In 1995, from the garage of a home in Bellevue, Washington, Jeff Bezos launched the global e-commerce and tech juggernaut Amazon. Bezos and his former wife, MacKenzie Scott, rented the dwelling for $890 a month at the time. According to the Seattle Times, the piece of property that once served as an incubator for the landscape-shifting company has hit the market at a cool $2.28 million. [Source: Architecturaldigest.com]
As Daily Mail UK first reported, the property apparently received a lot of buzz over the weekend. Listing agent Lin Shen of Sea to Sky Realty told the Times that the first open house attracted a host of potential buyers and folks eager to see where one of the largest companies in the world began. The garage space—which had been converted to a rec room by the time Bezos arrived—was one of the main reasons the now-billionaire rented the house. According to an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bezos wanted to “boast of having a garage start-up like Silicon Valley legends from Hewlett-Packard.”
That garage-turned-rec-room-turned-office is once again a garage. The home was “meticulously rebuilt in 2001 to offer modern comfort and style,” per the listing. The single-story, 1,540-square-foot Craftsman-style home, originally constructed in 1954, sits on a generous 8,400-square-foot lot. It features a fully fenced backyard with a lawn, deck, and hot tub. Vaulted ceilings can be found throughout the public rooms, and skylights in the open kitchen and living area offer extra doses of natural light. Maple wood brightens the space and lends a light, airy feel.
The multimillion dollar property is modest compared to the mogul’s recent real estate purchases. Just last year, the Blue Origin founder acquired two adjacent properties, totaling five acres and $147 million on Miami’s “Billionaire Bunker” island. Soon after, Bezos—who spent the latter part of his childhood in Miami—announced a permanent move from Seattle back to the city.
“I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami,” Bezos shared in the caption accompanying an Instagram post of a throwback video. The clip shows him giving a tour of the old Amazon garage/office. [Source: Architecturaldigest.com]
