George W. Romney (1907–1995) became the 43rd Governor of Michigan on January 1, 1963, following his win in the 1962 election. Romney and his wife Lenore made their home in Bloomfield Hills, and at that time the state had not yet established an official governor’s mansion, so they rented this house in order to live closer to the Capitol. He was reelected in 1964 and 1966, the latter to a four-year term due to a change in the state constitution. The Romneys purchased this home in May 1967.
Romney announced his candidacy for U.S. President in November 1967, a run that lasted less than four months before pre-primary polling in New Hampshire showed him running 6-to-1 behind the presumptive nominee, Richard Nixon. After a contentious campaign, President-elect Nixon nominated Romney to be his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He was sworn in on January 22, 1969, and resigned as Michigan governor that same day. George and Lenore Romney moved to Washington, and sold this property in April 1969.
This house was one of three† former homes of Michigan Governors listed as a significant structure by the East Lansing Historic Commission.
- † Editorial: Unlike the other “governor’s houses” noted as Significant Structures by the historic commission—those of Wilber Brucker and George Romney—numerous sources concur that the house at 415 Clifton Boulevard was not Murray Van Wagoner’s residence during his term as governor. In fact, this author has not managed to find a single contemporary source to confirm that he ever even lived there. Under these circumstances, to call it the “Governor Van Wagoner house” is, at best, misleading and anachronistic.↩︎
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