Semi-monthly news and updates about the homes, people, businesses and communities that are featured in Lake Washington 130 Homes. This covers the Lake Washington waterfront in Seattle’s Madison Park, Denny-Blaine and Madrona neighborhoods, Mercer Island, and The Eastside communities of Bellevue, Medina, Hunts Point and Yarrow Point.
(The above home belongs to Charles Simonyi. See 5/31/11 post.)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Simonyi’s Windows 2000 House

Charles Simonyi is a Hungarian-born former Microsoft executive. He was the man once behind constructing Microsoft Office's Word and Excel software. His Medina mansion is one of the most picturesque and must-see places on Lake Washington (LW 130 Homes pages 4 and 94). The mansion is 19,000 sq ft on 1.3 acres with 300 feet of waterfront. The home is known locally as the “Windows 2000 House” and “Villa Simonyi.” It got the Windows 2000 name when Microsoft introduced Windows 2000. The rumor is a few windows were added to the house to bring the total to 2,000.

His former girl-friend, from the 1980s until 2008, was Martha Stewart. He picked her up with his personal jet when she got out of jail in 2005. He had a sudden infatuation with a new girlfriend Lisa Persdotter a Swedish socialite. They got engaged in St. Tropez, France on 08/08/08, the same day as 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. He was 60 and she was 28 at the time. They were married in Gothenburg, Sweden, on November 22, 2008, following three days of celebrations whose attendees included neighbor Bill Gates.

Simonyi was one of the initial commercial astronauts. He paid $25 million for a 2007 two-week International Space Station roundtrip aboard the Russian Soyuz space shuttles. He paid $35 million for a similar trip in 2009.

10 comments:

  1. Vulgar and in bad taste...goes to show that money /class and good taste do not go hand in hand

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    1. So much jelly. Hahaha

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    2. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The style of the house is certainly unique, but that is what makes it compelling and interesting.

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  2. My favorite house on Lake Washington, or anywhere for that matter.

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  3. I think this estate is very cool,I worked inside it for three years doing remodel projects,and had a lot of respect for the estate

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  4. I pooped in the swimming pool

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  5. Bad taste? probably you never heard about Vasarely, Bartók or Espen Oeino

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  6. I cleaned your poop out of the pool!

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  7. I saw it from the water this week. It looks like he's building an addition. After all, who could live in a mere 19,000 square feet?

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  8. It's under remodel with some additional square footage added. It's an exceptional house, and somewhat unusual for a person of his means to maintain the same primary residence for so long.

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