To live in the White House one must be elected to the United States’ highest office. But to live in a White House replica—well, that’ll only cost $38.9 million. Recently listed through the Buljan Group at Compass, California’s Western White House is back on the market just one year after its current owners, Mehrdad and Neda Elie, purchased it. The home was “rebuilt in 1930 and completely refreshed throughout with new fixtures and appliances,” reads listing page. “Approximately 24,350 square feet of total living space on [four] luxurious levels with 11 bedrooms, nine full bathrooms, and five half-baths.”
The “Oval Office” in the stately property.
According to the Wall Street Journal, who first reported the sale, the doppelgänger home was reimagined by iconic architect Julia Morgan for George R. Hearst, the oldest son of William Randolph Hearst. It wasn’t the first time Morgan had worked with the publishing industrialists—she was in the middle of working on Hearst Castle when asked to oversee this project as well. According to Punch Magazine, a local San Francisco–based publication, George Hearst reportedly aspired to be president, and Morgan used this goal as a basis when designing his estate.
A sitting room inside the neoclassical home.
The property had originally been built around 1878 for William H. Howard, a businessman, before being sold to Charles Frederick Crocker, a railway titan. Hearst acquired the home around 1927, and Morgan added a circular driveway, Palladian windows, columns, and wings to give it a more presidential flair. However, its similarities to the White House extend farther than just its façade. Inside, there is also a a replica of the Oval Office and the East Room, in addition to a recreation room, home theater, fitness room, wine cellar, and roof deck.
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The large estate includes 11 bedrooms.
The Elies purchased the home in October of 2022 for $15 million, according to SF Gate, and put roughly $6 million into renovations, the Wall Street Journal reports. The home is not the only White House replica in the United States—many notable copies are spread out across the country, including properties in Atlanta; Dallas; and McLean, Virginia, as well as international imitators in places like Hangzhou, China, and Erbil, Iraq.
