Aquaint and quiet Seattle suburb has become an unlikely oasis for some of the world’s richest tech billionaires, serving as a home base for Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and former Microsoft executive and Martha Stewart‘s former partner, Charles Simonyi.

Nestled on the outskirts of the bustling Washington city, the tiny waterfront town of Medina, WA, boasts a population of just 3,000, at least three of which boast a fortune of over $7 billion.

Within Medina lies a particularly wealthy neighborhood called Hunts Point, where many of the area’s billionaires own homes.

Bezos, Gates, and Simonyi all moved to the town at different times, each constructing jaw-dropping properties that have become tourist attractions in their own right, turning more eyes to the small enclave, which offers unrivaled views of Lake Washington and is accessed via a floating bridge.

In addition to the trio of high-profile tech-billionaires homeowners there, the area has also become popular among others within the industry, even if they haven’t quite reached the same level of wealth enjoyed by the Amazon and Microsoft moguls.

Residents are lured in by a number of different features in the town, according to its mayor, Jessica Rossman, who tells Realtor.com® that Medina (pronounced me-DIE-na) draws high-profile and moneyed residents because even though it sits just across from downtown Seattle, it offersa  low-key vibe.

“It’s quiet, and it’s safe, and it has a real small-town feel,” she says. “And it’s great place to raise a family.”
A quaint and quiet Seattle suburb has become an unlikely oasis for some of the world’s richest tech billionaires, serving as a home base for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

(Getty Images)

Starting a trend

Gates, who has an estimated net worth of $104.9 billion according to Forbes, is understood to have been the first of the billionaires to move to Medina, buying a 5-acre plot of land for just over $2 million back in 1988.

He then spent a staggering seven years—and a reported $60 million—constructing a 66,000-square-foot home known as “Xanadu 2.0” in reference to the fictional estate featured in the movie “Citizen Kane.”

The home has seven bedrooms and a whopping 19 bathrooms—and offers ultramodern amenities for its residents and guests: There’s a system that allows each person in the home to set their temperature and lighting preferences, so they can be automatically adjusted any time they enter a room.

According to multiple reports, the property is also outfitted with the most modern technology available, which enables guests to listen to different music in every room. There is also an underwater speaker system in the swimming pool.

And what home is truly complete without its own trampoline room?

Not Gates’, which is reportedly equipped with a space in which the billionaire can bounce his stress away—then relax in the sauna, steam room, or personal locker room.

Billionaire safe haven

Next to move to Medina was Simonyi, who was one of the earliest employees at Microsoft, having been hired by Gates in 1981 to develop software applications for the computer company.

He is understood to have remained at Microsoft for 20 years, during which time he led the teams that ultimately created all of the Microsoft Office applications that are still used to this day, including Word and Excel.

Simonyi—who dated lifestyle guru Martha Stewart for 15 years—proved his close bond with Gates when he followed him to Medina, enlisting architect Wendell H. Lovett to design a staggering waterfront home for him in 1988.

That property was dubbed “Villa Simonyi” or “Windows 2000 House”—a clever moniker that pays homage to his time at Microsoft and calls attention to the 2000 windows that are scattered across the home’s exterior.

According to The Independent, the residence took $10 million and eight years to complete and was described by Simonyi, who has a current net worth of $7.5 billion, as being “ageless” in its design.

“From the start I wanted to do a modern house, almost in the Bauhaus style,” he told the outlet. “Something that is ageless, rather than carrying the stamp of a particular decade.”

It is reported that Simonyi bought and demolished three separate homes to make way for his modern megamansion, while a fourth was then razed in order to clear space for a private boathouse.

The home is understood to feature an art gallery, a swimming pool, gym, and sauna, as well as multiple bedrooms.
Former Microsoft employee Simonyi—who dated lifestyle guru Martha Stewart for 15 years—proved his close bond with Gates when he followed him to Medina, WA, enlisting architect Wendell H. Lovettto to design a staggering waterfront home for him in 1988.

