Donald Trump’s pick for education secretary lives in a home with a convention center and tennis club. His choice for army secretary once listed his Manhattan mansion for nine figures, and the adviser chosen to oversee affordable housing policy soaks in a bathtub flanked by corinthian columns.
The incoming U.S. president and his children own a well-publicized network of multimillion-dollar personal residences across New York City—holdings befitting a family fortune built on real estate and development.
But Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks, shaping up to be the wealthiest administration in modern American history, have massive mansions, vacation properties and extravagant in-house amenities that make even the president-elect’s Fifth Avenue penthouse look ordinary.
Here’s a look at the mega-mansions where five of Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks live:
Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos
Ms. DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and school choice education activist, and her husband Richard DeVos own many millions of dollars worth of real estate in Michigan and vacation spots like Vero Beach, Florida. The family’s assets are owned under several limited liability companies, according to property records. Among their most valuable homes is their primary residence in Ada, Michigan, appraised by the county at roughly $4 million. It’s a massive estate with its own convention center, a maintenance hangar (presumably for their private airplane), a tennis club, indoor swimming pool and pond, according to property records.
The family has also slowly spread their waterfront real estate holdings on South Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan, including two new mansion lots connected by a bridge over a small creek. Together, the two neighboring estates have a combined assessed value of $4.43 million plus a dock with a boat, tennis courts, a pool and more than 25,000 square feet of living space combined, according to city property records.
DEVOS’S SIDE-BY-SIDE LAKE HOUSES IN HOLLAND, MICHIGAN
COMBINED ASSESSED VALUE: $4.43 million
BEDROOMS: 7
BATHROOMS: 12 full and 7 half-bathrooms
FEATURES: Pool, tennis courts, dock with a boat
Secretary of State nominee Rex W. Tillerson
Mr. Tillerson—who made $27.3 million as the chief executive at ExxonMobil in 2015—has surprisingly modest real estate holdings compared to his potential new boss. The Texas native and his wife, Renda, own at least five properties in the Lone Star State, with a combined market value of roughly $7.5 million, according to property records. That’s less than a three-bedroom unit at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
The priciest of the Tillerson Texas properties are a four-bedroom waterfront home in Horseshoe Bay with a boathouse, valued at $3.25 million, and the family’s main residence in Bartonville, which includes its own pond, stables and about 18.5 acres of land, assessed at $2.26 million, county property records show. The family also owns what look like other small investments properties in Lantana and Watauga, as well as a $1.6 million mansion in Ms. Tillerson’s hometown of Fort Worth.
TILLERSON’S SECOND HOME IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS
VALUE: $1.6 million
BEDROOMS: 4
BATHROOMS: 5
FEATURES: Located on Rivercrest Golf Course, 7 fireplaces, guesthouse, private courtyard with a fountain
Secretary of the Army nominee Vincent Viola
Mr. Trump’s pick for army secretary, Vinnie Viola, owns one of the most expensive private residences in New York City, which he tried to sell in 2013 for $114 million, according to property records. The price was later reduced to $98 million and then taken off the market. In a town where the word "spacious" is used to describe a 350-square-foot studio, Mr. Viola’s completely restored townhouse, built in 1884, has 20,000 square feet of space, a home theater with balcony seating, a 23-foot indoor pool, a glittering marble-clad bathroom with stairs to the tub and a library with ceiling frescos that rival those at the New York Public Library’s main branch.
Mr. Viola’s wife, Teresa, bought the home for $20 million under the company, JMT Brothers Realty, according to property records. The couple’s myriad real estate holdings also include a red brick million-dollar home in Chatham Township, New Jersey, and an entire apartment building in Brooklyn Heights, which a company for the Violas bought from the Jehovah’s Witnesses for $105 million, property records show.
VIOLA’S MEGAMANSION ON UPPER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN
LATEST LISTING PRICE: $98 million
BEDROOMS: 7
BATHROOMS: 6 full, 3 powder rooms
FEATURES: Pool, home theater, library, sauna, panic room, period restoration
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Jr.
Mr. Trump’s pick for commerce secretary has been in the news several times for his extravagant homes, most recently when The Washington Post revealed this month that Mr. Ross was in contract to buy a $12 million mansion in Washington, D.C. The limestone Beaux Arts estate built in 1927 has a 12-seat theater, pool, library, separate caterer’s kitchen and staff quarters.
Mr. Ross and his wife, Hilary Geary Ross, also have homes in Southampton, Long Island, and Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Ross bought the waterfront Palm Beach mansion home in 2008 for $13.2 million, according to property records. Beyond the palm trees and a thick privacy hedge, the home has 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and direct access to Lake Worth Lagoon. Mr. Ross’s wife also owns a 7,400-square-foot Colonial Revival mansion in Southampton with tennis courts and a separate pool house appraised at more than $10 million, according to local tax rolls.
ROSS’S WATERFRONT HOME IN PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
PRICE: $13.2 million
BEDROOMS: 12
BATHROOMS: 15
FEATURES: Pool, 20,350-square feet of space, direct waterfront access
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson
Mr. Carson is already brushing up on his (not-so-affordable) housing knowledge with some real estate moves in West Palm Beach. Over the summer, the neurosurgeon and failed presidential candidate bought a one-acre estate on the prestigious Old Palm Golf Club for $4.375 million. Taking some interior design cues from pal Mr. Trump, the new digs have some truly ostentatious details, including his own elevator and a deep tub flanked by corinthian columns.
Meanwhile, he and his wife, Candy, are now selling their old home, also on a private golf club, for $1.2 million. From the pictures of the ornate Mediterranean-style villa, it doesn’t look like Mr. Carson is throwing in the famous portrait of him and Jesus. But the home, built in 1994, does have large windows, 22-foot ceilings, marble floors, built-in shelves, and comes with membership to the development’s golf course and clubhouse.
CARSON’S PRIMARY RESIDENCE IN WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
PRICE: $4.375
BEDROOMS: 5
BATHROOMS: 5 full, 1 half
FEATURES: pool, 8,782 square feet of space, golf course