“Where you are is where I want to be. That’s what makes it home.” It’s a sentiment that belongs in fairy tale romances, not in the life of philanthropist Melinda French Gates. Yet, her recent revelation ahead of her April book release The Next Day, a blend of memoir and insight, has left many open-mouthed. The 60-year-old shared raw details about her emotional state while contemplating divorce from centibillionaire Bill Gates after 27 years of marriage.
Not only did the mother of three suffer panic attacks and nightmares before asking the tech tycoon for a divorce, but she also opened up about the dramatic shifts in her life. In a recent sit-down interview for this week’s issue of People, Melinda revealed that she broke the heartbreaking news to Bill during a February 2020 trip to New Mexico, a getaway she had initially planned to take alone. On the final night of the trip, she told him she wanted to begin living separately.
What’s especially interesting here is that Melinda, a former Microsoft executive, never liked their larger-than-life Washington residence, Xanadu 2.0. Yet she stayed on in the mansion with their youngest daughter, Phoebe, who was then a senior in high school. Melinda has often expressed mixed feelings about the 66,000-square-foot estate in Medina, Washington. It was primarily Bill’s vision, a $2 million purchase made in 1988 that took seven years and approximately $63 million to complete by 1996. “We won’t have that house forever. I’m actually really looking forward to the day that Bill and I live in a 1,500-square-foot house,” Melinda once remarked.
Following their 2021 separation, Melinda moved out of $130 million Xanadu 2.0 while Bill remained. Even he has acknowledged that the house is unusually massive, filled with advanced technology and borderline hedonistic luxuries. Yet the home is undeniably superlative and, despite criticism, deserves admiration for its grandeur. With six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, a private library, an indoor trampoline room, and a swimming pool equipped with an underwater music system, it remains one of the most talked-about private residences in the world.
Bill Gates, who adores the estate, may have briefly moved out post-divorce but has since returned. The Microsoft co-founder has stated he cannot envision himself in a smaller property, especially since his three children still enjoy visiting their childhood home. Though the split brought heartache, it also gave both Bill and Melinda the freedom to live where they truly belong. Melinda now resides in the home of her dreams, a cozy cottage in Seattle’s North Broadway neighborhood.
“I live in a neighborhood. Now I can walk to little stores. I can walk to the drugstore, I can walk to a restaurant. I absolutely love it,” she said. Luxurylaunches also reported on how we once thought that the townhouse aboard the $645 million hydrogen-powered superyacht commissioned by Bill Gates may have reflected Melinda’s taste.
The Feadship-built vessel, the world’s first hydrogen superyacht, featured a two-level townhouse, perhaps added to satisfy her desire for simpler living. Who would’ve thought that she would eventually get her dream home, just not in the way she imagined, and at the cost of a broken heart?
