The founders of the search engine giant Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have bought the modest house whose garage served as their first office.

Located in Menlo Park, California, the property consists of a large garage with a couple of rooms joined on the back which served as Google headquarters for five months.

When Mr Page and Mr Brin took leave of their studies at Stanford University in 1998, to concentrate on developing Google, the property was all that they could afford.

Google spokesman Jon Murchinson said: "The point was to preserve part of our legacy, and clearly we were pleased to have the opportunity to buy the home and the garage in which Larry and Sergey worked."

The company intends to use the 1,900 square foot property to house guests and as temporary housing for employees and their families.

Many of Silicon Valley's most successful companies, including Hewlett Packard and Apple started their lives headquartered in garages.