How the richest Americans live

By Sara Clemence

updated 12:07 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2006

As the ranks of the über-wealthy grow, so does the number of stratospherically expensive residences built to shelter them.

Look at just the first several months of 2006. Among the high-flying properties that have hit the American market this year are a $135 million estate in Aspen, Colo., (currently the priciest in the U.S.), a $125 million Palm Beach palace owned by Donald Trump, a $100 million estate nestled near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nev., and a sleek $75 million waterfront mansion in Corona del Mar, Calif. Not to mention the many $30 million, $40 million and $50 million homes now up for sale.

If you think the most expensive homes will automatically end up in the hands of the very richest people, however, you're wrong. Try to imagine frugal investor Warren Buffett casually dropping a hundred million on a house. Or Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the face of modern technology, in a pad dripping with Old World opulence.

The wealthiest in the country can buy or build just about any type of house they like, and so it should come as no shock that many of them live very nicely. They know what they want and are willing to spend what it takes to get it.

But as with the rest of the population, "what they want" is a varied thing indeed. Tastes are far from homogenous, running the gamut from gaudy to experimental, ultramodern to traditional.

The shingle-clad Massachusetts estate owned by Fidelity Investments billionaire Abigail Johnson has little in common with Oracle head Larry Ellison's Japanese-influenced mansion in Woodside, Calif. And though Warren Buffett can afford to buy all of the most expensive homes in the U.S., he sticks with his nice but not awe-inspiring home in Omaha, Neb.

We scoured public records, searched databases and leaned on local sources to identify the homes of the few dozen richest people in the U.S. In some cases, it's common knowledge that the homes belong to certain people; in others, information was confirmed by the owners or is in public property records. To protect their privacy, we do not reveal addresses or surroundings, but our photographs allow you to see how they live — sometimes in surprising ways.

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In a few instances, we went with what we believed to be the most recent addresses. We know from media reports, for example, that S.I. Newhouse of Advance Publications has lived near the U.N. in New York. His wife, Victoria, was among the residents who spoke out several years ago against Donald Trump's plan to build a view-blocking new tower. But a company spokeswoman would only confirm that he and his brother, Donald Newhouse, both maintain residences in New York City.

A few people remain total mysteries. For example, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page guard their privacy so closely that we only know that they probably live in Palo Alto, Calif. A Google spokesman would not comment on Brin or Page's homes.

Obviously, when you can spend as much as you like on a home, you can indulge passions, fantasies and quirks. We're not talking wine cellars or master bedrooms suites — once considered the height of luxury, they are practically standard in upscale homes — but amenities like the trampoline room in Gates' lakeside residence in Medina, Wash.

Or, Ellison's 33-acre spread inspired by the Japanese city of Kyoto. Its man-made lake was designed to be earthquake-proof, and the buildings were constructed in traditional Japanese style, without using nails.

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