At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House has one of the most famous addresses in the world. And with its white facade, towering pillars and symmetrical windows, the Neoclassical building is instantly recognisable.
In Washington, DC, the mansion has been home to every US president since John Adams in 1800. Over in California, there is a replica of the famed building, known as the Western White House, which is The National's International Property of the Week.
The key details
Located in the affluent town of Hillsborough, California, the Western White House is an early 1900s replica of the White House. A property with a remarkably similar grandeur, it boasts a wine cellar, cinema, gym and a library inspired by the Oval Office.
It is on sale for $25 million and has been on the market for less than three weeks.
What’s the story?
The Western White House is described as one of California’s “finest legacy estates”. Located 43 kilometres south of San Francisco, on the San Francisco Peninsula, the property is 17,550 square feet inside, on a sprawling manicured plot of 1.2 hectares.
A tribute to the White House, the Neoclassical Georgian colonial-style house was built in 1915 and redesigned in 1930 by Julia Morgan, the first woman admitted to the Beaux-Arts de Paris architecture programme. It was a commission by the Hearst family, for whom she designed the famed Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.
The property has 24 rooms, 11 of which are currently used as bedrooms, with 11 full bathrooms and four half-bathrooms.
The facilities in the property are stunning.
The property impresses from the moment you cross the gated threshold, with fountains, trees and hedgerows on entrance. At the front, there is a large mosaic motor court, which provides plenty of guest parking.
The mansion’s columns open to sprawling lawns, with a White House-style rose garden and ivy arches surrounding the outdoor swimming pool, bathhouse, gazebo and solar array.
What the broker says …
“Properties of this size rarely come on to the California market,” says Jennifer Gilson at Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty.
Of the property’s high-profile owners, Gilson says it was owned by “Charles Frederick Crocker, heir to the Central Pacific Railroad fortune” and that the Hearst Family purchased it in 1930.
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17 historic moments in the White House Rose Garden
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Flowers are in full bloom in the White House Rose Garden, Washington, DC, on April 27, 1963. Getty Images -
General George Patton and President Harry Truman walking together at White House Rose Garden in Washington, District of Columbia, 1945. Getty Images -
View of American politicians, Vice President Lyndon B Johnson (1908 - 1973) and President John F Kennedy (1917 - 1963), as they meet with the press in the White House Rose Garden, Washington DC, March 6, 1961. Getty Images -
Lady Bird Johnson is shown in the White House rose garden with her grandson Patrick Lyndon Nugent, Lynda Bird Robb and an Easter Bunny. 10th April 1968. Getty Images -
After taking their vows, Edward Finch Cox and Tricia Nixon Cox walk through rows of flowers past their guests en route to the White House for the reception, following their wedding in the White House rose garden. The bride is the daughter of president Richard Nixon. -
President Reagan in a meeting with reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House, says he is 'prepared to go the extra mile' in reaching an acceptable compromise with Congress on the 1983 budget. Getty Images -
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan feeds some White House squirrels (not shown) with acorns collected for Camp David. The photo was taken outside the Oval Office adjacent to the Rose Garden. Getty Images -
Russian President Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin (1931 - 2007), left, stands next to US President George HW Bush (1924 - 2018) at the White House's Rose Garden, Washington, DC, June 16, 1992. Getty Images -
U.S. President George Bush gestures toward reporters during an outdoor press conference in the White House Rose Garden 10 April, 1992. Standing next to a magnolia tree in full bloom, President Bush said he has ordered his campaign workers to "stay out of the sleaze business". AFP -
US President George Bush gives French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau a tour of the White House Rose Garden, 24 April 1992. AFP -
President Clinton and visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto walk through the Rose Garden on their way to lunch April 11 1995 at the White House. -
President Clinton Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat leave the Rose Garden of the White House October 15 1999. Reuters -
US President Bill Clinton and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud walk through the Rose Garden 24 September 1998 at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP -
US President Bill Clinton, using his crutch as a pointer, shows Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto various flowers and trees during a tour of the Rose Garden at the White House 25 April. AFP -
President George W. Bush makes a statement from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. Bush said the election of Barack Obama as president of the U.S. is a 'dream fulfilled' for the civil rights movement and a victory for all Americans. Getty Images -
President Barack Obama speaks about rising gas prices and oil company tax breaks during a statement in the Rose Garden at the White House on March 29, 2012 in Washington, DC. Getty Images -
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha pose for a family portrait with their pets Bo and Sunny in the Rose Garden of the White House on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
