The Union Leader’s Joe McQuaid managed to get Mitt Romney to respond to reports that he’s planning to quadruple the size of his $12 million home in La Jolla, California.

According to the report, Romney said he’s only doubling the size of the home – not quadrupling it.

McQuaid, who saw Romney at Manchester’s Red Arrow Diner last week, writes: “I asked him, why give the media and political foes raw meat right now by filing for permits to tear down a La Jolla, Calif., beach house and quadruple its size?”

According to McQuaid, Romney said that the report was not accurate, and that he would only be doubling the living space. Quadrupling would have measured the duplication of nonliving space – including a garage and basement – according to McQuaid’s report.

McQuaid then asked Romney why he didn’t just issue a statement, to which McQuaid says, “[Romney] shrugged his shoulders with a ‘why bother?’ look.”

The construction at Romney’s beachfront residence was first reported by the The San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this month, when the paper obtained an application filed by Romney to begin construction on the home that outlined plans to expand the 3,009 square foot home into a two-story, 11,062 square foot home.

The campaign has not responded to a request for comment on the matter, but Romney explained at a campaign event in New Hampshire last week that the construction is necessary to fit his large family – the GOP candidate has five grown children and 16 grandchildren.