San Clemente

A bit of history

Former Seattle mayor Ole Hanson bought 2,000 acres in 1925 to build a red-roofed Spanish-style village by the sea, designing in schools, parks, a pier, and public beaches before incorporating the city in 1928. The Great Depression stalled growth almost immediately, and foreclosures left the bank owning most of the town for years. San Clemente's fortunes turned decades later when Richard Nixon bought a Spanish mansion in the southern part of town in 1969, calling it La Casa Pacifica — better known as the "Western White House," where he hosted Leonid Brezhnev, Henry Kissinger, and other world leaders during his presidency.