The General Electric Showcase House was at 1669 San Onofre Drive in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles in California. It was built as a residence for the American actor Ronald Reagan and his family. Reagan served as a spokesperson for the American conglomerate General Electric, who furnished the house with the latest consumer products. The house was featured in advertisements for General Electric. Reagan and his family lived at the house until his election as President of the United States in 1980.
The house was located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles in California. It was 4,764 square feet (442.6 m2) in area set over an open plan design with 4 bedrooms and bathrooms. The site of the house overlooks Santa Monica Bay, with views to Catalina Island on a clear day. [1] [2]
The house was designed by the architect William R. Stephenson and completed in 1956. The design of the house has been described as a ranch house in the Mid-century modern style. [1] It was built as the residence for the American actor Ronald Reagan and his family. Reagan worked as a spokesperson for the American conglomerate General Electric (GE) and as the host of General Electric Theater . General Electric provided the furnishings for the house. [3] The construction was funded by Reagan's income from General Electric of $150,000 (equivalent to $1,681,028in 2023). [1] [2] In his 1990 autobiography, An American Life , Reagan described the house as a "dream home overlooking the Pacific Ocean that GE stuffed with every imaginable electric gadget". [1] During the construction, Reagan drew hearts in wet cement with his and wife Nancy's initials. [2]
The house was fitted with technological devices and consumer products designed by GE and served as a showcase for their products. [3] The house was featured in magazine advertisements and television advertisements during General Electric Theater. The house was described in adverts as the "House of the Future", with Reagan and his family featured in the adverts. [4] Nancy Reagan was not happy with her "home being turned into a corporate showcase", but acceded due to the stability provided by her husband's income from General Electric. [2] The home's devices were centrally controlled from electric panels. [3] The house had a dishwasher and garbage disposal unit, which were then rare objects in American homes. [1] [5] There were also two freezers and three refrigerators. [2] The house was designed to be energy-efficient. [1] A film projector was hidden behind a painting in the living room. [5] Reagan would joke to dinner guests that the house had a direct link to the Hoover Dam (a hydroelectric generation facility) due to its extensive use of electrical wires and switches. [5]
Reagan, his wife Nancy, and their two children, Patti and Ron, moved to the house in 1957. [1] Reagan was one of the first celebrities to move to Pacific Palisades. [3] Reagan's son Michael, whom he had adopted with his first wife, Jane Wyman, came from boarding school to visit the house on weekends. [2] Following Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech of 1964, a group of wealthy Republican donors led by Holmes Tuttle visited the house to persuade him to run in the 1966 California gubernatorial election. [2] The Reagan family infrequently visited the house following his election as Governor of California. The house was almost destroyed by a wild fire in 1977. [5] During the fire the Reagan family threw their silverware into the swimming pool. [5] The Reagans moved to the White House in January 1981 following his victory in the 1980 United States presidential election. [3] Reagan was showering in the house when he was told that he had become the next President of the United States. He subsequently received the telephone call from Jimmy Carter conceding the presidential election in the living room of the house. [3] As Nancy Reagan recalled the event:
[I had taken] a bath, and Ronnie got in the shower. In the background I could hear John Chancellor on the TV in the bedroom, and suddenly he says Ronnie's won—in a landslide. So I jumped out of the tub, started banging on the shower door, and we ran to the TV. There we were, standing in our towels, listening to them say he had been elected. Then the phone started ringing. It was President Carter, calling from Washington to concede the election and to congratulate Ronnie on winning. [5]
After his move to the White House, Reagan sold the house in 1982. [1]
The house sold for $5.2 million in February 2013 having been put on sale for $4.9 million in December 2012. [3] [1] It was subsequently redeveloped into a residence 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) in size in a Spanish Revival style with 10 bathrooms. [6] [7] The shower door which Reagan stepped through before he received Carter's call to concede the presidential election was preserved in the redevelopment. [7] The house that replaced it sold for $22 million in March 2017, having been previously listed for $33 million in 2016. [7]
Nancy Davis Reagan was an American film actress who was the First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, his presidency constituted the Reagan era, and he is considered one of the most prominent conservative figures in American history.
The 1980 United States presidential election was the 49th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 4, 1980. The Republican nominee, former California governor Ronald Reagan, defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory.
The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan and his running mate, incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, were re-elected to a second term in a landslide. They defeated the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Walter Mondale and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the presidential library and burial site of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989), and his wife Nancy Reagan. Located in Simi Valley, California, the library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died after having Alzheimer's disease for over a decade. Reagan was the first former U.S. president to die in 10 years since Richard Nixon in 1994. At the age of 93 years, 120 days, Reagan was the longest-lived U.S. president in history at the time of his death, a record which was surpassed by Gerald Ford on November 12, 2006. His seven-day state funeral followed. After Reagan's death, his body was taken from his Bel Air home to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California, to prepare the body for burial. On June 7, Reagan's casket was transported by hearse and displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, then flown to Washington, D.C., on June 9 for a service, public viewing and tributes at the U.S. Capitol.
The bibliography of Ronald Reagan includes numerous books and articles about Ronald Reagan. According to J. David Woodard, a political science professor, more than 11,000 books on Reagan have been published.
This is the electoral history of Ronald Reagan. Reagan, a Republican, served as the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989) and earlier as the 33rd governor of California (1967–1975). At 69 years, 349 days of age at the time of his first inauguration, Reagan was the oldest person to assume the presidency in the nation's history, until Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017 at the age of 70 years, 220 days. In 1984, Reagan won re-election at the age of 73 years, 274 days, and was the oldest person to win a US presidential election until Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election at the age of 77 years, 349 days.
The 1980 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1980 as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
In the 1980 United States presidential election, Ronald Reagan and his running mate, George H. W. Bush, were elected president and vice president, defeating incumbents Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale of the Democratic Party.
Ronald Reagan was the 33rd governor of California for two terms, the first beginning in 1967 and the second in 1971. He left office in 1975, declining to run for a third term. Robert Finch, Edwin Reinecke and John L. Harmer served as lieutenant governors over the course of his governorship.
The 1980 United States Senate election in Idaho took place on November 4, 1980 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democrat Frank Church ran for a fifth term and narrowly lost to Republican Steve Symms.
The 1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose seventeen electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
The 1984 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 6, 1984. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose seven electors to the Electoral College, which selected the President and Vice President of the United States. Arizona was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with incumbent Vice President and former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.
The 1980 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the election. State voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.
The 1980 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 4, 1980, in West Virginia as part of the 1980 United States presidential election.
The 1980 United States presidential election in Oregon took place on November 4, 1980. All fifty states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose six electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
In the 1976 United States presidential election, Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Walter Mondale, were elected president and vice president, defeating incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford and his running mate, Bob Dole.
668 St. Cloud Road was a residence in the Bel-Air district of Los Angeles. It was occupied by Nancy and Ronald Reagan from 1989 until their respective deaths. The interior was designed by Peter Schifando, a protégé of Ted Graber. An auction at Christie's of items from the Reagans' private collections from the house took place in 2016.