How Much Would it Cost to Buy the White House?

• October 19, 2012

by Shilpi Paul

So, how much would it cost to buy the White House? The Wall Street Journal’s recently launched luxury real estate section Mansion tried to answer that question.

On Friday, in honor of the upcoming election, Mansion asked appraiser Dennis Duffy, CEO of Real Estate Appraisals & Consulting to consider a thought exercise: How much would it cost to buy up various iconic presidential homes?

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon, the plantation home of Founding Father George Washington, spans 7,000 square feet, has views of the Potomac and spacious grounds spanning 500 acres. George and his wife Martha are also entombed on the grounds, adding some ghostly history. However, the lack of bathrooms is not convenient to modern sensibilities. Duffy’s assessed value for the home, including all outbuildings and infrastructure? $150 million.

Monticello

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is enormous, with 43 rooms over 11,000 square feet, not to mention a whopping 2,200-2,500 acres of land. The neoclassical architecture also lends an extra aristocratic air to the place, in addition to its location at the summit of a hill. However, the building likely needs quite a bit of renovating. Duffy’s assessment? $106.5 million.

The White House

Centrally located and spread over 100,000 square feet, the White House would be far and away the most expensive residence in the nation’s capital if, in a parallel universe, it hit the market. However, we were shocked by the staggering grand total that Duffy came up with: $1.5 billion. In the past couple years, the 132-room landmark has been valued for somewhere in the realm of $300 million, so this latest valuation is quite a leap up.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how_much_would_it_cost_to_buy_the_white_house/6187