It's been some time since I read that, but I'll try to find it. I was just amazed at the ambition and cost of the whole thing....he must have made a pile on resaling his DC house and/or have a humongous mortgage. (Is Hugh McAll of Bank America his friend?)
December 27, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - White House hopeful John Edwards is playing to the poorest people in America to propel his presidential bid while living in the lap of luxury on a North Carolina estate that makes the famed Kennedy compound look like a seaside cottage.
The megarich Edwards, worth upwards of $30 million, is slated to use the very symbol of American blight as a political prop to announce his candidacy tomorrow: the Lower Ninth Ward of Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.
It's a far cry from his new Shangri-La nestled amid soaring Carolina pines on a 100-acre estate outside of Chapel Hill.
"It's one thing to be a millionaire, but it's totally tone-deaf to be using Katrina victims while you're putting the finishing touches on your multimillion-dollar mansion," said one Democratic operative.
Edwards' posh estate is a work in progress, with a recently completed 10,700-square-foot main mansion as its centerpiece.
The $3.1 million ritzy pad sports 10 rooms, 61/2 baths, two garages, a huge country kitchen with hardwood floors, and sweeping verandas to soak in the view of the verdant pasture.
Two other residences - one for 22-year-old daughter Cate and one for visiting friends and family - are already under way, according to Orange County, N.C., property records. A two-story, 6,366-square-foot mini-mansion is about 70 percent complete.
The $570,000 house will have two bedrooms, four bathrooms and a fireplace. A smaller, $193,000 building with 2,817 feet of space is about 95 percent complete. Edwards is also building a $30,000 pool house.
The 1,180-square-foot fun-and-sun building is about 85 percent complete, according to Orange County, N.C., property records. And land records show the estate will be growing again soon.
A "recreational building" is slated to be built on the property in the future.
Edwards, who made his fortune as a personal injury lawyer, says he is ready for the inevitable questions and criticism of his wealth and elaborate estate.
"If you're in public life, people will be critical of you because of the way you walk, because of what you eat, because of the way you talk, like this Southern accent I've got. You know, you can't worry about stuff like that," he told CBS News.