Glimpses of Bill Gates's palatial home

Perched on the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Seattle, Bill Gates's 66,000 sq ft house is as iconic as the man and Microsoft, the software giant that he co-founded.

The IT czar's mansion is noted for its design and the technology it incorporates.

It is nicknamed Xanadu.

Xanadu is the name of the Chinese province where Kubla Khan establishes his pleasure garden in a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

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In 2009, property taxes were reported to be $1.063 million on a total assessed value of the house of $147.5 million.

The house has a modern design and is built in the Pacific lodge style, with classic features such as a large private library with a dome shaped roof, fireplace, two secret pivoting bookcases and oculus (light well).

It is said that the most coveted item in Bill Gates's library is Leonardo da Vinci's $30.8 million 16th-century notebook.

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The 17-by-60-foot swimming pool, that the house boasts of, has an underwater music system and a floor painted in a fossil motif.

The house also has a sauna, steam room and a trampoline room with a 20-foot ceiling.

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The house features an estate-wide server system running Windows and heated floors and driveways.

Guests wear pins that automatically adjust to temperature, music, and lighting based on the guest's preferences.

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It has a 20-seat art deco theater and a popcorn machine, too.

While much of the house is buried into the hillside, windows on the lakefront provide views of Seattle to the west.

There are 84 steps from the entrance to the ground floor.

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Above the reception hall are rooms for conferences, offices, and a large computer room.

The architects of the house were James Cutler and Peter Bohlin, the interior was designed by Thierry W Despont, and the primary contractor was Sellen Construction.

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Up to 24 guests can dine by the fireplace while enjoying the sweeping view from the third level.

The photograph on the left pertains to when Chinese President Hu Jintao came to Bill Gates' home for dinner on April 18, 2006.