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Mitt Romney’s Republican presidential campaign ran into a little trouble last week after reports that he’s expanding his oceanfront mansion in Southern California. Romney’s existing 3,000-square-foot luxury home will be bulldozed and replaced with an 11,000-square-foot mansion.
Don’t worry, the existing pool and spa on the property will remain intact.
Even some Republicans said Romney’s remodeling plans are politically tone-deaf, and quadrupling the size of an oceanfront mansion during a presidential campaign seems odd. Romney told Joe McQuaid, however, that the media has misstated some details — it all depends on how one defines “quadruple.”
He may be making progress on the stiffness. And the times I have seen him deal with hecklers, he has been pleasant, but persistent. He makes no bones about making a lot of money in the private sector.
Still, I asked him, why give the media and political foes raw meat right now by filing for permits to tear down a La Jolla, Calif., beach house and quadruple its size? That was the wire story we had run the day before, and it was all over the Internet.
It’s not accurate, Romney said, simply. The application he made, two years ago, was to double the living space by turning one story into two.
Apparently, the project only becomes an 11,000-square-foot mansion if one includes the basement and garage. If not, Romney’s really only doubling the size of the home.
And why don’t the basement and garage count? I don’t know, but apparently that’s the new spin.
Again, just to be clear about this, there are obviously more important issues in this presidential race. What’s more, Romney made an enormous amount of money breaking up companies and laying off thousands of American workers, so it stands to reason that he’ll have the resources to purchase a luxurious residence (or in his case, several). I don’t begrudge him for doing so. Indeed, the fact that Romney is investing heavily in a home renovation project should probably be encouraged — the stimulus is good for the economy.
But there is a political context to all of this, and the story steps on his larger message. As we talked about last week, Romney is effectively arguing, “The president is out of touch with the public’s needs during these difficult economic times. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go look at the plans to quadruple the size of my beach-front mansion in Southern California, before I leave for some Martha’s Vineyard fundraisers. Oh, and did you hear my joke about being unemployed?”
In case anyone’s curious, in addition to the $12 million oceanfront residence, Romney also has a $10 million home in New Hampshire and a townhouse in Belmont, Mass. There’s also the nearby mansion, where one of Romney’s sons lives, and where Romney was registered to vote as recently as last year.
There was also the $5 million ski-house in an exclusive area in Utah, but he sold it last year.
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DAY on August 29, 2011 2:47 PM:
in a conversation between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, One said, "The rich are different than us."
The other replied, "Yes, they have more money."
Apparently, their numbers- as in square feet, and dollars- are different also. . .
ant on August 29, 2011 3:01 PM:
FWIW, my garage and basement were not included in the advertised square footage of the home I bought a few years ago.
Mike on August 29, 2011 3:06 PM:
To be proper, the statement should probably be that Romney is "doubling the size of his 3,000 sp. ft. luxury home, finishing the basement, and adding a garage." That's more accurate and still sounds like a pretty impressive project.
Blue Girl on August 29, 2011 3:16 PM:
If "basements don't count," there's a whole bunch of suddenly-homeless right-wing bloggers.
Ron Byers on August 29, 2011 3:22 PM:
ant, that is exactly right. The issue is not how a home is advertized, but how the permitting agencies view the project. I live in the midwest, but I have a place in Florida. I didn't know you could put a basement in a beachfront home.
jtadetroit on August 29, 2011 3:25 PM:
From the Bain & Co. website: "We work with top executives to help them make better decisions, convert those decisions to actions, and deliver the sustainable success they desire." and "To help our clients & community partners create such high levels of social value that together we set new standards of excellence in our respective industries."
On the other hand their most prominent alumnus had this to say about global warming: "“I don’t know if it’s mostly caused by humans.”
Steve on August 29, 2011 3:30 PM:
The point should be hammered that Romney made his millions by breaking up companies and LAYING OFF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN WORKERS. Is this the kind of candidate that Republicans cherish?
Perspecticus on August 29, 2011 3:31 PM:
Were any of you aware that 100% of the top 1% holders of wealth in this country have at least one refrigerator in their homes? That's only 0.8% higher than the number of "poor" people who have refrigerators in their homes.
Tom Dibble on August 29, 2011 3:34 PM:
So. He has a 3,000 sq ft home. He is tearing this down and replacing it with a 6,000 sq ft home with a 3,000 sq ft basement and 2,000 sq ft garage.
Holy crap that's a lot of garage. Assuming a standard 24x26 ft (624 sq ft) two-car garage, Romney's mansion would have about 3.2 of those, capable of housing six cars and a bunch of crap.
Ho;ly crap that's a lot of basement. And as Ron said, it's not cheap nor easy building a basement beachfront; I'm sure that's not going to serve as nothing more than a storage cellar if you're going to that kind of expense to build it. A basement with twice the square footage that most families of four live in? That's a lot of room. Imagine not three, but five two-car garages all morphed together underground.
My guess: the Romneys are building up their End of the World Preparedness kits. They need room to store their supplies and will need room to live underground when the apocalypse arrives and marauding hordes overrun their above-ground mansion. I am only saying this half in jest.
KenS on August 29, 2011 3:37 PM:
At least he isn't bragging about all the jobs his renovation is creating.
OKDem on August 29, 2011 3:58 PM:
As the photo in the following article from the San Diego newspaper shows, "beach front" in La Jolla means cliff edge. Not at all what it means in Florida. Not that this location has not got its own issues with a basement but being below sea level is not particularly one of them.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/20/romney-home-in-la-jolla-to-grow/
Tom Dibble on August 29, 2011 4:24 PM:
Well, "cliff edge" is overstating it a bit too.
See also http://maps.google.com/maps?q=311+Dunemere+Drive,+San+Diego,+CA&hl=en&ll=32.835348,-117.281087&spn=0.000904,0.001066&sll=38.714907,-121.359881&sspn=0.075945,0.136471&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=20 which is the Google Maps view of the current mansion.
Yeah, looking at that photo from Sign On San Diego and the current Google Maps view, it looks like the "basement" exists in the current building and is essentially the "first" floor from the beach. Again, it may meet zoning and tax requirements to not call that a part of the "living area" of the house, but I'd be really surprised if a family of four couldn't live in his "basement" without any difficulty.
Arlington BigFish on August 29, 2011 4:31 PM:
First, the picture of the Romney house torpedoes the assertion that it's a "mansion." Here in Northern VA, we call that a rambler. Second, 3,000 sq ft is not a mansion-sized dimension; it's about normal size for a 3- or 4-bedroom house with a reasonable amount of living space. I'm a yellow-dog Democrat & knee-jerk liberal, but we ought to keep this in perspective.
Butch on August 29, 2011 4:52 PM:
re: Refrigerators
Yeah, the $150 used refrigerator in a poor families apartment represents such a HUGE boost in their net worth. If they sold it (probably for half or less the original used cost) they might be able to eat for a few more days.
Lucky duckies, indeed!
bleh on August 29, 2011 5:24 PM:
Dear sweet FSM. Is it perhaps evidence of the degree to which advertising and spending have come to dominate our politics that such a tin-eared candidate and operation can still lead the field?
Or is it :) evidence of how weak the (Republican) field is?
Sean Scallon on August 29, 2011 10:19 PM:
Reminds one of New Testament parable of the rich fool, who tore down his big grain bins to make even bigger one for no other reason other than he could. He died anyway.
yellowdog on August 29, 2011 11:36 PM:
How did Mitt Romney manage to get registered to vote in Massachusetts at his son's address? He owns other properties himself. Doesn't he actually live in one of those?