La Casa Pacifica
Encyclopedia
San Clemente, California
San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 63,522 at the 2010 census. Located on the California Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego at the southern tip of the county, it is known for its ocean, hill, and mountain views, a pleasant climate and its Spanish...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, overlooking the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The home is known as President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's Western White House
Western White House
The Western White House is a term applied to additional residencies of the President of the United States. It was used for the Crawford, Texas ranch of George W. Bush, known as Prairie Chapel Ranch, and has also been used by other chief executives for their homes, including Presidents Lyndon B....
, used while working away from the official presidential residence, the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
The large, Spanish-style, California Mission Revival mansion was modeled after a country home in San Sebastian, Spain and was designed by architect Carl Lindbom. Built in the early days of San Clemente by one of founder Ole Hanson
Ole Hanson
Ole Hanson was an American politician who served as mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1918 to 1919. Hanson became a national figure promoting law and order when he took a hardline position during the 1919 Seattle General Strike...
's partners, the estate was originally owned by H. H. Cotton, a Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
backer who entertained such party luminaries as President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
.
By the time he took office in 1969, President Nixon asked a young campaign aide to search the coast of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
for a presidential hideaway. The aide found the home in then-little known San Clemente and Nixon bought the estate in 1969 from Cotton's widow. Nixon dubbed the home "La Casa Pacifica," but it was soon nicknamed "The Western White House
Western White House
The Western White House is a term applied to additional residencies of the President of the United States. It was used for the Crawford, Texas ranch of George W. Bush, known as Prairie Chapel Ranch, and has also been used by other chief executives for their homes, including Presidents Lyndon B....
" by the press and himself; the latter became the term of subsequent similar presidential homes.
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
. The tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
was replaced with a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
and much of the estate was wrapped by a 1500-foot C-shaped wall. During his tenure as chief executive, it was visited by such guests as Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970.- Political career :Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés Chalchícomula . His father, Ramón Díaz Ordaz Redonet, worked as an accountant, while his mother, Sabina Bolaños Cacho de Díaz Ordaz, worked as a school teacher...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Eisaku Sato
Eisaku Sato
This article is about the Prime Minister of Japan. For the governor of Fukushima Prefecture of Japan of the same name, see Eisaku Satō ....
, Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, and Bebe Rebozo
Charles Rebozo
Charles Gregory "Bebe" Rebozo was a Florida banker who became famous for being a friend and confidant of President Richard Nixon...
.
Following the President's resignation, Richard and Pat Nixon
Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...
retired to San Clemente, where the President wrote his memoirs. Some of his neighbors displayed their loyalty to the embattled former president. The Frost/Nixon interviews
The Nixon Interviews
The Nixon Interviews were a series of interviews of former United States President Richard Nixon conducted by British journalist Sir David Frost, and produced by John Birt. They were recorded and broadcast on television in four programs in 1977...
were originally planned for La Casa Pacifica, but radio signals from the Coast Guard's neighboring navigational-aid transmitters interfered with the TV gear and the interview had to be moved to a nearby home of a Nixon supporter. By the late 1980s, the Nixons moved to Park Ridge, New Jersey
Park Ridge, New Jersey
Park Ridge is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Park Ridge had a population of 8,645 as of the 2010 United States Census....
, and the home was sold to Allergan
Allergan
Allergan, Inc., is a global specialty pharmaceutical company. Their product ranges include ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, dermatology products, and neurological products.-Profile:...
-founder Gavin S. Herbert and his business partners. A strong Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
donor, Herbert kept the home as his own while developing much of the area around it into estates.
The home is currently a private residence and closed to the public; however, its legacy as a presidential retreat is still used as a calling card for the city of San Clemente. The road adjacent to Interstate 5
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...
in the area is called Avenida del Presidente (Avenue of the President). The estate sits above one of the West Coast's major surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
spots, just north of Upper Trestles
Trestles
Trestles is a collection of surfing spots at San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County, California. Trestles consists of, from north to south, Upper Trestles , Lower Trestles , and Middle Trestles . North of Upper Trestles is the surf spot called Cottons...
, and just north of San Onofre State Park
San Onofre State Park
San Onofre State Beach is a state park located in San Diego County, California, USA. The beach is south of the city of San Clemente on Interstate 5 at Basilone Road. Governor Ronald Reagan established San Onofre State Beach in 1971...
.
In December, 2009, the city of San Clemente passed a "Historical Property Preservation Agreement " to restore, improve, and preserve this historical building.
External links
- The Western White House, a photo tour of the home by a guest.