My wife and I live in a small matchbox in Silicon Valley that cost enough to buy my sister's whole street in Nowhere Indiana.
We have friends who live in Santa Clara and Palo Alto whose houses are no doubt worth two to three times my matchbox.
But nothing compares to what Bill Gates paid for his home ($40 million) and the different amenities that came with it.
Here are some of the unique characteristics of the Gates' home:
* There is a 28 foot high cantilever retaining wall.
* Reinforcing steel in all concrete is four times the code minimum. No. 18 steel wrapped with no. 5 ties was common for simple columns.
* There is a loading bay within the building.
* An interior designer disagreed with the layout of a portion of the home. Demolition resulted and 160 cubic yards of cured, cast-in-place concrete was removed.
* All building officials were suffering "sensory overload" shortly after the 3-hour tour started.
How about your home?
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