If you’ve ever wondered where former President Ronald Reagan lived while he served as Governor of California, there are really three properties worth mentioning. He lived in two of these places and almost lived in another.
1) The Former Governor’s Mansion: When Ronald Reagan became Governor in California in 1967, he and has family lived in the Governor’s mansion on 15th and H Street in Downtown Sacramento for three months before moving out. It’s been well publicized that Nancy Reagan felt the residence was not safe, and was more suitable as a museum than anything. Reagan was actually the last Governor to live in this mansion (until Governor Brown had the place renovated and moved in there in December 2015 (note added March 2016)).
2) The “Fab 40’s” Neighborhood: After a brief stint at the Governor’s mansion, the Reagans moved to East Sacramento to lease a home in the “Fabulous 40s” neighborhood at 1341 45th Street. This is a very well-established classic neighborhood in Sacramento – not a gated community. The home boasted over 6,000 square feet with six bedrooms and four bathrooms (according to Tax Records). The home last recorded for $1,765,000 in May 2000. The Fab 40’s is well-known for it’s tree-lined streets as you can see in the photo below.
3) The Mansion Constructed under Reagan: The State of California built a Governor’s mansion in the 1970s in Carmichael, which is about 10 miles from Downtown Sacramento. This mansion began construction under Ronald Reagan’s leadership, and he would have likely lived there, but it was not completed until Jerry Brown took office (Brown refused to live in this house, which he dubbed “The Taj Majal”). This home located at 2300 California Avenue has 8 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and is just under 12,000 square feet of living area (11,984). This property sold on the open market in MLS in 2004 for $4.1 million. It was previously listed for 1,429 days at 5.9 million, but when the price was lowered to 4.8 million, there was a pending status in only 41 days. The mansion is still there today, but some of the site has been subdivided for a few custom homes.
Questions: If you could own any of these homes, which one would it be? Why? Any other bits of history to share about these properties?
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You have posed a most difficult question, my friend. My fellow broker Erik Berry once reminded me that the Governor’s home on 45th street also enjoyed the parcel to the rear at one time that included a large pool. The parcel maps show different ownership now. Nancy Reagan’s complaint about the 19th century mansion being a fire trap surely wouldn’t differentiate in my mind from the 1926 era home on 45th, unless one had modern wiring…. and I’m not talking about knob and tube. I suspect she was looking for a safer place to raise her children at the time… that wasn’t next to a major event venue.
While 45th is prime property, 5 acres on the river in a 12,000 sf fairly modern home is unique and difficult to duplicate – almost world class, with a choice of excellent public and private schools nearby and room for my kids to roam, so it would be my choice – but I would accept any of the three!
While Jerry was making a good point with his frugality, he missed the collection of homes the UCs and CSUs own and operate on behalf of campus presidents, often larger than the homes lived in by the last few CA governors, all which come with extensive operating budgets and are frequently rehabbed and modernized.
Very interesting, Jeff. I didn’t know that about the pool. I’d be curious to hear more about Nancy Reagan’s concerns. I bet there are many sources for that type of information. I did read she was concerned about no exits from windows beyond ropes to the ground (not too safe for kids especially). I’d certainly prefer 45th Sreet to Downtown.
I’m like you in that I would accept either of the three, but I would definitely go for the Carmichael property. The location is incredible and it has such a secluded feel. Well, technically I should say if I was able to sell the Downtown property for more than the Carmichael property is worth, I’d pick that one.
Do you recall if the tax payers paid for Arnold’s hotel floor he rented or did he foot some of the bill?
i just finished reading the essay about the mansion constructed by the Reagan’s – in The White Album, by Joan Didion. Her determination is that it is a very poorly conceived house, built with low-grade materials. the main reason the Reagans chose to not live in the old Mansion was that the neighborhood had gone to seed, in addition to the building (wiring, i guess) not being safe.
Thank you so much. That’s interesting to hear. I appreciate it. I haven’t read extensively on the subject, but I do know the original Governor’s mansion was outdated and not up to code. I have always heard it was more of a safety issue for the Reagan family than anything. I have not heard about low-grade materials. To me that would be surprising since most homes in this era were built with higher-quality materials and the house is a stunner from the curb. Ultimately if a home has safety issues though, the quality doesn’t even matter. I would feel very similar for my family. Jerry Brown, our current governor (again) actually moved into the mansion over the past couple of years after it endured some renovations.
The one the Reagans built had a mid-century modern feel. I can see how some might interpret that to mean lower quality, though it was definitely custom. I have not seen interior photos. I suppose they are floating around online somewhere though. If anyone ever sees them, please send me a link.
Thanks again. I really appreciate your comment.
you’re most welcome!! the Didion essay is where i got all my info – the entire book is enjoyable & informative, especially with regard to California topics. Just to clarify – it is the Reagan-built home that uses low-grade materials, not uncommon at all, just not what you’d expect in a million dollar home. example, in the kitchen, a vinyl-topped counter made to resemble slate. i imagine the house was renovated & this sort of thing upgraded before it sold for 4 million. Didion reports the house cost 85K per year just to keep it running (uninhabited). Even the phone line was working. Didion’s story about the original governor’s mansion is quite personal & wonderful. I hope you read it.
Thanks for clarifying. I figured we were talking about the same thing, but I wasn’t sure. I’ll have to look into that more. I will say one thing about mid-century architecture is that it feels cheap to some in terms of quality because it doesn’t have the flashiness so to speak that other properties might have. For instance, formica counters many decades ago were a regular feature in this type of architecture. It could certainly be a sign of low quality as the author stated, but it could also be symptomatic of the type of architecture too. I only mention that because sometimes in real estate it’s easy to judge the architecture. I see it happen all the time in the local market too, and I was frankly guilty of it the first time I saw a mid-century modern house too. I’ll have to look into this further before making a judgement though. I appreciate you bringing this up as I’d not heard that critique before. Thanks again.
did Gov. Reagan use the office of the Charmichael property while it was under construction? I have credible info which states that the office was furnished early.
Hi John. Thanks for reaching out. I honestly do not know. As far as I know the property was not complete yet, so he didn’t use it. Though I suppose it’s possible for him to have used the office while it was under construction. I guess the proof would be in historical documents somewhere. I have personally not heard this before, but I am not a historian either by any measure. If you have some credible evidence, you are welcome to share. Thanks.
I was in my 20’s living in Long Beach when Ronnie Raygun was gov. Nancy also replaced all the dishes with a gold rimmed set, as the original set wasn’t up to her standards. CA was in recession at the time. We called her “let them eat cake” Nancy. I also heard Jerry Brown refer to the Reagan place as a Safeway store.
Thanks Carolyn. Funny to hear the Safeway comment. That would be a really nice Safeway… 🙂 (I’m sure he was referring to the enormous size). It’s interesting to me how different governors can be. The current governor of course has a massive house bought a few years ago just over $3M. I know I wrote a post about it, but off the top of my head I think it was listed somewhere between ten thousand and twelve thousand square feet. Then of course Jerry Brown had a modest apartment.