Secret service to build fake white house
What would you do if someone climbed over your fence and ran into your home? You might install better locks, build a higher fence or perhaps even move to another area. You certainly wouldn't build a brand new replica of your home. For the US Secret Service, though, that is exactly the plan.
Six months after an intruder managed to scale the fence around the White House and enter the property, the Secret Service has hit upon an unexpected solution: build a replica of the President's home for training purposes.
"Right now, we train on a parking lot, basically," Joseph P. Clancy, the director of the Secret Service, told the House Appropriations Committee this week. "We put up a makeshift fence and walk off the distance between the fence at the White House and the actual house itself. We don’t have the bushes, we don’t have the fountains, we don’t get a realistic look at the White House."
He asked lawmakers to help them build the property, which would be located in Beltsville, 20 miles from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where the service has a training facility.
The replica would recreate the outside of the home, as well as its East and West Wings, guard booths and surrounding roads, explains The New York Times, although it is not clear whether it would be a full-scale replica of all sides of the building.
The move could be seen as drastic by some - in the wake of last year's intrusion, a panel of security experts already recommended building a taller fence - especially with the double costing an estimated $8 million.
The notion of building a copy of the Presidential abode, though, is far from new in America's housing market. Indeed, there are several replicas that already exist around the country, each costing far less than $8 million. We round up the Secret Service's options for buying an existing White House rather than building one:
1. The White House of Virginia
Photo credit: Architizer
This copy is far from the expansive estate currently occupied by Obama: it boasts just six bedrooms and seven baths compared to the original's 132 and 35. A two-car garage now exists in the side of the property, too, drastically altering the building's outside. On the plus side, it was repossessed because the owner ran out of funds, which means it sold in 2012 for just $856,000. On the down side, it isn't finished.
2. The Other White House of Virginia
Photo: Curbed
Virginia: the only state in the US to have not one, but two White Houses. This second property is much smaller, spanning just 8,320 square feet, but it is an accurate scaled-down version, based on White House blueprints, which boasts everything from a mini Oval Office to a Truman Balcony. It was last on the market for a bargain $4 million, which would leave the Secret Service with $4 million to build a replica Empire State Building, or other famous landmark.
3. The Texan White House
Photo: Homes of the Rich
Pop down to Dallas, Texas, and you will find yourself the biggest replica of all: a 16,000 square-footer that was built in 1996 and remodeled in 2003. Complete with a swimming pool, spa and tennis courts, the price tag of $19.5 million is above Secret Service pay grades, but could give agents a nice place to unwind in between training sessions.
4. The Atlanta White House
Photo: Yelp
Head out to Atlanta and you will come across Fred Milani's replica. The Iranian-American developer lived in his version of the iconic mansion for seven years, until it was finally placed on the market in 2009 for $9.88 million, as the housing crisis struck. How faithful it is may be in doubt, though, as The New York Times reveals that its unorthodox decor extends to a "ceiling mural of Jesus ministering to people of various races". It may be affordable, but the Secret Service could be better off aiming for something a little more authentic. On the plus side, it is highly rated on Yelp, with three positive reviews.
5. The Chinese White House
Photo: Wikimapia
Who said that only Americans could build replicas of the White House? This version sits in the Hangzhou province of China and was created by tourism tycoon Huang Quaoling. At $10 million, the Secret Service would struggle to afford it, despite its immaculately reproduced baroque furniture and carpet complete with Presidential Seal. Also, did we mention it's located in China?