Fos For

Thursday, August 19, 2004

World's Greatest Driving Road post

The road is cut into the Jebel Hafeet mountain, the highest peak in the United Arab Emirates , the oil-rich Persian Gulf state. The mountain spans the border with Oman and lies about 90 minutes' drive southeast of the thriving city of Dubai . It looks down upon a dusty, desert landscape that belies a nation of astonishing wealth.

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posted by Ammie at 7:34 AM

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Monday, August 16, 2004

WORLD'S RICHEST MAN'S residence details post

A stream flows through the property.
The pool room is in the background

House View from the Lake

The 1997 total assessed value of the house was $53,392,200 with the land value being $9,122,200.

House View from the Air

The house encompasses more than 66,000 square feet which is equal to 1.5 acres.
The major rooms include seven bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, six kitchens, and six fireplaces.

Swimming Pool

Other features include a swimming pool, a grand staircase, a theater, a library, a formal
dining room, a reception hall, conference facilities, offices, an exercise room, outdoor
sports courts, and of course loads of technology.
Construction Features

Frame:-
Primarily timber frame. Half a million board feet of lumber was used. Support beams were salvaged from a Weyerhaeuser mill on the Columbia River , refinished, and sanded to a satin glow. The timbers are joined with stainless-steel fittings, which have been flame-bronzed and anodized, for a rustic look. All connecting bolts (also stainless steel) point in the same direction.

Foundation:-
The hillside is in an earthquake zone, so the foundation sits on concrete piers and uses tiebacks and steel reinforcements several times stronger than the minimums set by the building code. Massive retaining walls, several feet thick in places, created a drainage problem, solved by collecting runoff in buried pipes that feed into the estuary.

Electronics:-
Miles of communication cable, largely fiber optic, run throughout the house, linking computer servers powered by the Windows NT operating system. In each room, touch-sensitive pads control lighting, music, and climate. Visitors will wear small electronic pins, which will let the computers know who and where they are. Lights and other settings will adjust automatically. Floors throughout the house (and the driveway) are heated.
Building officials from a dozen local municipalities toured Bill and
Melinda Gates' house last month, below are the comments from one of
the officials:(Old story)

* Currently 300 workers including 104 electricians.

* 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.

* Theme throughout main floor is high tech. lodge. Primary structure
is all exposed similar to large logs in a lodge except the logs are
PERFECTLY finished.

* 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.

* All timbers are nearly perfect in that there are almost no knots.

* All connectors are structural grade stainless steel.

* 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 - imported especially for the
Gates.

* Some of the interior passage doors weigh over 800 lbs, but are
balanced for easy use.
Other features include a swimming pool, a grand staircase, a theater, a library, a formal
dining room, a reception hall, conference facilities, offices, an exercise room, outdoor
sports courts, and of course loads of technology