$ cat ./records/bill-gates-completes-xanadu-2-0-his-high-tech-lakeside-mansion-1997.txt
Bill Gates completes Xanadu 2.0, his high-tech lakeside mansion
[RECORD.TXT] · cat --full
By 1997 Bill Gates had completed Xanadu 2.0, his roughly 66,000-square-foot estate in Medina, Washington, named after the mansion in 'Citizen Kane.' Built over seven years into a hillside above Lake Washington, the high-tech home featured a 60-foot pool with an underwater sound system, a domed library housing his Codex Leicester, sensor-controlled lighting and climate, and a trampoline room. Reportedly costing more than $60 million to build and later assessed at well over $100 million, it became an emblem of Gates-era tech wealth.
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Related Accomplishments
1990s
Gates keeps a collection of rare and classic cars
Despite his reputation for frugality in some areas, Bill Gates has long indulged a passion for cars, assembling a collection that has included several Porsches — among them the 911 he has owned for decades and the storied 959 — as well as other classics. His automotive tastes, and the saga of importing the then-illegal 959, are among the more colorful footnotes of his personal life.
1990s
Gates retreats for solitary, twice-yearly 'Think Weeks'
For years Bill Gates retreated twice a year to a secluded cabin for a solitary 'Think Week,' during which he read stacks of papers, books, and employee proposals with no interruptions, emerging with strategic memos that shaped Microsoft's direction. The ritual became famous as a model of deep, focused thinking by a busy executive, and was credited with helping spark major pivots — including Microsoft's embrace of the internet. Gates carried the habit of voracious, deliberate reading into his philanthropy.
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