The Bushes Buy New Home in Dallas

Dec. 5, 2008— -- Next month President Bush will trade the White House for a sprawling mansion in a posh Dallas neighborhood.

"The president and Mrs. Bush have purchased a home in the Preston Hollow neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, where they will live after the president leaves office in January 2009," the first lady's spokeswoman Sally McDonough said in a statement Thursday.

While the First Lady's Office would not confirm the new home's exact address reports say the Bushes have selected a house on Daria Place at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac.

"The president and Mrs. Bush do not have occupancy of the home, and therefore, no additional details will be provided," McDonough said.

The home was purchased in early October by Robert McCleskey, a close friend of the first couple who had placed President Bush's assets in a blind trust when he became Texas governor in 1995.

Though the home is valued by the county at more than $2 million, reports say the Bushes paid an additional million. The home is only a few miles from the planned location of Bush's presidential library at Southern Methodist University, the first lady's alma mater.

Laura Bush hinted at the news during a news conference Wednesday. "We will be moving to Dallas in January, and there might be a new house coming along," she said.

Though the new house can't compare with the 132-room, 35-bath White House the Bushes will depart in January, their new home is enormous in its own right.

According its official listing on the Dallas Central Appraisal District's Web site, the one-story house spans 8,501 square feet of living space, including four bedrooms and four bathrooms, and sits on a 1.134-acre property. It was built in 1959 but is said to have undergone several renovations.

From The White House To Dallas

There's no swimming pool, but the home boasts a wet bar, fireplace, cabana, separate storage, detached garage and an 896-square-foot servants' quarter.

President Bush's new neighbors in this upscale Dallas neighborhood will include former presidential hopeful Ross Perot, oilman T Boone Pickens and other wealthy Dallas denizens.

The property abuts an estate owned by Tom Hicks, who bought the Texas Rangers baseball team from Bush and other investors in 1998.

The Bushes lived in Dallas once before, from 1988 to 1995, after which they moved into the Texas governor's mansion in Austin.

During his time in the White House President Bush vacationed at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The First Lady's Office said that despite the move to Dallas, the couple "will continue to spend time at Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas."

When asked about his new home today at an event at the White House, President Bush replied sarcastically to the reporter: "Why do you care? You live in Washington, D.C."