Bill Gates’ Smart, Eco-Friendly $150 Million Mansion Xanadu 2.0 Is “Coolest House”

It’s called Xanadu 2.0 (though not officially), and it is literally the stuff of dreams, and a legend on its own.

Situated in Medina, Washington, overlooking Lake Washington, Xanadu 2.0 is named so after the mansion in Citizen Kane. Bill Gates bought the first piece of land in 1988 for a reported $2 million and, over the next seven years, would spend $63 million to build the mansion, which he fashioned into his dream lone tech wizard abode. Over the years, it has been valued at anything between $120 and $150+ million.

When Gates married Melinda in 1994, work on the house had already started and, as she revealed in a 2008 Forbes profile, she hated it. Designed by architects James Cutler and Peter Bohlin, it featured “enough software and high-tech displays to make a newlywed feel as though she were living inside a video game,” which was in keeping with how Gates himself described his dream house in his 1995 book The Road Ahead.

Most details about Xanadu 2.0 available online are actually inferred from the same piece of literature. Others were passed down from eyewitness accounts, particularly one Microsoft intern’s tour of the place, which he won at auction for $35,000. Many more are still the stuff of legend – urban myth, more likely – and they all work to create the impression that Xanadu 2.0 is the house of tomorrow, built yesterday. It’s smart, it’s eco-friendly, and it’s packed with technology and a little something for the car enthusiast.

Xanadu 2.0 offers a total of 66,000 square feet (6,132 square meters), divided between several structures. There’s the main house, a detached guest house that is completely self-sufficient, an activities building that houses a massive pool, and a detached garage, to name just a few. Everything on site is incredibly detailed, painfully planned for, and brilliantly executed. Most importantly, everything just screams ultimate luxury, like you would expect from the former number one richest man in the world.

The estate is Earth-sheltered, which means it’s built into the surroundings to regulate temperature efficiently and reduce its carbon footprint. The floors and even the driveways are heated, and 500-year-old Douglas fir trees were integrated into the construction to create the impression of blending in with the natural backdrop.

Assuming Gates got around to implementing his ideas about his perfect smart home, and reports say that he did, the house features entire walls made of oversize displays that allow guests to choose the art they wish to see. Today’s tech-packed mansions use a similar method to display NFT galleries, so Gates was right in anticipating this trend.

Guests spending the night at Xanadu 2.0 get a pin that comes with GPS tracking and syncs to a range of sensors that adjust things like lighting, temperature and even music according to that guest’s individual preference. Speakers hidden in walls play music as the guest moves from room to room, so that his or her favorite tune accompanies them as they move around.

In total, Xanadu 2.0 can accommodate up to 23 cars in several garages. Legend has it that one of them is more like an underground cave, made of steel and concrete with an unpolished look to achieve a “deconstructivist” vibe. It can house 10 of Gates’ most prized cars – and the man, despite his discretion on this and most other topics, is a passionate car collector.

Figures circulated online about the mansion are just as impressive as all of the above. The 59-foot (18-meter) pool has its own underwater sound system, and a wall of glass that you can swim under to get outside of the building, onto the private beach, which is made with sand shipped in yearly from the Caribbean. The dining room alone is 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) and can sit 150 people at dinner or 200 people standing. The gym and wellness area is 2,500 square feet (232 square meters) and includes spa and steam room. Also here is a trampoline room, with a 20-foot (6-meter) ceiling.

The 2,100-square-foot (195-square-meter) library has at least two secret chambers, one of which houses a bar. This is also the “home” of the Codex Leicester, the 16th-century Leonardo da Vinci manuscript that Gates bought at auction for $30.8 million in 1994.

Surprisingly, public records show that Xanadu 2.0, despite its gigantic size, has only seven bedrooms and an impressive number of 18.75 bathrooms, 10 of which are full baths. Considering the size of the reception room, it’s clear that Gates built the place with a goal of entertaining large parties, which also explains why there are so many bathrooms.

Photos of the interior of the mansion were never made public, so you will have to use your imagination on that one. Even assuming only half of the above is accurate, Xanadu 2.0 is still the most impressive, smart, eco-friendly and luxurious mansion ever built or, as Gates himself once described it, “the coolest house ever.”