Bush buys home in Dallas neighborhood

Posted: Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:11 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: White House

From NBC's Abby Livingston and John Yang
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush will be moving back to Texas after the president's term ends, and they have purchased a home in the upscale Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow, the first couple tells NBC News in an interview to air tonight.

The home is valued at just over $2 million, according to county property records and reporting by the Dallas Morning News. It is within Dallas city limits and is located in close proximity to Southern Methodist University, the future site of Bush 43's presidential library.

Video: President and Laura Bush speak candidly about their years spent living in the White House and their plans for returning to private life. NBC's John Yang reports.

Preston Hollow is the same neighborhood where they lived prior to Bush's election as Texas governor in 1994.

Within blocks of the neighborhood live other notable Dallas-ites, including the Dallas Mavericks' legally embattled owner Mark Cuban, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, former presidential candidate Ross Perot, and Tom Hicks, a businessman who has Bush's old job-Texas Rangers' owner.

Elizabeth Taylor, a Dallas realtor, describes the neighborhood as, "a very upscale, older neighborhood. Many older homes are being torn down and big new ones, mega mansions, are being put up in their place."

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Comments

Billy Clinton looked at the price of the Bush's new home and said "That's it? $2 million? I can make that much with four speeches in two days over in Yemen and Kuwait!"

TR, Gillian, GA (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:20 PM)

there goes the neighborhood!!!!

D from IL (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:22 PM)

Any chance he could move early...like tomorrow. And mail in the keys to the White House. My bet is Lora will leave early in January. No reason to stick around Washington.

Ron Indiana (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:27 PM)

So will they sell the ranch? Is that little berg of Crawford no longer big enough for the great Dubya?
Maybe the hominess of the a shucks kind of image is no longer needed and the high style and high life of Dallas is more to their liking. Or could it be that Dubya wants to keep an eye on his "library" so they don't reveal things about him he would rather be kept secret? Many things to ponder regarding this move.

eagle1776 (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:29 PM)

Sounds like an area that is just really feeling the recession. Poor people have probably had to fire their Guatemalan gardeners. Oh Brother can you spare a dime.

Sounds like the Bushes will do well. It shows that at a certain point on the socio-economic ladder that there are no consequence for ineptitude and failure. To the contrary, there seem to be substantial rewards for it.

Gary Schear, Bozeman Montana (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:30 PM)

All rich folks, what a loser good-bye good ridance. The worst president of all time!

Carmelo, Alexandria, VA (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:30 PM)

Can he please move in tomorrow? We need him to get out of the way so real work can get done...

Pat, Boulder CO (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:31 PM)

I still can't fathom how people actually that he was a "regular guy" how many regular guys have owned their own professional sports team, or can live in 2 million dollar homes??? And I still can't believe he's going to get a library....what are they going to put in there? comic books? picture books?

Bentley in NY (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:40 PM)

I hope the house is haunted.

Pat huntington NY (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:40 PM)

Personally I don't care where the Bush's live. I am, however, more than annoyed that after being a terrible leader of this country, he has the audacity, in his interview with Charlie Gibson, to act as if he had nothing to do with the situation he is leaving us in. Two wars, torture, a politicized justice system, economic disaster, and the list goes on. His attitude towards these problems is that they are someone elses fault, some were in place prior to his stealing the election. If that was the case, as President it was his JOB to fix them.

He and Karl Rove will not be able to rewrite history, as there are too many witnesses, and we won't soon forget. And, by the way, Rove wrote an op-ed piece that tries to make something of Obama's fund raising, he should be very careful, as he has lived in a glass house.

Off topic, sort of, Chris Matthews should stay at msnbc. Why would he want to go to the senate? He made a statement, I believe tues. p.m., why on earth did the Bush administration give HOMELAND SECURITY that title. This is something that has bothered me since it's inception. It sounds very "nazi (fatherland)/communist/dictatorship" like. Chris said it should have been called "civil protection" or something along those lines, and I totally agree. I know it's not the most important thing on the agenda, but does anyone else have a thought about it?

stephanie, ft. pierce, fl. (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:43 PM)

How fast can they move into the new house? Not fast enough for me.

Dottie, Swarthmore PA (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:49 PM)

How fast can they move into the new house? Not fast enough for me.

Dottie, Swarthmore PA (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:49 PM)

It's good that the house is so close to SMU. Bush will want to review personally all the documents to be housed at the library.

There's a first time for everything, after all.

Anna Molly (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:49 PM)

If anyone ever thought that our country does not exist with a caste system that separates the haves from the have nots this is a prime example of that system.

Oh, I don't begrudge Bush purchasing a 2 million dollar home in Dallas while thousands of Americans are losing their jobs and mortgages. Kind of reminds one of those Auto Execs. flying into DC in their private jets to beg for more money while the country's unemeployment rolls increase.

But let's not begrudge Bush or these Execs. That is just the way life is. There are rich and there are poor and nothing is going to change that. But rather than live behind a smoke screen why don't we all just admit that our society is in fact based on a caste system, and that "who you are" often determines your place in this system rather than what you have achieved or contributed.

