The mind-blowing futuristic tech inside Bill Gates’ $130 million home
- Bill Gates’ 66,000-square-feet estate is named Xanadu 2.0
- It’s located on a secluded spot on the shoes of Lake Washington, Medina.
- Gates bought the Lake Washington plot in 1988 for just $2 million.
Published on Jan 15, 2024 at 2:33 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jan 15, 2024 at 6:59 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
Bill Gates’ Washington home is everything you’d expect it to be and more.
The 66,000-square-feet estate, named Xanadu 2.0, was build on a large plot of land in Medina, Washington.
Gates bought the Lake Washington plot in 1988 for just $2 million.
The name comes from the homes’ inspiration: Charles Foster Kane’s home in Citizen Kane.
READ MORE! The first American billionaire could also be one of the richest people to have ever lived
Bill Gates lost his number one spot on Forbes’ list a while back and never regained it.
It gets crazier: his former assistant and trainee is on the verge of becoming even wealthier.
Even so, Gates is still wildly rich.
Per Forbes, Bill Gates’ current net worth is $120.3 billion – and he made number seven on 2024’s rich list.
And there’s one character trait you might not expect that psychologists believe spurred Bill Gates’ success.
Of course, Gates spared no expense in building his own futuristic home.
According to reports, when you enter Bill Gates’ home you receive a pinlike key.
But it’s less about coming and going when you please and a lot about knowing where you’ve gotten to.
As well as the security measure of tracking inhabitants’ location, the key also stores your preferences for room temperature, lighting and music.
But we’re not entirely sure what happens when a Swiftie sits down to dinner with a Drake fan.
If you’re crossing the floor with no key detected sensors embedded in the floor will trigger an alarm system.
In the US today, 22.3% of households use smart tech – from basic programmable thermostats to Alexa products.
However, the impressive tech-forward mansion boasted these futuristic touches long before the smart home of today.
Wha’s more, Gates paid $14 million to buy the properties surrounding the estate to ensure his privacy.
Construction under architects, James Cutler and Peter Bohlin, involved 300 laborers and took seven years to complete.
The Pacific lodge-themed house was constructed from 500 Douglas fir trees and seven types of stone.
Valued at over $127 million today, it cost $63 million to build – largely due to its impressive integrated technology.
Melinda Gates is said to have appointed architect and designer, Thierry Despont, to design the interior.
At one stage of the construction process, Melinda is said to have told workers to down tools due to the amount of state-of-the-art software and high-tech displays.
Anyone can make the $80,000 worth screens display their favorite paintings or photographs, which are stored on devices worth $150,000.
Before the pair separated, Melinda said she longed for a simpler, cozier home in the future.
Unfortunately the seven-bedroom and 24-bathroom home was said to make inhabitants feel like they were living inside a video game.
In addition to the tech for humans, the flora isn’t left behind.
Gates’ favorite 40-year-old maple tree is also constant surveillance.
While they’re not too worried about it setting off the floor sensors, water is pumped into it automatically when it’s too dry.
Xanadu 2.0 also features a trampoline room with a 20-foot ceiling, six kitchens, steam room, sauna, and a 25,000-square-foot gym.
What’s more, an artificial stream along the lake is filled with sand delivered from St. Lucia by barge annually.
The pièce de résistance, however, is the mansion’s 2,100-square-foot library.
In addition to book-filled shelves, it boasts two secret bookcases, a hidden bar and a quote from The Great Gatsby on the ceiling.
The library contains the Codex Leicester, a 16th-century Leonardo da Vinci manuscript that Gates bought for $30.8 million.
In 2009, a tour of Xanadu 2.0 was auctioned off for $35,000 for charity.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
