ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : The Annals of Inflation

If former President Richard M. Nixon’s birthplace were on the market in Orange County today, a classified ad might read: “Restored 1BR bungalow w/loft; pantry/canning; bonus rm; large lot w/citrus trees; fireplace; loads of country charm; yours for just $400,000.”

Talk about sticker shock: The house, thought to be a Sears prefabricated model, was built in Yorba Linda by Nixon’s father for $800 in 1912, and cost about $400,000 to restore today. Hey, it could have been worse; imagine the rehab costs if it had been in Newport Beach!

And it would be hard to find a house like it in the current housing market: If a young couple like Frank and Hannah Nixon were starting off in search of 900 square feet of living space, they would have to shell out $160,000 to $180,000 for a similarly sized condominium (yes, a condo, of course) in Yorba Linda.

And it is likely that any other older house located on 1.1 acres of prime land would have been razed long ago for high-priced, custom housing.

Nixon, in an audiotape to be played in the home that will open this week as part of the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace, waxes nostalgic about the angel food cakes his mother used to bake. But if the aroma of home cooking is absent, gone too is an era when a young family of meager means could afford modest housing.