Microsoft mogul Bill Gates has become quite the real estate mogul too, with an impressive property investment in Washington. In 1988, the businessman spent $2 million for a mansion overlooking Lake Washington, which cost $63 million to remodel. He subsequently spent $14 million on the surrounding properties to guarantee total privacy, but the estimated worth of the estate now is a dazzling $130 million, meaning he’s made over $50 million in profit.
Bill himself has a net worth of around $106.4 billion, and his high-tech haven is the perfect example of the wealth he exudes.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘Xanadu 2.0’ (after the iconic movie Citizen Kane), the lavish property overlooking Lake Washington was bought along with Bill’s ex-wife Melinda French Gates.
In a 2008 interview with Fortune, Melinda called the house “a bachelor’s dream and a bride’s nightmare.”
Inside Bill Gates’ sprawling estate
From its artificial salmon stream to its James Bond-level security, it’s short of impressive features. The exterior boasts a surprisingly rustic, wooden cabin-style aesthetic, but inside is a new-age wonder.
Writing in his 1995 book, The Road Ahead, Bill revealed: “My house is made of wood, glass, concrete, and stone. It’s built into a hillside, and most of the glass faces west over Lake Washington to Seattle to take advantage of the sunset and Olympic Mountain views.”
The property features seven bedrooms, an astonishing 24 bathrooms, and six kitchens to cater to every culinary whim, spread across 66,000 square feet. While that may seem impressive, there’s also a home cinema and trampoline room. Book lovers will swoon over the 2,100-square-foot library, which houses a hidden bar and two secret bookcases. It even holds a 16th-century Leonardo da Vinci manuscript which Bill casually snapped up for $30.8 million.
Xanadu 2.0 is a smart home like no other. When guests arrive, they are reportedly handed a pin-like device that tracks their location throughout the house. It stores their personal preferences, so the room temperature, lighting, and even the music seamlessly adapt to them as they move from room to room. The ultra-smart floors can detect if someone is walking without a device and will instantly trigger the alarm system.
© AFP via Getty ImagesOutside there’s a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater sound system, as well as a terrace, sauna and steam room.
Guests must not miss the stand-out but rather bizarre garden feature – an artificial stream stocked with real salmon! Plus, there’s a charming one-bedroom guest house for those wishing to stay the night.
Time to downsize, Bill?
Despite splitting from his wife Melinda in 2021 after 27 years of marriage, and seeing his three kids – Jennifer, 30, Rory, 27, and Phoebe, 23 – fly the nest, Bill has previously said he has no plans to downsize.
© Getty ImagesChatting to The Times, he confessed: “My house in Seattle, I admit, is gigantic. My sisters have downsized. I can’t. I like the houses I have. My kids like to come back – that is a luxury. I don’t cook, I don’t make my own bed, but I don’t mind if no one has made it – I wouldn’t notice.”
And as if one gigantic mega-mansion wasn’t enough, the billionaire’s jaw-dropping real estate portfolio also includes a $12.5 million pad in Indian Wells, California, and a breathtaking $59 million horse ranch in Wellington, Florida.
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