Mitt Lobbies to Expand Government

Yes, Mitt Romney has an abundance of wealth. But in the midst of a presidential campaign in which he’s campaigning on the side of austerity, he’s not afraid to expand his own holdings. Mitt’s latest proposal: Demolishing his $12M oceanside home in La Jolla to make room for an 11,000-square foot estate fully equipped with an elevator…for his cars.

To be fair, in 2009, he scaled back on some real estate and sold his mansion in Belmont for $3.5M and his ski home in Park City, UT, for over $5M.

Sold!

Still, Romney is no stranger to high-end real estate. He currently owns at least three MTV Cribs-worthy properties across the US:

Lake House, Wolfeboro, NH, along Lake Winnipesauke. Mitt purchased the 11 acre estate in 1997 for $3M. Current estimated worth: $10M. Stats: 5,400-square feet, 6 bedrooms in the main house, 2,600-square foot guest house + boathouse.

The Woodlands at Belmont Hill. Purchased in 2012 for $895,000. Stats: 2,100-square feet, 2 bedrooms. Pretty modest. Good investment property.

311 Dunemere Drive, La Jolla, CA. Purchased in 2008 for $12M. 3,009-square feet, 3 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.

His La Jolla Spanish style home sits on over 1/3 acre and is located in an exclusive cul-de-sac in the coveted neighborhood. An eight-foot seawall and tall hedges keep the backyard out of public view and a private gate offers access to the beach. The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Christopher Cadelago reports:

“I wanted to be where I could hear the waves,” Romney told a gaggle of media last year at a book signing in University City. “As a boy we spent summers on Lake Huron and I could hear the crashing waves at night. It was one of my favorite things in the world; being near the water and the waves was something I very badly wanted to experience again.”

The unobstructed ocean views are breathtaking, the landscaping is flawless, and the interior is elegant and sophisticated. What more could Mitt ask for? An additional 8,000-square feet.

His future abode will amount to a whopping 11,062-square feet, with more than 3,600-square feet of underground living space. Detailed plans for the interior are unknown, but Romney has said that they will retain the existing outdoor lap pool and will be adding an outdoor shower and a water feature to the yard. The kicker—a four-vehicle garage complete with a $55,000 Phantom Park car elevator to transport cars between floors. This is rumored to be Romney’s attempt to respect his neighbors by not overcrowding the streets with parked cars due to the size of his family, consisting of his five adult children, their spouses, and his sixteen grandchildren.

Exactly why does this guy want to run for public office? Maybe to land an even bigger house. In his speech to the Republican Governor’s Association in 2004, Romney took a jab at Senator John Kerry. “There’s a senator from my state, you may have heard, who wants to get elected president. I don’t know why he would want to do that because of course if he won he would have to move into a smaller house.” Fortunately for Mitt, the White House is plenty roomy.