Opinion - News Analysis   

Replica White House on the market

As several former presidents have testified, leaving the White House can be an emotional wrench. So if George Bush isn’t quite ready to surrender the trappings of power, he could always buy Fred Milani’s house in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia — a replica 36-room White House complete with Lincoln bedroom, Oval Office, and a grand four-columned portico where most people have a porch. Milani, an Iranian-American property developer who has lived in the imitation White House since 2001, just after Bush took occupancy of the real one, feels similarly emotional about leaving it. But nobody, it seems, is immune from the housing crisis in the U.S., and after twice narrowly avoiding foreclosure, he has been forced to put it on the market, with an asking price of $9.9m. It’s not a home for just anybody, though, and speaking on Thursday, Milani, 57, was clear about the crucial quality he is seeking in a buyer.

“Whoever has the money,” he said.

At 16,500 square feet, the DeKalb County White House is only one-third the size of the Pennsylvania Avenue version, though the impressive facade obscures that fact. Inside, it features 11 bathrooms, six fireplaces, and a replica Truman balcony overlooking a swimming-pool and formal gardens.

In a suburb peppered with vast “McMansions,” and blessed with lax planning laws, it is precisely the kind of fantasy world you might expect a multi-millionaire obsessed with politics to have built for himself — which makes it all the stranger that Milani is not really obsessed with politics at all.

“It’s a very long story, and it would take a very long time to tell you about it,” said Milani. But in short, he added: “My wife wanted something with columns on the front.” An architect suggested a White House replica, and Milani, a devout Christian, said he felt “guided by God” to agree. He and his wife Yvonne pored over coffee-table books of the White House and made three visits, as tourists, to inspect the furnishings. Their re-interpretation includes some Iranian touches, including a hookah, silk wall rugs, and a lounge with sitting-pillows on the floor.

Although it is smaller than the original, Milani has outdone the real-life president in one respect: religiosity. Bush raised eyebrows by introducing Bible study classes at the White House, but Milani’s home has actually served as a base for the church he belongs to, which baptises Muslims converting to Christianity. A ceiling mural shows Jesus preaching to an audience that includes Milani himself.

The real estate agent tasked with selling the property, Shawn Ghiai, said two interested parties had already toured it, and that a third, from Dubai, was planning a visit. The housing market is abysmal, he agreed, “but the area we work in is more insulated than the average neighbourhood in the United States. We’re still trying to find the right buyer, but although it’s a very unique property, I always say, you only need one buyer for a house. I guess the person who would buy this house wouldn’t be somebody very private. It would be someone who wants to let the world know that this is their home.” It is not, incidentally, worth trying to get a glimpse inside Atlanta’s White House by posing as a potential buyer. “We’re aware of this issue,” Ghiai said. “You show me a letter from an approved financial institution, or your bank statements showing you’ve got $10m. Otherwise you’re not getting in.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Respecting State sentiments
A mammoth task
Increasing challenges to stability in Asia
Replica White House on the market
Corrections and clarifications
Satyam debacle
On caste system
“People still have very high confidence in the judiciary”

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu