Iconic Western White House finally sells after 16 months on the market for well below asking price

There’s a new president in California.The Golden State’s famous White House replica sold Wednesday for a cool $23 million.Known as the “Western White House,” the 24,400-square-foot Georgian Colonial mansion was put on the market in June 2023 — and was sold well below its original $38.9 million asking price.“This sprawling, four-level, Julia Morgan-designed home was created as a replica of the White House by George Hearst in 1930,” Alex Buljan of Compass real estate told the Sacramento Bee.“We are delighted that this historic Hillisborough estate has found the special buyer that it deserves.”The San Francisco Area Bay mansion looks very different from the last time it was put up for sale.Previous owners Mehrdad Elie and his wife Neda Elie — who purchased the property for $15 million in 2022 — renovated all nine bathrooms, knocked down the walls of four rooms to create one large kitchen, installed new hardwood floors and added a movie theater.The $6 million fix-up still adheres to the original architectural details, according to Compass.Much like its DC inspiration, the Western White House has a wood-paneled “Oval Office,” a rose garden and plenty of imposing columns.It also boasts 11 bedrooms, a fitness center, a swimming pool and a wine cellar.The home dates to 1878, when it was built for a real estate developer and cattle rancher named William Henry Howard, who then sold it to Central Pacific Railroad fortune heir Charles Frederick Crocker.Roughly 10 years after Crocker died, in 1897, the family sold the house — without the land underneath — to a contractor, who moved the mansion a half-mile away, where it remains on a 2.9-acre lot.

It eventually fell into the hands of George Hearst, the son of media magnate William Randolph Hearst, who in 1930 tapped architect Julia Morgan to redo the home — and transform it into the Western White House....