Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, has lived a larger-than-life existence. He’s been a billionaire for most of his 68 years and continues to reign as the uncrowned king of the tech world. With this status came a lot of other great things, but the biggest of them all was undeniably his Washington mansion, nicknamed Xanadu 2.0 for obvious reasons. A true fortress of ultra wealth, the $130 million estate was everything one could imagine and more. But some numbers startle the human mind not related to amenities or luxuries, but consumption.
According to the LA Times, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates’ mansion consumes a whopping 4.7 million gallons of water per year. This is what 60 average Seattle homes would consume in a year. Not that it makes a dent to his bank balance, but Gates’ five-acre home racked up a water bill of $25,000, making him the area’s top residential water consumer.
One wonders why the tech tycoon needs such a massive supply of water? He clearly isn’t a fish! The answer lies in his feature-packed hotel-of-a-home. The 66,000-square-foot mansion on Lake Washington in Medina is no ordinary home. It boasts water-related features like a man-made stream with live fish. This artificial stream stocked with salmon and trout is an engineered aquatic ecosystem with recirculating water, mimicking a real Pacific Northwest stream. Then there is the 60-foot swimming pool located in a separate 3,900-square-foot building featuring an underwater music system and a transparent wall allowing swimmers to see outside while submerged.
The main house has no less than 24 bathrooms, ten of which contain bathtubs. Yes, the insane abode has adopted eco-friendly technology, but one cannot ignore the use of over 4.7 million gallons of water per year, largely due to the vast landscaping and luxe features of the Gates residence. Nearly 5 million gallons of water, which is enough to fill seven Olympic swimming pools, or in usage terms, it is what an average American family of four will use in 40 years.
Ironically, the home that once hosted U2 frontman Bono, a close friend of Bill and Melinda Gates, never quite won over Melinda. She preferred something far more intimate than an estate sprawling with a 2,500 sq. ft. gym, a 1,000 sq. ft. dining room, and a 2,100 sq. ft. library hiding a secret bar. Bill, however, has always adored his tech-laden home, unlike Melinda, who now resides in the home of her dreams, a cozy cottage in Seattle’s North Broadway neighborhood.
Ironically, it’s not as though Bill and his family have always been rooted in Xanadu 2.0; the Microsoft co-founder also maintains more than a dozen residences across the country, oversees about 250,000 acres of farmland in 17 states, and now owns a $600 million hydrogen-powered superyacht.
