Presidential Candidate John Edwards is building his presidential campaign on the values of socialism, redistribution of wealth and the like. He talks about the two Americas, the very wealthy and the very poor. He has pledged to alleviate poverty and help the working poor.
He has gotten off to a good start by giving a whole lot of people jobs in construction. Surely it was Americans that built his house. They had jobs anyway.
The Breck Girl candidate has built himself a 29,000-square-foot mansion. TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND SQUARE FEET!!!!
Elizabeth Edwards says it’s not pretentious though ….
She said there is nothing ‘grandiose’ about the house and that it was designed to be a functional home with room for her children to play outdoors and a large kitchen to entertain friends and family.
‘This house is a truly fabulous family home,’Â she said. ‘The house has one fireplace, no grand staircase. Its not unlike our lives in smaller quarters for over 30 years, starting with John’s apartment in Oakwood.’
She portrayed their lifestyle as lacking pretension.
‘We don’t take fancy vacations,’ she said. ‘When the kids were young, we used frequent flyer miles to take a trip to Europe. We don’t have jewelry. We don’t have furs. We don’t have fancy cars. Those kinds of accoutrements don’t matter to him. What matters to him is home.’Â
That’s good - it’s just a nice family home 
From the Carolina Journal Online
The rambling structure sits in the middle of a 102-acre estate on Old Greensboro Road west of Chapel Hill. The heavily wooded site and winding driveway ensure that the home is not visible from the road. ‘No Trespassing’Â signs discourage passersby from venturing past the gate.
Ambulance chasing has obviously paid quite well!! I hope he doesn’t lose votes on account of this. I’m thinking the tree huggers are going to be a little upset because of all the trees that had to be laid to waste so that he’d have enough room for this non-pretentious structure. And what about PETA?? Think of all the displaced animals who’ll have to find another home somewhere to make room for the Edwardses’ new digs.
One thing I have not ever understood about socialism in America, the people who want to re-distribute wealth the most are the wealthiest. I would think that was noble on their part except they don’t seem to ever be thinking of re-distributing their own wealth.
They just want you and me to pay more to help alleviated poverty. I guess their contribution is in telling us how much we are obligated to give to other people.
The upside is that no one in the family will ever have to see anyone else in the family if they don’t want to.
tiara tip: Not Exactly Rocket Science
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29,000 square feet? I had to read that three times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Be fair, Beth, they need room for the little rug rats to crawl around, and the nannies, and the housekeepers, and the cooks, and the butler, and the farm hands, and the stable boy, and the beautician (for Breck girl), and the silver spoon polishers ….
Yea, two Americas. HIS and the rest of us.
BSC: You have a point - I’m hanging my head in shame. I didn’t take all the staff and entourage into account. Just think of all the hair care products that have to have a place in the home!!!
Being one of those “poor” people with only 2000 square feet on 4 acres, I’m all for him redistributing some of his wealth. Personally I’d like that attached stable that I’m seeing, and 20-30 acres distributed my way.
It never ceases to amaze me how progressives characterize conservatives as “rich” and therefore unconcerned with the plight of those who aren’t rich. Just look at Edwards and Kerry and Kennedy — all filthy rich and acting like they “understand” about those less fortunate. In reality, it’s the conservatives who generally give of their time and money to help people who are needy.
RT and I are building our dream home - it’ll be about 3,600 sq. ft. which is WAY bigger than we need - but it was the house plan we loved. Our house, which will be less than 1/7 the size of the Edwards’ is large enough to handle our extended family and any entertaining we’d ever want to do. 29,000 square feet is a ridiculous waste of money.
SHOW THE AERIAL PHOTOS!!! SHOW THE PHOTOS!!!
What is “environmentally friendly” about the HVAC on THAT BEAST!!!
Give him a break, they need that much space just to store the hairspray.
Let’s not forget the greenhouse gases that a house of that size puts out in order to be air conditioned, adding to the “global warming” burden.
Why couldn’t he have moved to a different state? I would loath for him to be called the president from north Carolina, if he (God help us all) wins in 2008.
Well, bless their hearts. You know, I don’t begrudge them having a 29,000 square foot home, there is nothing wrong with that. But don’t talk to me about the chasm that separates the poor from the wealthy and try to make me think you are the champion of the poor.
President Bush doesn’t even live in a 29,000 sq. foot house!!!
Reminds me of when they went to Wendy’s for a photo-op with the Kerry’s; after the cameras disappeared they tossed their burgers and fries in the trash and ordered fancy take out, lol.
Unbelievable! What does a person do with a house that big? They are obviously very out-of-touch with the average American’s lifestyle and needs.
Careful everyone. Getting all bent out of shape about Edwards’ 29,000 square foot house (”ridiculous waste of money”, etc.) is nothing but the same greed and class resentment conservatives (rightly) accuse liberals of. This is America - if a guy wants to buy a 29,000 square foot house and call it modest, and if he can afford it, great. If he wants to redistribute my stuff to someone who doesn’t deserve it, I’ll vote against him, but I won’t get into the whole class envy thing. Visiting Cuba and Eastern Europe cured me of that.
Russ,
I don’t think conservatives are jealous that Edwards built such a big house. They just resent the hypocrisy of a man, who on his presidential website, is telling you to change lightbulbs, take a cold shower, and lower the thermostat while he is building a main house that is 4x larger than the average American home.
You can read my thoughts here
Mrs. Edwards Responds…
Satan, in this post, noted the disconnect between the “green” image portrayed by John Edwards and the great big, huge, some might call it a mansion, house he is having built….
