Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reportedly made $43 million in the last two years, and the disclosure has attracted attention regarding his other assets. A property record review reveals that Romney has lived in luxury his entire life, beginning in the Detroit mansion owned by his father, American Motor CEO and former Michigan governor George Romney. The Romneys now own four homes located in New Hampshire, California, Utah and Massachusetts. The total value of the residences is estimated at more than $21 million. For more on this continue reading the following article from TheStreet.
After a barrage of pressure to release his tax forms, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reported his income, confirming what most already knew: He’s the wealthiest of the GOP candidates, earning $43 million over the past two years.
While much of Romney’s assets comes from his tenure at Bain & Co. and investment firm Bain Capital, the presidential contender grew up in relative wealth as the son of American Motor CEO and former Michigan Gov. George W. Romney. As such, Romney is also no stranger to high-end real estate, having owned properties in Massachusetts, Utah, New Hampshire, and most recently La Jolla, Calif.
Childhood home in Detroit
Mitt Romney spent the first five years of his life in this 5,500-square-foot home in the upscale Detroit Palmer Woods neighborhood before moving to Detroit’s Bloomfield Hills suburb. Although Detroit real estate has been hard hit in the past few years, Palmer Woods real estate remained steady as a high-end neighborhood. Even an upscale location couldn’t save Romney’s childhood home from foreclosure or the wrecking ball, though. After falling into disrepair in 2009, the house was one of 3,000 Detroit homes razed in the city’s renewal plan.
Belmont, Mass., mansion
According to property records, Romney and his family bought the seven-bedroom, 6.5-bath home in Belmont in 1989 — five years after Romney founded investment firm Bain Capital. The Romneys’ home sold for $3.5 million in 2009. That’s 293% more than the 1989 purchase price of $890,000.
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Situated on 2.4 acres and within a 25-minute drive of downtown Boston, the 6,434-square-foot Colonial was an ideal home base for Romney, his wife Ann and their five sons for 20 years.
Wolfeboro, N.H., compound
In 1997, the Romneys plunked down $3 million for a summer home on 11 acres of lakefront in New Hampshire. The three-story, six-bedroom contemporary sits along Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, "the oldest summer resort in America."
With a 5,400-square-foot main house and additional guest house, the estate is worth an estimated $10 million. Home to the Romney crew — children and grandchildren — each summer, some wonder if the GOP candidate’s familiarity with the state helped him clinch the New Hampshire primary.
Park City, Utah, ski home
In 1999, the Romneys picked up another vacation home. This time, the family decided on a mountain ski home in Park City, Utah. At the time, Romney was working as CEO and president of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he is credited with establishing critical credibility for the scandal-plagued organizing committee. Romney’s leadership in the Olympics was largely viewed as a success, leading him to write Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership and the Olympic Games (Regnery, 2004) about his experience.
More chalet than cabin, Romney’s seven-bedroom, 9.5-bath home sits at the end of a cul-de-sac on nearly 11 acres. A premier destination for snow sport enthusiasts, Park City real estate doesn’t come cheap. Romney’s home was no exception; the 9,514-square-foot home sold in 2009 for a little under the $5.3 million asking price.
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La Jolla, Calif., beachfront property
When Romney bought his $12 million La Jolla home in 2008, he told the media he wanted to be somewhere where he could "hear the waves." Apparently a home on the high-priced California coast, (median La Jolla home values hit $1 million), was the right location.
It may be the ideal location, but it isn’t quite the ideal home, at least not yet. In August, Romney filed an application with the city to bulldoze the single-story beachfront home and replace it with a larger, two-story home. A representative for the politician explained: "[The Romneys] want to enlarge their two-bedroom home because with five married sons and 16 grandchildren it is inadequate for their needs."
The renovation wouldn’t begin until after the campaign, the rep said.
Belmont, Mass., townhouse
Romney’s recent real estate purchase is the most modest on the list. In June 2010, he and Ann bought a 2-bedroom townhouse in suburban Belmont. According to property listing information, the Romneys paid $895,000 for the 2,100-square-foot home in the new residential development The Woodlands.
Since selling their Belmont mansion, this is the first property the Romneys owned in the Boston area in two years. Previously, they claimed a basement apartment in their eldest son’s home as their legal Massachusetts address.
This article was republished with permission from TheStreet.
