Bored Panda has featured some photos from the account over the last few years. As of this posting, it is still going strong, with nearly two million followers and counting. 

While it still features the castle-like structures that many call home, a lot of these images show outrageous interior designs.

Like many successful ventures today, Zillow Gone Wild began during the pandemic in late 2020. Its creator, Samir Mezrahi, is proud of how it became an instant hit. 

“When I decided to start the account, it completely took off from the start,” he said in an interview with Tulsa World. “Then, a few weeks later, Saturday Night Live did a sketch on Zillow, which made me feel like I was really onto something.”

In another interview with NPR, Mezrahi says he took advantage of the lockdowns when people spent a large chunk of their time browsing social media. 

“It was, like, prime pandemic. Everyone’s working from home. Companies are saying you can live wherever you want. So people are moving, thinking about moving, or browsing Zillow just as a bored-on-your-phone thing. 

“I kind of felt like there was an audience of people out there that are also doing this.”

In an April interview with The Washington Post, Mezrahi shared his process of picking out homes for his page. If he wants to feature something for #MansionMonday, “It can’t just be a mansion; it has to be a mansion-plus.”

“It’s what you say you would do if you’re rich. When you’re a kid you would say you want all these things … they went through with it and did it all.”

Real estate professionals also get a kick from being featured on the page. Listing agent Leslea Roberts advertised a luxury home in Horseshoe Bay, TX, for a whopping $13.5 million. 

In a May interview with San Antonio Express-News, she revealed that she had immediately received “more than 100 inquiries” when the listing went viral in October 2023. 

“This actually brought me income, and it brought me so much exposure. I still get messages via Facebook and Instagram about this.”

Real estate agent Lori Largen shared a similar experience of being “inundated” by calls after Zillow Gone Wild featured her listing. It was a 2,745-square-foot house in San Antonio with a cavern in its backyard. 

“I just think it’s interesting to see what’s out there,” she said. “I wish I could find another property with a cave because then I could go back to all the people that wanted a house with a cave.”

Despite its popularity, many industry experts have also pointed out Zillow’s limitations. In one of our articles about the page in 2022, we spoke to realtor Jennifer LeBow and asked whether the site is a trusted resource. 

“I would not necessarily avoid using it,” she said. “I would just be very clear on what to use it for. It will provide for-sale-by-owner properties as well as MLS-listed properties, which is good. However, for any kind of value estimate, it’s terrible.”

LeBow also briefly explained Zillow’s business model and how buyers may have difficulty finding a reliable agent. 

“One of the worst things is that Zillow is designed to make money by charging agents for showing up on a listing as though they were the listing agent,” she said. “So consumers contact the agent who pops up, assuming that that agent will be knowledgeable about the neighborhood and the house. 

“Most of the time, that is not the case and the buyer ends up with an agent who cannot properly represent them."