Buy the White House for $9.88 million

Scaled-down replica in DeKalb County put on market
Photo:W.A. BRIDGES JR./AJC
Prospective buyers must demonstrate they can afford the White House before getting a tour.

COMPARE ORIGINAL WHITE HOUSE WITH REPLICA HERE.

By KEVIN DUFFY

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The White House is for sale.

No, not that one. The scaled-down replica on Briarcliff Road in DeKalb County.
Owner Fred Milani, a builder of luxury homes, has 10 finished houses in the area waiting for buyers, and a lender has threatened foreclosure. He needs money.

So he’s put his home of seven years, the White House, on the market for $9.88 million, the 12th most expensive listing in metro Atlanta. DeKalb’s valuation is much less — $2.8 million.

“I believe in Jesus. He’s always blessed me, and at the last minute he’ll come rescue me,” Milani said Thursday.

The local White House is less than one-third the size of the real thing, but at 16,500 square feet it’s a giant in the neighborhood.

Milani lives near the Clairmont Road/I-85 intersection where traditional ranch homes are giving way to big multistory dwellings. The 57-year-old native of Iran appeared last year on the television show “Nightline” to weigh in on the controversy over McMansions, which critics say is Milani’s specialty.

He last sold a house in September. The construction-loan interest on those 10 empty houses — their average price is $1.3 million — is costing Milani more than $50,000 a month, ReMax agent Shawn Ghiai said.

Another problem Milani faces involves a dispute with a lender over payment on a $1.75 million note. That’s led to the White House being scheduled for foreclosure auction Jan. 6, the research firm Equity Depot says. The sale won’t occur if a settlement is reached.

A November foreclosure sale of the White House was headed off when an agreement was struck on payment of a $1.675 million loan, Milani said.

Who’d want such an expensive property when some experts are saying housing is in a depression? “I only need one person for that house,” Ghiai said.

There’s no For Sale sign on the 2-acre site. And prospective buyers must demonstrate they can afford the White House before getting a tour.

So far, two parties have inspected the property, Ghiai said. A third prospective buyer, from Dubai, has submitted financial statements and plans to visit for a personal look, he said.

The Milani family moved into White House in 2001, about the same time George and Laura Bush took up residence in Washington, D.C.

An architect suggested they build a copy of the White House when Yvonne Milani said she wanted a house with a flat facade and columns, and her husband asked for large but cost-efficient rooms.

The couple visited the President’s home three times to become familiar with its interior and furnishings.

Milani, who’s built some 400 homes over a quarter century, said the next White House owner will be someone relatively unaffected by the country’s economic turmoil.

“Whoever buys it,” Milani said, “is going to be blessed.”