Bill Gates Home Building officials from a dozen local municipalities toured Bill and Melinda Gates' house,

Bill Gates Home

Building officials from a dozen local municipalities toured Bill and
Melinda Gates' house, still under construction, last month, below are the
comments from one of the officials.

* No visible electrical outlets anywhere. Gates does not like "clutter."
* Construction likely complete in September 1997, 3 months behind owner's
schedule.
* 112 steps from the main floor to the main entry (or take the elevator).
* Wood columns from main floor to roof in entry area are over 70 feet long.
* All timbers used inside and out are finished the same - 3 inches have
been removed from the exterior of the wood and then sanded to a satin
finish and there are virtually no knots.
* All bolts throughout the house are stainless steel and oriented the same
direction.
* All woodwork is flawless. Much of the woodwork is of various rare species
from all over the world.
* Some of the interior passage doors weigh over 800 lbs, but are balanced
for easy use.
* Acoustics are a concern throughout. Various woods and fabrics are used.
Acoustic panels in the Ballroom move out of sight on their own.
* Roofing is stainless steel.
* Floor is heated everywhere including the driveway and walks.
* Security system (automated and personnel) is redundant. Hidden cameras
everywhere including interior stone walls. Sensors in the floor can track a
person to within 6 inches. System is monitored at the Microsoft campus.
* Gates has a personal 4-car garage. House for the maintenance staff has
its own 3-car garage. Nanny parks in the 6-car carport across from the main
entry. An additional 10-cars can be parked in a subterranean arched
concrete building which through an electronic transformation becomes a
basketball court.
* Nanny lives in plush quarters near the Gates' bedroom.
* Existing cedar tree was determined by Gates to be in the wrong location
and moved 6 inches.
* Gates insisted on saving a 140 year old maple adjacent to the driveway.
The tree is monitored electronically 24 hours per day via computer. If it
seems dry, it gets just the right amount of water automatically delivered.
* There will be an 18 hole putting range. A salmon hatchery is being finished.
* If you wish, your favorite music will follow you throughout the house -
even at the bottom of the pool.
* Many doors are blended so well with the walls that it is hard to see them.
* Theater (underground in a concrete shell) is the most state of the art
theater in the world according to specialty contractor.
* Entry gate senses when your car approaches and opens fully by the time
you arrive.
* Very old antique cabinets from China have been brought in and built into
the walls with adjacent paneling built to match the cabinets exactly.
* 52 miles of communication cable in the building.
* Shower curtain next to the spa is a 4500 lb. slab of granite.
* Melinda has 42 linear feet of clothes hanging space in her closet
operated like a dry cleaner's rack.
* Master bathtub can be filled to the right temperature and depth by Gates
as he drives home from work.
* Only two guest bedrooms.
* There is a 28 foot high cantilever retaining wall.
* Reinforcing steel in all concrete is four times the code minimum. No. 18
steel wrapped with no. 5 ties was common for simple columns.
* There is a loading bay within the building.
* An interior designer disagreed with the layout of a portion of the home.
Demolition resulted and 160 cubic yards of cured, cast-in-place concrete
was removed.
* All building officials were suffering "sensory overload" shortly after the
3-hour tour started.