Melinda French Gates said she loves her new neighborhood, having moved from ex-husband Bill Gates’ $183 million compound

Melinda French Gates is loving her new neighborhood.

The philanthropist, who divorced Bill Gates in 2021, told Time that she spent a lot of time on Redfin researching the right home for herself. French Gates reportedly found just that in the house she’s been living in as a divorcée.

“I live in a neighborhood. Now I can walk to little stores. I can walk to the drugstore, I can walk to a restaurant,” she told Time. “I absolutely love it.”

While French Gates didn’t specify where she currently resides, she bought a cottage in the North Broadway neighborhood of Seattle weeks before the former couple filed for divorce in 2021. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home cost $1.2 million, according to documents previously viewed by B-17.

It’s a significant downsize from Xanadu 2.0, situated on the about 10.5 acres of land Bill Gates bought in the Medina suburb of Seattle, which is worth north of $183 million.

According to Time, French Gates was never a big fan of the sprawling compound, outfitted with a 60-foot-long swimming pool, over 18 bathrooms, and 2,100-square-foot library.

Instead, it appears she prefers the simple life of strolling to her local shops, neighbors who aren’t tech titans, and a home that doesn’t feel “like arriving at Jurassic Park,” as a former Microsoft intern once described Xanadu 2.0.

French Gates stepped down from her cochair position at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in May to “move forward into the next chapter” of her philanthropy. Her resignation went into effect on June 7.