Mitt Romney’s Calif. home renovation plans include car elevator
Mitt Romney’s California home renovation is back in the news.
Politico has a story today saying plans for renovating the seaside house in La Jolla include an elevator for his cars.
“There’s also a planned outdoor shower and a 3,600-square foot basement — a room with more floor space than the existing home’s entire living quarters,’’ reports Reid Epstein.
The “car lift’’ will transport vehicles between floors, making maximum use of space in the Romneys’ tight neighborhood.
Epstein, apparently taking advantage of downtime while the traveling press corps waits as the candidate holds a series of fund-raisers in California early this week, reviewed 2008 schematic plans for the renovation on file with the city of San Diego.
Politico did not publish the plans after a coordinated appeal by the Romney campaign and the US Secret Service, which is now protecting the possible future president.
“To help facilitate the construction plans, Romney has paid San Diego attorney Matthew A. Peterson $21,500 since 2008 to lobby city officials for the renovation after dropping out of the 2008 GOP presidential primary,’’ the newspaper reported.
The project first made news when the San Diego Reader reported in 2010 that Romney had hired a San Diego architectural firm to lobby for the renovation.
Then last, August, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Romney wanted to nearly quadruple the size of the $12 million house. Romney subsequently disputed that size estimate.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal also included the renovation in a story about rich homeowners adding space below grade to avoid overt displays of their wealth.
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