You would think that invading the Microsoft Halloween Spooktacular and putting an Apple iPad on a Microsoft Surface would be enough mischief. However, one can always use more! It was such a beautiful day today that I decided to fire up the jet ski and blasted it over to Bill Gates’ house.
Bill’s house is on the Lake Washington waterfront. If you want to see it on Google Maps, the address is 1835 73rd Ave NE, Medina, WA 98039. The house offers 66,000 square feet of living space and includes 7 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, six kitchens, and six fireplaces. Among its many high tech features are:
- Floors are pressure sensitive. At any given time family member or security can know who is in the residence by the weight of their footsteps.
- Lights would automatically come on when you came in. Speakers would be hidden beneath the wallpaper to allow music to 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 the residence are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance. This small chip sends signals throughout the home, and a given room’s temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences.
What you will not find at Bill’s house are any Apple products. Melinda Gates made that very clear in this NY Times interview. Their kids have to listen to music with a Zune!
In 2009, property taxes on the home were reported to be $1.063 million on a total assessed value of $147.5 million. Bill wasn’t home at the time Sally and I buzzed by, which was too bad because Sally really wanted to meet uncle Bill. I have only met Bill once. Sarah on the other hand, saw Bill almost once a week during her time at Microsoft.
