President’s residence
T he US is led by a president encircled by accusations of secret meetings and behind-the-scenes skulduggery.
No, not Donald Trump but Richard Nixon, who was US President for four and a half years from January 1969, resigning in August 1974 following the Watergate scandal – during which members of his administration were proven to have engaged in clandestine and illegal activities with his blessing.
This included breaking into the Democrats’ HQ at the Watergate hotel in Washington.
Unlike Trump, Nixon grew up poor and even during his time as President led a modest lifestyle, although his taste in homes did move upmarket.
His properties included a luxurious house in Miami as well as a townhouse in New York and his favourite, La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, California.
Referred to as Nixon’s ‘Western White House’ – as Trump’s Mar a Lago resort is often seen as his alternative HQ today – La Casa Pacifica was built in 1926 for magnate Hamilton Cotton and where he entertained another US president, Franklyn Delano Roosevelt.
Nixon bought the property in 1968 and used it to entertain both politicians and Hollywood stars.
During his presidency it was his summer residence, and after his resignation it became his main home until it was sold in 1980.
The 9,000 sq ft house,
which has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms, multiple guest outhouses and guestrooms, staff accommodation and its own beach as well as formal gardens, is for sale at $63.5m.
More info from TopTen RealEstateDeals.com