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La Casa Pacifica
La Casa Pacifica (Spanish: La Casa Pacífica, meaning "The House of Peace") is a classic California beachfront mansion located in the gated community of Cottons Point Estates/Cypress Shores in the South Orange County beach town of San Clemente, California, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean from its blufftop position. This estate is also known as President Richard Nixon's Western White House, used while living and working outside of Nixon's Florida White House and the official presidential residence, the White House in Washington, D.C.
The large Spanish-style California Mission Revival Style mansion was modeled after a country home in San Sebastian, Spain and was designed by architect Carl Lindbom. It was built in 1926 for Hamilton H. Cotton, one of the founding financiers of the city of San Clemente, and a Democratic Party backer who entertained President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other prominent Democrats as guests in his home.
Around the time Nixon took office in 1969 he asked a young campaign aide, Fred Divel, to search the coast of Southern California for a presidential hideaway. Divel found the Cotton estate at the southernmost end of the then-sleepy San Clemente and immediately adjacent to the northern border of the massive Camp Pendleton Marine Base (USMC). Nixon bought the estate in 1969 from Cotton's widow, and dubbed the home "La Casa Pacifica". It was soon nicknamed "The Western White House" by the press, and the name was favored by Nixon himself; the latter became the term of subsequent similar presidential homes.
After purchasing the estate Nixon made a number of alterations to the original home, done for both personal preferences and for the needs of the Secret Service. The tennis court was replaced with a swimming pool and much of the estate was wrapped by a 1,500-foot (460 m) C-shaped wall. The rose garden contains a magnolia that Pat Nixon brought as a seedling taken from the magnolia tree that Andrew Jackson planted at the White House.
Today the almost six-acre (2.4 ha) estate includes about 9,000 square feet (840 m2) of living space, with tile and hardwood flooring, arched doorways and detailed groin-vaulted ceilings. Among its key features is the ocean-view office used by Nixon, an entertainer's pavilion, and a master suite with an expanded bathroom and closet area. Formal living spaces open to a classic hacienda-style patio courtyard with a hand-painted tile fountain in its center. The missing tennis court has since been replaced with a modern one.
During Nixon's tenure as chief executive, the home was visited by such VIP guests as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, President of Mexico Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Prime Minister of Japan Eisaku Satō, longtime aide Henry Kissinger and close friend Bebe Rebozo.
Like Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo and George W. Bush’s Crawford Ranch, Nixon’s San Clemente retreat became a symbol of the growing importance of California in presidential politics. Given the estate's proximity to Camp Pendleton and the Pacific, the Secret Service installed advanced communication systems and perimeter surveillance, turning the home into a fully functional presidential command post.
It is an interesting historical footnote that U.S. Coast Guard LORAN Station San Mateo Point (located in southernmost San Clemente) would play a part in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Nixon (ostensibly to avoid impeachment). According to the US Government Printing Office Web Site:
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La Casa Pacifica
La Casa Pacifica (Spanish: La Casa Pacífica, meaning "The House of Peace") is a classic California beachfront mansion located in the gated community of Cottons Point Estates/Cypress Shores in the South Orange County beach town of San Clemente, California, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean from its blufftop position. This estate is also known as President Richard Nixon's Western White House, used while living and working outside of Nixon's Florida White House and the official presidential residence, the White House in Washington, D.C.
The large Spanish-style California Mission Revival Style mansion was modeled after a country home in San Sebastian, Spain and was designed by architect Carl Lindbom. It was built in 1926 for Hamilton H. Cotton, one of the founding financiers of the city of San Clemente, and a Democratic Party backer who entertained President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other prominent Democrats as guests in his home.
Around the time Nixon took office in 1969 he asked a young campaign aide, Fred Divel, to search the coast of Southern California for a presidential hideaway. Divel found the Cotton estate at the southernmost end of the then-sleepy San Clemente and immediately adjacent to the northern border of the massive Camp Pendleton Marine Base (USMC). Nixon bought the estate in 1969 from Cotton's widow, and dubbed the home "La Casa Pacifica". It was soon nicknamed "The Western White House" by the press, and the name was favored by Nixon himself; the latter became the term of subsequent similar presidential homes.
After purchasing the estate Nixon made a number of alterations to the original home, done for both personal preferences and for the needs of the Secret Service. The tennis court was replaced with a swimming pool and much of the estate was wrapped by a 1,500-foot (460 m) C-shaped wall. The rose garden contains a magnolia that Pat Nixon brought as a seedling taken from the magnolia tree that Andrew Jackson planted at the White House.
Today the almost six-acre (2.4 ha) estate includes about 9,000 square feet (840 m2) of living space, with tile and hardwood flooring, arched doorways and detailed groin-vaulted ceilings. Among its key features is the ocean-view office used by Nixon, an entertainer's pavilion, and a master suite with an expanded bathroom and closet area. Formal living spaces open to a classic hacienda-style patio courtyard with a hand-painted tile fountain in its center. The missing tennis court has since been replaced with a modern one.
During Nixon's tenure as chief executive, the home was visited by such VIP guests as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, President of Mexico Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Prime Minister of Japan Eisaku Satō, longtime aide Henry Kissinger and close friend Bebe Rebozo.
Like Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo and George W. Bush’s Crawford Ranch, Nixon’s San Clemente retreat became a symbol of the growing importance of California in presidential politics. Given the estate's proximity to Camp Pendleton and the Pacific, the Secret Service installed advanced communication systems and perimeter surveillance, turning the home into a fully functional presidential command post.
It is an interesting historical footnote that U.S. Coast Guard LORAN Station San Mateo Point (located in southernmost San Clemente) would play a part in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Nixon (ostensibly to avoid impeachment). According to the US Government Printing Office Web Site:
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