It is not so troubling to recognize tha tthis is the way life is and most likely always will be, and that you have to make your own breaks to rise in this system. But I suppose what is gulliing is the fact that so many rise to the higher levels based on just plain noterity and not on any form of positive contributional impact on the human race. Can we state some examples here of this noterity caste system? Of course. Bill Gates vs. Britney Spears. Martin Luther King vs. Tom Cruise. Mother Teresa vs. any U.S. highly paid Professional Sports figure. Any respectable and effective public school Principal vs. GWB. Any homeless veteran who served his/her country vs. Dick Cheney. We could spend all day listing the examples of this caste system.

No need.

C A, Tuscaloosa, AL (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:52 PM)

HOPE THEY ENJOY IT WHILE THE REST OF US SUFFER THROUGH THIS RECESSION!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING JERK!!!

OFFICIALLY A BUSH HATER!!! (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:59 PM)

DO US A FAVOR AND HIDE OUT THERE FOR THE REST OF YOUR PATHETIC LIFE!

ANGRY AMERICAN (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:00 PM)

Bush is done conning the easily conned with his faux ranch in Crawford...he and Laura were townies in Dallas and the guvs mansion...the ranch was bought in 1999 as a prop for the presidential election...and you guys were too dumb to know you were conned

Rick, NC (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:04 PM)

I really wish he'd move to Iraq instead. And what are they gonna have in his presidential library? The only book I think he's ever read is "Look, look John, see Spot run?"

Brian, Cedar Hill, TX (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:06 PM)

Doesn't he have a ranch that he can live on? Or is it that he is trying to show by example that people can start buying real estate again? I just hope not to hear people talk about him again.

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:13 PM)

Us Dallasites are absolutely terrified of the thought that they are coming to Dallas!

Mark, Dallas, Texas (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:15 PM)

Texas deserves the cretin .Perhaps he d like Joe the
Plumber s help in re-plumbing the place ? John McCain
might be able to negotiate a fee for him if he d board
the Palin clan .

h.nichols , mercersburg , pa. (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:17 PM)

Do you think they'd let him move in early? Like this afternoon maybe? I don't care where he lives as long as it isn't anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Texas sounds good...wait, Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan sound better. January 20th can't come soon enough.

Diane from Illinois (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:19 PM)

Shouldn't we be talking about trying Bush for War Crimes? He did lie to the Country about WMD,betray an undercover CIA agent, torture men, women and children, spy on Americans without a warrant, and commit genocide in Iraq.

Scooter (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:24 PM)

Brian, the Bush library will contnain Bush's favorite works: "Mein Kampf" and "Torture Secrets of the Inquisition"

Pat Tilman's Mom (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:27 PM)

GW Bush Presidential Library

There's a show on C-SPAN about presidential libraries. Here're what the draft plans for the George W. Bush Library now call for:

The Alberto Gonzales Room - Where you can't remember any of the exhibits.

The Hurricane Katrina Room - It's still under construction.

The Texas Air National Guard Room - Where you don't have to even show up.

The Walter Reed Hospital Room - Where they don't let you in.

The Guantanamo Bay Room - Where they don't let you out.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room - Nobody has been able to find it.

The War in Iraq Room - After you complete your first tour, they can force you to go back for your second and third and fourth and fifth tours.

The K-Street Project Gift Shop - Where you can buy an election, or, if no one cares, steal one.

The Men's Room - Where you could meet a Republican Senator (or two).

To be fair, the President has done some good things, and so the museum will have an electron microscope to help you locate them.

When asked, President Bush said that he didn't care so much about the individual exhibits as long as his museum was better than his father's.

Sourcer: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljoke-bush-library.htm

Independent, TX (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:32 PM)

Ever notice Anne Molly and C A post at the nearly the same times? I wonder why?

Clair, MO (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:38 PM)

Stephanie:

The Bush administration opposed the creation of the Homeland Security department. After Democrats and congress pushed it through, he acquiesced to Joe Lieberman et al. and created a huge bureacracy that he didn't necessarily approve of, but not to the extent of vetoing it.

On a social note, Stephanie, there are just as many selfish and self-centered Democrat executives, politicians and power mongers doing quite well presently in addition to Republicans and ex-presidents. If we begrudge and demean on the one hand, isn't it fair to begrudge an demean on the other? I think so.

Karl Rove may not be able to re-write history, but you certainly seem pre-disposed to do so.

Richard, Washington State (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:47 PM)

The dunce in chief has left us with the bag while he reapes the benefits. Anyone who actually thought he would truly accept responsibility for his actions only need to research his pathetic life to find out he blames everyone else but himself. The sad thing is he was able to con a lot of people into thinking he would take care of them AHHHHHHHHH!

Terry, Disabled Vet, Des moines, IA (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:51 PM)

Good Lord, He's moving just down the road from me. If I travel Hwy 75, I'll have to buy gas masks to cover up the stench.How does this man sleep at night with all that he has done to this country and its citizens? Oh, I forgot, he's not intelligent enough to realize what he has done. Are there lots of trees on the property, as chopping down tress is the only thing he is capable of doing by himself. Just a thought, but does anyone else believe that this man never even flew a plane in National Guard? I think he just posed in front of one. I believe that Dan Rather was the only reporter who got it right about Bush. I may have to move if the stench spreads.

