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. Today the almost estate includes about 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: Following the president's resignation, both he and his wife retired to the San Clemente estate, where Nixon composed his memoirs. During those years many in the local community still displayed their loyalty to the embattled former president despite the public embarrassment of the collapse of his political career. The Nixons sold their home to
Allergan founder Gavin S. Herbert and his business partners and moved to New York City in 1980 before resettling in
Park Ridge, New Jersey in 1982. A strong
Republican donor, Herbert kept the home as his own while developing the area around it into an enclave of individual luxury mansions. to restore, improve, and preserve this historical building. Gavin Herbert publicly listed La Casa Pacifica for sale in April 2015, with an asking price of $75 million. He removed the property from the market in September. He relisted the property for $69 million in April 2016 and again received no offers, withdrawing it from the market in October. In 2017 and 2018, Herbert again offered the property at a reduced price of $63.5 million. In May 2019, the property was relisted at a discounted price of $57.5 million, but it had been removed from the market by early 2020. In April 2021, it was relisted for $65 million. It was removed from the market in December 2021. ==See also==