President George H. Bush's boyhood home
Ronald Reagan's boyhoos home
Jimmy Carter's boyhood home
The house looks (and sounds) to be in the 2000 square foot range (possibly 2500 s.f., but that would be a big stretch). That works out to somewhere in $700 to $900 per foot range.
I do a lot of work with very high end new home builders and $500 per foot is at the high end of high end custom homes. However, the products that add so much to the cost of custom homes (audio-video equipment, commercial style appliances, exotic wood floors, granites and marble, etc.) did not exist in the 1950's. This house would have had vinyl floors, wall-to-wall carpet, Formica counters, standard bathroom fixtures, etc. The cost to build a house like this from the ground up would be under $100 per square foot.
Somebody really ripped-off whoever was paying for this.
All President's birthplaces, homes are restored for Historical purposes. It is not restored just for a place for someone to live in , but as a museum, that means there has to be a place for visitors to go to the restroom, to buy gifts, to buy food. It is not just the home itself. Even Bill Clinton's former homes are restored..WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? DID IT COST YOU ANYTHING?
President George H. Bush's boyhood home
Ronald Reagan's boyhoos home
Jimmy Carter's boyhood home
It was restored as a museum not a home for someone to live in -- did they ask you for the money?
I, for one, think it is neat and the next time I am in Midland, I will visit.
It's 1800 sf.
The cost was not so much the restore (although restoring the knotty pine was darn expensive, as was locating some period items), but the add-ons to make it a viable public space:
ADA compliance (think wide doorways)
Parking
Place for park ranger
Etc.
"This house would have had vinyl floors"
This house had hard wood floors. The original floors were, in fact, restored, as were the knotty pine walls.
I bet there's more security in this house than ANY upscale house on the market. That probably represents much of the cos.