(Google Maps)

Bezos moves in

Four years after he founded Amazon, Bezos—who is worth $226.4 billion—spent $10 million buying up two homes that sit on a 5-acre plot in the Hunts Point neighborhood with his now-ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. In 2010, the duo reportedly spent $28 million to extensively renovate the estate, which boasts 310 feet of private shoreline, and also came complete with its own boat house.

In order to maximize space (and privacy) Bezos also purchased an adjacent property in that same year, an expansive 24,000-square-foot mansion that was reportedly listed for $53 million, although it is unclear whether the Amazon CEO paid that hefty sum or whether he managed to snag a discount.

That home would ultimately serve as the business mogul’s primary residence for the next decade until, in 2023, when he announced that he and his now-fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, were relocating to Miami after he bought a home on the ultraexclusive Indian Creek Island. The location is also known as the “Billionaire Bunker” thanks to the extraordinary net worths of its residents.

“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than I’ve lived anywhere else and have so many amazing memories here,” he wrote on Instagram while announcing the move. “As exciting as the move is, it’s an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart.”

Bezos has reportedly purchased three homes within the gated community of Indian Creek, which also counts Tom Brady and Ivanka Trump among its residents, most recently splashing out $90 million on an off-market six-bedroom mansion, where he is understood to be residing while renovations are carried out on his other two homes.

Those properties are believed to have cost Bezos $68 million and $79 million, respectively.

Still, the Amazon founder has not indicated that he plans to relinquish his Seattle compound anytime soon.
Bezos has purchased three different homes in Medina, WA, most recently splashing out on an extraordinary, Tudor-style home that was listed for $53 million.

(Google Maps)

Medina mania

As for how Medina draws in so many high-profile and wealthy homeowners, the town’s mayor says there are a number of reasons—in addition to the privacy they are afforded by the under-the-radar area.

For one, Mayor Rossman says that Medina, while small, offers some of the best education options in the U.S.

“The schools are excellent,” she says. “Our biggest school is the Medina Elementary, which is a Bellevue Public School, one of the best school districts you can find.

“They all have a slightly different approach to education, but they’re all wonderful. And we have families enrolled in all three.”

Rossman says that in addition to the schools, the area has stunning real estate options with lake-facing views.

“We have beautiful real estate and wonderful west-facing lakefront,” she says. “Most of our city is not that, but we certainly have some beautiful and elaborate homes that are lakefront property.”

For cultural events or a night on the town for dining, Rossman says most residents go into Bellevue—just a 10-minute drive away.

“We have a small commercial area, and I hesitate to even call it that,” she says. “We have a post office and a store. But it’s not a full grocery, it’s just a neighborhood market. I shouldn’t say just—it’s a delightful neighborhood market.”

The town’s mayor says there are a number of reasons why so many wealthy people move to the area—in addition to the privacy they are afforded in such an under-the-radar area.

(Getty Images)

Medina also has a gas station and a nursery for planting and landscaping.

“And we have a golf club, but the golf club is private, so it’s not open to all of our residents,” Rossman says. “Our population is just under 3,000, and our total area is about a mile, so we’re, we’re a very small town; and if you look on a map, you’ll see us right against the lake. You know, we are effectively a peninsula.”

Rossman says that neighbors in the community tend to know each other and the police officers in the city—but are working to regain a total sense of community since the COVID-19 pandemic kept everyone indoors for so long.

“That’s something that has been changing, and we’re working on rebuilding our community like many others after COVID,” she says. “Medina has been a wonderful, warm neighborhood place to live; and as we come out of the pandemic era, we are working to rebuild that.”

The city provides security cameras in addition to what private property owners have or don’t have.

Overall, Rossman says, Medina is “a beautiful, friendly, small-town place to live with many convenient amenities” and that she enjoys serving as mayor.

“Being mayor is great,” she acknowledges. “We have many of the same issues to confront as larger cities with growth. And we need to be creative and figure out how to do that in a way that fits our community and also our much smaller budget.”