Chris in McKinney TX (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:00 PM)

Library books?

"My Pet Goat" i believe the school kids on 9/11 helped him read that out loud and then he sat there for seven minutes trying to digest that "the Nation is under attack" message from Andy Card. He's a very slow learner apparently. Why didn't the secret service jump in and explain the danger to him sooner than they did??

P.C.R. (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:01 PM)

C A Tuscaloosa..

Yesireebob. That pretty well nails it.

I always thought Britney would be fun to have a beer with, too.

Frankly, she would have done as well as (duly elected?) Beloved Leader without so much drama as the huckleberry still squatting in the White House has provided for fun and profit.

Love those folks who are proud of voting for him twice or more.

It's always a rainy night in Georgia, even at high noon, eh Saxby?

Here's a shout-out for Britney's bastard cousin Sarah!

Gotta find a new pal to drink beer with... Obama drinks (in teensy sips) wine.

Mark Thieme is mouldering in the grave (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:03 PM)

RE:
Bentley in NY: And I still can't believe he's going to get a library....what are they going to put in there? comic books? picture books?

I am still laughing at that line. I keep rereading it for humor and sad reality. It's so true. All of the commentary is dead on.

Mike (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:04 PM)

He had to be inside the city limits due to Texas liquor law. Dallas County is wet, pretty much the rest is dry. I hear he's back on the sauce - still wondering where his legacy went astray. I am not surprised by his surprise at Charlie's question. He really doesn't know what happened. Which is why I am an ardent supporter of SMART people governing.

Sorry if the sarcastic humor for Kay offended so many. I still think it was funny. And thanks to my many friends for the support. Steeler Fan, I was one for YEARS. Then I fell in love with Joe Montana and all he could have done for our Chiefs - it's not been the same since.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:04 PM)

I wonder if they are paying cash for their new home? With all of the money he and Cheney made off the oil kick backs, they will probably living very well. He has no clue how the average person will suffer from his illegal presidency. I hear his brother, Jed Bush might run for the Senate seat in Florida in 2010. I don't want to hear that name for a while. I think we have to be treated for Post Traumatic Srtess Disorder, after living through eight years of trauma and lies, before we get back in those Bushes.

Diana Owens, Tacoma, Wash. (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:05 PM)

The Democrats and their puppets in the media have done a great job. For the past eight years, they have lied about President Bush, talked down the ecnonomy, put regulations in place that gave loans to the unqualified that resulted in the financial crisis and recession, and you lemmings are too ignorant to know you have been fooled. You repeat their myths and lies as your own because you do not know any better. That is why you are Obama voters...you are stupid and dependent.

Mike (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:07 PM)

George and Laura Bush deserve to live in an up scale neighborhood and hopefully will live in peace. This country has treated them shamefully. I feel very fortunate that George Bush has been able to keep this country safe since 9/11. People seem to forget that it is the primary job of the president. Sadly the ungrateful will always be with us. I am happy for the fact that George and Laura can move on, they deserve a wonderful life.

Cathy Jewell (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:10 PM)

We're glad to get Laura and George back to Texas ... away from the Washington DC cess pool of political intelligence and the Democratic non-leadership in Congress.

J A, Dallas, Texas (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:12 PM)

Bush will be known in History as a good President. He kept you whining liberals safe after 911. As for the economy up until 6 month ago it was doing well....Greedy people all the way up and down the chain ignored the home loan situation. People buying homes they could not afford, banks bundling the loans and selling them and the corrupt politicians pressing the banks to give more loans out to those who could not afford them all under the auspices of PCism. Give me a break. Go out and work harder and smarter and you will get more.

God Bless President Bush.......

Grant Rushton, Gatesville Texas (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:12 PM)

Haunted foooor REEEAL.. he's got aleast 4 or 5,000 ghouls following him around for the rest of his natural life and maybe beyond if you ask Nancy Reagan.

Nero, CA (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:19 PM)

I thought the ranch was where the gitmo prisoners were going to be released to meld them into American society......NOW what do we do with them....

justobserveID (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:20 PM)

Us Dallasites are absolutely terrified of the thought that they are coming to Dallas!

Mark, Dallas, Texas

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This illustrates the biggest trouble with liberals. They're scared of anything and everything.

Fox Hole (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:23 PM)

Grant Rushton, Cathy Jewell

Are you two cousins? Bush FAILED, FAILED, FAILED, to keep the country safe after being warned that Osama bin Laden was Determined to attack INSIDE the USA.
He failed to do his duty or due diligence or listen to his terrorism czar Richard Clarke prior to the attack that took place eight months into his watch. Why do you excuse his failure? He failed in his principle duty as commander in chief and then tried to delay any investigation into his failings.
These are the facts. Why do you forgive his incompetence?

P.C.R. (Sent Thursday, December 04, 2008 5:29 PM)

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