Mitt Romney to upgrade La Jolla mansion

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s Southern California mansion is slated for a substantial upgrade.

The GOP presidential hopeful has owned an oceanfront home worth $12 million in La Jolla — on the northern edge of San Diego — since 2008.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Romney has filed an application to bulldoze the existing one-story, 3,009-square-foot home and replace it with a two-story, 11,062-square-foot structure.

A Romney campaign official said the reason for nearly quadrupling the size of the home was to make room for the couple’s five married sons and 16 grandchildren. The official said the renovations would not begin until permits have been issued and the campaign was over.

If you’re having trouble picturing just how much space 11,062 square feet is, Vanity Fair has compiled a tongue-in-cheek list of “large things that could fit inside Mitt Romney’s new house.” Among them: the Memphis-area Rent-a-Car Facility, or, for a zoological comparison, the world’s largest whale.

Romney, who this month disclosed a net worth of between $190 million and $250 million, also owns a town home near Boston and a lakefront compound on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee, valued at about $8 million.

The Times’ Maeve Reston reported in July that the Romneys have steadily made additions and improvements to the New Hampshire property since its purchase in 1997, including adding tennis courts, a $250,000 boat house and additional bedrooms.

melanie.mason@latimes.com