Yes, the hypocrisy is overwhelming. It hasn’t gotten much coverage, the details anyway, but Mr. Two Americas has a beach house on private Figure Eight Island. There is a security guard and a drawbridge to cross the intercoastal waterway to get to the house. While the tax card (new Hanover County NC) shows a value of about $1,300,000, that value is about 7 or 8 years old. Beach property on the NC coast has more than doubled in that time. Value is closer to $3,000,000. The point is that Johnny doesn’t know how Americans live, or want to mix with us. No public beaches, public swimming pools, public basketball courts, YMCA’s, and certainly no pubilic transportation. I find it highly unlikley he flies in anything but private jets too. Left wing greenies who are honest would hate this guy!
John Edwards Feels Pretty…
View This Video on You Tube
He’s got a pretty house too!!
Weekend Open Post.
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FOUR times larger? Try FIFTEEN! Probably even more than that, actually.
BSC: You are right! I understated.
My rich auntie deluxe triplewide is HUGE — not as big as them people’s mansion, but perty close — but she can still move it somewheres when she gits a notion.
What good is a house is you can’t move it nowheres?
Anyone know who the Edwards Mansion builder is?
BSC: You planning on building a new house??
jealousy is as cruel as the grave. Edwards had been a mill worker but went to law school to help people in the same economic status as his parents. the man did not steal the money; HE EARNED IT! BUSH HAS TORTURED MURDERED, LIED AND KILLED AND YOU TALK NONSENSE! GROW UP, FOR GOD’S SAKE, YOU PEOPLE TALK LIKE COMMUNISTS; EDWARDS EARNED THE MONET AND YOU WANT IT DOLED OUT TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU.
BSC: You seem confused. I don’t want his money. It’s the progressives who want to redistribute wealth. It’s Edwards who talks about ‘the two Americas’. He and his followers are the ones who follow the communist doctrines. You scream out hateful bile that is parroted from the progressive talking points with no foundation in fact. Bush has not murdered, tortured or killed. I can’t say he’s never lied, I can’t imagine there’s a politician who hasn’t. But you can’t say that about your ambulance chasing lawyer friend either.
My parents were raised in cotton mill towns as well. Many people came out of those mill towns and did well for themselves. They got good educations and understood the value of hard work. They didn’t expect anything to be given to them. All of those things are qualities needed for success. BTW, being from this area I know that by the time Edwards came along, people weren’t still working in the mills. He may have been raised in a cotton mill town, but he wasn’t raised working in a cotton mill.
You can quit yelling and get control of yourself. You might ask some of his former clients how they feel about whether or not he’s ever lied or stolen.
Elizabeth Edwards Snubs Republican Neighbor…
Charlotte Observer
RALEIGH –Elizabeth Edwards says she is scared of the “rabid, rabid Republican” who owns property across the street from her Orange County home — and she doesn’t want her kids going near the gun-toting ne…
This is not John Edward primary residence. It is an orphange for sick kids with AIDS and a treatment center retreat for girls with eating disorders and a gathering place for his vacation bible school during the summer.
John and his wife and his kids live in a small 500 sq feet apartment near the ghettos, shop at Costco, and live on various generic brands of cereal and milk. All this wealth goes to charity and to help others.
“This is America - if a guy wants to buy a 29,000 square foot house and call it modest, and if he can afford it, great.”
The fact that you lead off with “This is America” says you think that Americans have some inherent right to disregard the consequences of their actions and choices.
This kind of entitlement mentality is seriously hurting our country. People use it to justify socially and environmentally irresponsible choices on a regular basis. There’s a guy in Cobb Co. Georgia, where they’re having a severe water shortage, whose home uses 400,000 gallons/month. He apparently has the same “as long as I can afford it” mentality. No amount of money in these people’s bank accounts will change the effect of their excessive use of resources on their community, the country, or the planet. No matter how much money you have for gas, for example, a gas-guzzling vehicle still wastes a nonrenewable resource, does more damage to the environment, and increases our dependence on foreign oil.
Bet Dick Cheney is greener than John Edwards.
Take a look at the celebrities who help the poor. Many of them own much more costly and lavish real estate than John Edwards and we see them helping the poor often. Are they Hypocrites?! Why is it that people think owning an expensive home and having money suggests that the wealthy do not care about the poor. I don’t like John Edward’s personality and I think he is fake in some ways but I am sick of hearing that he is a Hypocrite JUST because he is rich and owns a large home. Give me some sort of other evidence that he is a Hypocrite, such as proof that he hasn’t personally donated his own time or money to assist the poor.
Why is everyone making such a big deal about the total square footage of Edwards’ buildings???
29,000 sq.ft. is pretty big either way, but…
The house is actually only about 11,000 sq. ft.
Another 16,000 for the “Barn”, which houses some courts, pool, etc… for recreation + about 2,000 of the passageway to connect the house to the barn. The barn is just a big building big enough for a couple of courts and a pool. (250ft X 64ft= 16,000 sq. ft.).
This is VERY different than having a 29,000 sq. ft. home.
I’m not defending Edwards for anything he says or does, but as far as his home, it’s not too outrageous. (Maybe only the 2000 sq. ft. of passageway… come on…)
By comparison, Bill Gates’ home (living space) is 50,000 sq. ft. + 16,000 sq. ft. of garage and outbuildings. It is valued at around $130,000,000 (yes 130 million).
11,000 sq. ft. home: not that outrageous.
16,000 sq. ft. rec. center: nice if you can afford it.
2,000 sq. ft. passageway: a little over the top.
Get over it.
Elizabeth Edwards is John Edwards Wife…
Meet Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential hopeful John Edwards. Read her biography and see photos and a video of her below.
Elizabeth Edwards
Elizabeth Edwards was conspicuous by her absence at her husband’s side when he endorsed Bara…