Obamas rumored to be buying home in Rancho Mirage

The first family has reportedly found a West Coast home to supplement their D.C. mansion

Nov 21, 2016, 11:49am PST


A poolside view of the Sunnylands Estate, where numerous presidents have stayed over the years The Greater Southwestern Exploration Company | creative commons

Will Barack Obama take a page out of Gerald Ford’s post-presidential playbook and settle down in the easy living desert community of Rancho Mirage? According to the New York Post’s Page Six, that’s exactly what the outgoing president and his family plan to do—at least for part of the year.

Though the Obamas have already made plans to lease a nine-bedroom mansion in Washington, D.C. once the president leaves office, the gossip column reports that Obama has also purchased a new Southern California home not far from the Sunnylands Estate, where a long line of presidents have stayed over the years. Built by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg and his wife Lenore, the A. Quincy Jones-designed estate has been called the West Coast Camp David, and most recently was the site of a series of meetings between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jingping.

Although the Post doesn’t appear to have many details on the president’s new home at present, the column notes that interior design work is likely to be completed by Michael S. Smith, whom the Obamas have previously commissioned to redecorate the White House.

In the past, the family has stayed with Smith and his partner, James Costos, at their home—also in Rancho Mirage. Obama appointed Costos, a former HBO executive, as the US Ambassador to Spain in 2013.

The Post also suggests the Obamas have purchased an additional residence in the president’s home state of Hawaii. With the family committed to staying in D.C. until youngest daughter Sasha finishes high school two years from now, it appears the Obamas are preparing for plenty of vacation time now that the city seems to be filling up with people hellbent on undoing pretty much every political action the president undertook during the last eight years.

http://la.curbed.com/2016/11/21/1369...ome-west-coast