait until the bars close to get to sleep.

I'm sure the East Bay millennials can't wait to visit the new Sunset gardens and test kitchens, but I'm not moving to Oakland any time soon!

Exactly, whatever. Can't they just say they're excited about their new location without dissing the community that's been their home for decades?

The offices along Middlefield are dinosaurs of the car-centric past. As pretty as Sunset is, it's part of that same genre, isolated from public transport and town centers. So I can't blame them, and let's hope the site is put to a good suburban use that doesn't encourage more traffic down Willow.

Middlefield is a main bus corridor, and the Dumbarton express stops right outside Sunset's office. Sunset is an easy walk to the Menlo Park and Palo Alto train stations. Except for San Francisco, public transit in the Bay Area is a joke, as is "transit-oriented" development. So of course people use their cars; they have no other viable options.

It's pretty funny that they couldn't just admit their greed.

The suburban setting offered them offices, gardens and kitchens all in the same locale. Now they're using their split campus as their excuse to spin how urbanized they'll be. Their current setting has been quite bucolic, including the creek behind them. The number of cyclists in that area is pretty high, the 2 adjacent towns have free shuttles, SamTrans makes local stops, there's a market across the street with a decent deli that hosts a FTN once a week - all told, not too bad for the 'burbs. Oth, they just dissed that large demographic betwixt and between the whiners and the blue hairs. Let's be honest - the increased foodie-ism and elitism of Sunset Mag these past few years will now be completely reflected by their environment. I may have to reflect my eye-rolling with not renewing my subscription of many years.

Curses on Time Inc. for sacrificing this beautiful property to get their balance sheet back in the black so abruptly before year-end results were due! If they hadn't been in a panic sale, perhaps the community could have found a more agreeable use.

Perhaps some VC or law firm could take this on for the prestige? Easy access from 101, in the desirable 94025 zip. Please please?

Sunset magazine is not what it used to be. Being firmly entrenched in the 99%, what fills the magazine these days and the adventures promoted, no longer fit my budget. Even more grievously is the way Sunset sold off this lovely campus for the highest buck. There was no thought or commitment to preserve the beautiful plants and trees. How much better would it have been if they had donated it to a trust, to be maintained, opened, and enjoyed by the public. The fact that they did not do so, speaks a million about what they are about now.

Like an earlier commenter, when my subscription runs out, I will not be renewing.