The Story Of Mitt Romney's Controversial $12 Million La Jolla Beach House

In 2008, Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, paid $12 million for an oceanfront house in La Jolla, California. The property occupied a narrow parcel overlooking the Pacific Ocean and included approximately 65 feet of direct ocean frontage. Although the location was spectacular, the existing residence measured only about 3,000 square feet—modest by the standards of a family with five sons, dozens of grandchildren and an estimated $400 million fortune.

The Romneys eventually decided to demolish the original house and replace it with a much larger custom mansion. What ordinarily might have remained a private construction project instead became a national political story. Romney was preparing to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, and nearly every detail of his personal wealth was coming under intense scrutiny.

The proposed beach house, particularly its planned car elevator, quickly became one of the most memorable symbols of that wealth.

A $12 Million Oceanfront Purchase

The Romneys purchased the La Jolla property in 2008 for $12 million. Located at 311 Dunemere Drive, the roughly 0.42-acre parcel sat directly on the beach in one of Southern California's most valuable coastal communities.

The existing house had approximately 3,009 square feet of living space. It was a valuable property primarily because of its location rather than the size or condition of the residence itself.

For someone with Mitt Romney's $400 million net worth, however, the property also offered an opportunity to build a large family retreat in a highly desirable area. The Romneys had five adult sons and a rapidly growing number of grandchildren, and representatives for the family said the larger home was intended to accommodate family gatherings.

Plans submitted to the city called for demolishing the existing house and replacing it with a Mediterranean-style residence measuring approximately 11,062 square feet.

The Proposed 11,000-Square-Foot Mansion

The original plans would have increased the home's size by more than 8,000 square feet. The proposed residence included approximately 4,681 square feet on the main level, 1,790 square feet on the second floor and another 4,591 square feet in a subterranean level.

Other planned features included an outdoor shower, extensive ocean-facing living spaces and a split-level garage capable of storing four vehicles.

The garage was designed around what the construction documents described as a car lift. The device, reportedly expected to cost approximately $55,000, would transport vehicles between the garage's two levels.

Car elevators are not especially unusual in extremely expensive coastal communities, where valuable land and tight lots make conventional ramps impractical. But this particular car elevator belonged to a wealthy presidential candidate who was attempting to convince voters that he understood their economic concerns.

That made it irresistible political material.

Below is a video tour of the property immediately next door to Romney's La Jolla house. You'll see the Romney house several times throughout the video. It's the Spanish-style home directly to the right of the home that's for sale (to the left of the home with huge lawn):

How A Car Elevator Became A Campaign Issue

News of the renovation spread nationally during Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Opponents and commentators repeatedly cited the property while portraying the former private equity executive as disconnected from ordinary Americans.

The timing was especially awkward. Romney was already facing questions about his fortune, his work at Bain Capital and the relatively low tax rate revealed by his financial disclosures. A planned 11,000-square-foot beach house equipped with an elevator for automobiles fit neatly into the image his critics were trying to create.

Romney's wealth was unusual, though hardly unprecedented in presidential politics. In Celebrity Net Worth's 2015 ranking of the 10 richest presidential candidates of all time, Romney placed seventh. He was far less wealthy than billionaire candidates such as Ross Perot and Michael Bloomberg, while John Kerry had also entered a modern presidential campaign backed by an enormous family fortune. A few years after Romney's campaign, Donald Trump's multi-billion-dollar net worth would become the wealthiest person ever elected president.

The house itself did not become a major policy issue, of course. But in campaign coverage, it served as a simple and memorable illustration of Romney's extraordinary wealth. Even articles focused primarily on his political weaknesses sometimes mentioned the La Jolla mansion as evidence of the difficulty he faced relating to middle-class voters.

Romney selected Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate, but the Republican ticket ultimately lost the 2012 election to Obama and Joe Biden. The battle over the house, however, was not finished.

Opposition From The Neighbors

Some La Jolla residents objected to the proposed mansion for reasons that had little to do with national politics.

Local architect Anthony Ciani challenged the project, arguing that its size and bulk were incompatible with the smaller homes immediately surrounding it. He also raised questions about zoning calculations, the property's boundaries and public access to the nearby beach.

The dispute eventually reached the California Coastal Commission. In October 2013, the commission voted 7-4 to allow the city-approved project to proceed. The commission determined that the proposal did not raise a significant issue under the California Coastal Act.

With that approval, the Romneys were free to demolish the existing residence and move forward with construction.

The completed home was smaller than the most widely publicized version of the original plans. Documents connected to its eventual sale listed approximately 8,153 square feet of living space rather than 11,062 square feet.

Even at the reduced size, the new mansion was nearly three times as large as the house it replaced. Property records described it as having five bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms and a four-car garage. The car elevator was reportedly included in the finished residence.

The $23.5 Million Sale

In June 2021, Mitt and Ann Romney sold the La Jolla mansion in an off-market transaction for $23.5 million.

The sale price was $11.5 million more than the $12 million they had paid for the original property 13 years earlier. On paper, that represented an increase of approximately 96%.

That does not mean the Romneys made an $11.5 million profit. They demolished the original house, spent years navigating the approval process and paid to construct an 8,153-square-foot luxury mansion from the ground up. The cost of construction, architectural work, permits, property taxes, maintenance and selling expenses was never fully disclosed.

Still, the transaction demonstrated how dramatically the value of prime La Jolla oceanfront property had increased. The $23.5 million price made the mansion one of the most expensive San Diego County residential sales of the year.

A House That Became A Political Symbol

Mitt Romney's La Jolla house was never simply a real estate story. It became entangled with a presidential campaign, debates about wealth and political arguments over whether a multimillionaire private equity executive could relate to average voters.

Romney later served one term as a United States senator from Utah. His fortune made him one of the wealthiest people serving in Washington during that period. Based on Celebrity Net Worth's $400 million estimate, Romney would place fifth on our ranking of the richest members of Congress if he still held his Senate seat.

The original 3,000-square-foot house was purchased for $12 million, demolished and replaced with a mansion nearly three times its size. The proposed 11,000-square-foot design generated years of attention, while the planned car elevator became a lasting piece of Romney campaign trivia.

By the time the Romneys sold the completed property for $23.5 million, the presidential campaign that made it famous was nearly a decade in the past. But the mansion remained a striking example of how a private home renovation can become a national political controversy when the homeowner happens to be running for president.