Inside Bill Gates’ House and His Other Real Estate Holdings

Just how much real estate Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates owns is not entirely known, but what is known is he's spared no expense on his numerous properties, which are said to be valued at about $170 million. (Bill Gates' net worth is currently about $126.7 billion, making him one of the top five wealthiest people in the world.)

Take a look inside Bill Gates' house in Medina, Washington, and tour his other secondary real estate properties with us.

'Xanadu 2.0' in Medina, Washington

Gates' main home has been dubbed "Xanadu 2.0," after Charles Foster Kane's Xanadu estate in "Citizen Kane." (It was modeled after real-life tycoon William Randolph Hearst's Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.)

"Xanadu 2.0" overlooks Lake Washington in Medina, and the property is said to cover a whopping 66,000 square feet. It has seven bedrooms, six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, a 2,200-square-foot ballroom and a 20-seat theater. Plus, the house features a 60-foot pool (complete with an underwater music system), a 2,500-square-foot spa with a sauna and steam room, a gym, a trampoline room and even a 2,100-square-foot library. If you're lucky, you'll get to see the hidden bar tucked away behind a bookcase. 

But that's not all — there's also a garage for two dozen cars, a stream filled with salmon and trout, a court for any number of sports, a boat dock and a private lakefront beach with Caribbean-imported sand. Since this is Bill Gates we're talking about, the house is extremely high tech — it's rumored that anyone who enters wears a pin that allows them to control lighting, temperature and audio-visual systems from room to room.

Gates also owns another dozen surrounding properties with six luxury homes over 10 acres.

The Indian Wells Property

After his divorce from Melinda Gates in 2021, Gates holed up in his small (by his standards) property at the Vintage Club in Indian Wells, California. 

Gates bought a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom, 13,573-square-foot home on the property back in 1990 for just $12.5 million. The home sits next to a golf course. 

The club costs $250,000 to join and has an 85,000-square-foot clubhouse, several restaurants, a luxury spa and two nationally ranked 18-hole courses.

The Del Mar Estate

Gates and Melinda purchased this six-bedroom, three-bathroom oceanfront estate just outside San Diego in March 2020 for $43 million, making it the second most expensive home purchase in San Diego county's history. 

The couple has since divorced, and Gates allegedly plans to use the house as a beach bachelor pad. He's leveled the original 5,800-square-foot home and is building a new structure spanning over 6,000 square feet on four parcels.

The property will now include a pool, 10-person Jacuzzi, health spa, theater, greenhouse and two guest houses.

The Rancho Santa Fe Horse Ranch

In 2014, the Gates family purchased diet guru Jenny Craig’s 228-acre horse farm for about $18 million.

Evergate Stables (formerly known as Rancho Paseana) is a training and competitive site for thoroughbreds and features four 30-stall barns, a fifth 21-stall barn, a vet clinic, an office and a guesthouse.

The property also has 30 acres of land with a 3/4-mile racetrack.

An Island in Belize

Gates owns the largest island in Belize. Grand Bogue Caye is around 314 acres and was purchased in 2006 for about $16 million. 

Not much is known about the structures on the island, but it's believed to have opportunities for water sports and fishing. Palm and coconut trees grow throughout the island, which also has lush rainforest on one side. 

A Condo at Yellowstone Club in Montana

Gates also has property in the prestigious Yellowstone Club, a members-only ski and golf resort west of Big Sky, Montana. He is said to own a multi-acre estate property on a wooded ridge with unparalleled mountain views.

While we don't know what he paid for the home, properties at the resort start at $5 million and have about $40,000 in annual fees. Membership at the club requires about $300,000 in initiation fees.

While other celebrities also own properties here, they do not really speak to each other — according to a New York Times article, the attraction for Gates and others like him is privacy and security.

The Charles Hotel and the Four Seasons (Part Owner)

This Harvard Square hotel is just minutes from Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Gates attended college before leaving for good in 1975 in an effort to become the world's richest man. He purchased the 10-story property through Cascade Investments, which oversees the assets of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the family's private assets. 

Gates also owns one-half of the Four Seasons hotel chain. He purchased Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's stake for $2.21 billion through Cascade Investments in 2021. 

A Whole Lot of Farmland

At 242,000 acres, Gates owns the most farmland for a private citizen in America. However, this is considerably less than 1 percent of the 895,300,000 acres of farmland that exist in the U.S. 

Viral conspiracy theories abound online as to why he's so heavily invested in farmland, but it seems pretty straightforward — he simply makes money off of it. 

He began buying agricultural property in 2013 also through Cascade Investments. Investing in land seemed like a good bet (with a reliable return) after the 2008 financial crisis.