The White House comes to Tampa! Meet the pharmaceutical multi-millionaire who's built a replica Oval office in his eccentric $7.6 million Florida home
- Multimillionaire Tom Simpson, 68, and his wife, June, 65, have spent the past four years building their dream home
- They decided to build a home that would emulate the lifestyles of the rich and famous that they've met through their medical business, vacation trips and at charity functions
- It includes a 900-square-foot replica of the Oval Office, a sports lounge which has flooring that looks like a baseball infield and a California king bed that they bought from Cher
- Regardless of what you might think of their taste in furnishings, the design of their new home has earned top honors at recent home builders' conferences in Orlando and San Diego
Often when people retire they downsize, but not Tampa-based multimillionaire Tom Simpson, 68, and his wife, June, 65, who saw it as an opportunity to build the dream home they had always wanted.
The couple, have spent the past four years creating Mision Lago, which sits on 11 acres overlooking Lake Thonotosassa near Tampa, Florida. The 24,900-square-foot Spanish-colonial-style house that has been furnished in a style that can best be described as over-the-top.
At the outset, the Simpsons decided to build a home that would emulate the lifestyles of the rich and famous that they've met through their medical business, vacation trips and at charity functions.
His very own Oval Office! Tampa-based multimillionaire Tom Simpson, 68, and his wife, June, 65, have spent the past four years building the dream home they always wanted
The couple's sports lounge has flooring that looks like the infield at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. The lounge also houses Tom's extensive sports memorabilia collection including old seats from Yankee Stadium, a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Shaq's size-22 shoes
The six-bedroom, 12-bathroom resort-style home is stuffed with replicas of Tom and June's favorite things.�/font>
Tom's home office is a 900-square-foot replica of the Oval Office, complete with a duplicate of President John F. Kennedy's desk. Dalí and Picasso originals decorate the hallway outside.
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The couple's 1,500-square-foot home theater has a 160-inch screen underneath twinkling ceiling lights and surrounded by baroque statuettes. Photographs of the Simpsons standing alongside Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Hugh Jackman frame the wall outside of the theater, while the hallway leading up to it is a replica of the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the names of actors etched in stars on the floor.
The couple have a memorabilia Hall of Fame which includes valuable artifacts including Elvis' .38 special, Liberace's stage jacket and John Lennon's newsboy cap.
The home's 20-seat replica of the Tampa Theatre is 1,500 square feet, nearly the size of the average American home
The Simpsons' 25,000-square-foot Spanish-colonial hacienda 'Mision Lago' sprawls across 11 acres on the coast of Lake Thonotosassa near Tampa
The dining room features a wine cellar, hand-painted ceiling and a dozen alligator-skin chairs
There's also a sports lounge which has flooring that looks like the infield at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. The lounge houses Tom's extensive sports memorabilia collection including old seats from Yankee Stadium, a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Shaquille O'Neal's size-22 shoes.
The rest of the house includes a high-end main kitchen, a caterer's kitchen, a dining room, a wine cellar, June Simpson's craft room, and several 'casitas' for overnight guests, reports The Tampa Tribune.
Regardless of what you might think of the Simpson's taste in furnishings, the design of their new home has earned top honors at recent home builders' conferences in Orlando and San Diego.
The couple made their millions building up a small Medicare cost-containment service, Health Advocates, that they sold to pharmaceutical giant AmerisourceBergen for $83 million in cash in 2006.
When the couple first retired they bought a beachfront mansion in Malibu, Florida, but found Tampa was calling them back principally because of their two sons who live there also.
Over the last four years the Simpsons have traveled the country and Mexico to find special items to furnish their home, including a California king bed that they bought from Cher in Malibu.
June Simpsons looks at the 18-foot-tall iron chandelier in the home's main spiral staircase. The 650-pound diamond-shaped chandelier was custom-made with onyx-topped candelabras
An adobe-colored den linked to the master bedroom at Mision Lago offers views from 40 feet up of Lake Thonotosassa
The two-level lagoon pool's gazebo and waterfall are fringed with bromeliad, ginger and exotic plants
Designed by San Francisco architects, the Simpsons' home is valued at $7.6 million. The design was inspired by the Adamson House, an ornate Pacific Coast Highway mansion known as the 'Taj Mahal of tile.'
But according to June Simpson, building your dream home isn't without its downside. 'When we went through hell,' she told Tampa Bay Times about the past four years, 'we did it together.'
She also revealed that the power bill for their behemoth home is $2,000 a month and that they had to install 'S' monograms on the doors of their walk-in shower because Tom kept walking into the glass.
The couple also employ two full-time 'estate managers' to handle all the household chores.
Now that the house is complete, the couple plan to devote more time to charity work.
'This is my way of thanking Tampa for allowing me to be the way I am today,' said June Simpson. 'Everything we did, we were trying to give back.'
The Simpsons plan to open their home to nonprofit and civic organizations in need of space to hold charity events and functions.
Tom Simpson stands near a scale model of the president's ''Resolute desk'' in the home's 900-square-foot recreation of the Oval Office
Better than the real thing? The real Oval Office and the desk where President Obama sits in the White House
The design of the Simpson's home was inspired by the Adamson House, an ornate Pacific Coast Highway mansion known as the 'Taj Mahal of tile'
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