Bill Gates Residence, Washington

Click to watch Video of Bill Gates home

The Bill Gates family lives in the exclusive suburbs of Medina, Washington, in a huge earth sheltered mansion in the side of a hill which took over 7 years to complete. The home is totally hi-tech with technology that adjusts the light in the house based on the light outside and other electonically advanced systems. The house is a contrast with the latest gadgets on the one hand, but also having the feel of a 18th or 19th century mansion: it has a large private library with a domed reading room. While it does have a classic flavour, the home has many unique qualities.

Technology is definitely the USP of the home -

• Lights would automatically come on as you enter the room
• Speakers would be hidden beneath wallpapers, so that the music would follow you from room to room
• Portable touch pads would control everything from the TV sets to the temperature and the lights, which would brighten or dim to fit the occasion or to match the outdoor light
• Visitors to Bill Gates House are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance. This small chip sends signals throughout the house, and a given room's temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences.

The median size of an American house is 2,000 square feet, and Bill Gates' home is 30 times its size (60,000 sq ft) with a Pool building, Exercise facilites, Library, Theater and Formal dining room. The garage can accomodate 30 cars. Inside Bill Gates' Garage, you'll find a 1999 Porsche 911 Convertible and 1988 Porsche 959 Coupe. Interestingly, due to the 959’s questionable emissions and unknown crash ratings, it took a federal law signed by President Clinton for Bill Gates to legally drive his 959 on American roads. Well thats the power of having anything you want if you are the richest person in the world.

Property records indicate 7 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, 6 fireplaces, and 4 building levels. From the outside, the house seems to be smaller than it actually is. This is largely because most of the construction has been done underground. Unfortunately, this does not escape the eyes of the Tax Department, as reportedly, Bill Gates paid a property tax of over 1 million dollars last year.

Earlier, Bill Gates organized a private party at his waterfront mansion. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a "temporary security zone" around Gates' Lake Washington home which locked down all of Lake Washington south of the Highway 520 bridge and stayed in effect for two days.

Well, the lifestyles of the rich and famous and their CRIBS :)