View source for Walker's Point Estate

{{sources|date=April 2025}}
{{short description|Building complex}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{coord|43.3433|-70.4594|display=title}}[[File:Bushhaus1.JPG|thumb|right|The Walker's Point Estate]]
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|lat        = 43.3433
|long       = -70.4594
|caption    = Location in [[Maine]]
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[[File:Bushhaus2.JPG|thumb|right|The large central house (2007)]]
[[File:Walkers-point.aug2008.jpg|thumb|right|Checkpoint on Ocean Avenue]]

'''Walker's Point Estate''' (or the  '''Bush compound''') is the summer retreat of the [[Bush family]], in the town of [[Kennebunkport, Maine]]. It lies along the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in the [[northeastern United States]], on Walker's Point.  The estate served as the [[Summer White House]] of [[George H. W. Bush]], the 41st [[president of the United States]].

Walker's Point juts out into the ocean in southern [[Maine]] approximately midway between the cities of [[Portland, Maine|Portland]], Maine, and [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]]. The property was previously known as Point Vesuvius and was home to a Kennebunkport city park called "Damon Park", but has been a Bush retreat for more than a century, starting with Bush's maternal grandfather {{nowrap|and great-grandfather}}, [[George Herbert Walker]] and [[David Davis Walker]].

==History==
The estate was purchased in the late 19th century jointly by Bush's great-grandfather [[David Davis Walker]], and his son, [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] banker [[George Herbert Walker|George Herbert "Bert" Walker]]. Both built mansions on the point in 1902. D. D. Walker's mansion has since been torn down. In 1921, Dorothy Walker and Prescott Bush were married, and Bert Walker built a "bungalow" on the Point and gave it to them as a wedding present. When Bert died in 1953, his son, George Herbert Walker Jr. ("Herbie"), purchased the property from his father's estate. It was not willed to him. Upon the death of Herbie in 1977, the property again went up for sale and was purchased by his nephew, [[George H. W. Bush]]. The estate has since remained in the Bush family.

President Bush spent much of his childhood at the Kennebunkport estate. As an adult, Bush, his wife [[Barbara Bush|Barbara]], and their children [[George W. Bush|George W.]], [[Jeb Bush|Jeb]], [[Marvin Bush|Marvin]], [[Neil Bush|Neil]], [[Dorothy Bush Koch|Dorothy]], and [[Pauline Robinson Bush|Robin]] spent most summers at the estate. The estate has been a backdrop of family weddings, holidays, and receptions. While at the "[[Summer White Houses|Summer White House]]," Bush hosted world leaders including [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] for informal and private meetings. As a young man, Bush relocated to [[Houston]], Texas; eventually the Bushes maintained a working residence in [[Tanglewood, Houston|Tanglewood]], where they spent most of their time.

George H. W. wrote of his memories there to ''[[Portland Magazine]]'' in 1997 after reading the article "Inventing the Campbells".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.portlandmonthly.com/portmag/1997/08/inventing-the-campbells/|title = Inventing the Campbells &#124; PORTLAND MAGAZINE}}</ref> The Campbells were the heirs to the Palm Beach clothing fortune and had a home in the Kennebunks.

Bush's son, the 43rd President, [[George W. Bush]], visited with family in Kennebunkport several times a year during his presidency. His "[[Summer White Houses|Summer White House]]" (also known as the "[[Western White House]]") was the [[Prairie Chapel Ranch]] near [[Crawford, Texas]].

==House and grounds==
[[File:President George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft with Roger Clemens.jpg|thumb|right|Bush (left) inside the home with General [[Brent Scowcroft]] (center) and [[Roger Clemens]] in 1991]]
The estate is situated on a [[promontory]]<ref>Direct family sources.</ref> of land called Walker's Point which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. The large central house, built in the [[New England]] [[Queen Anne Style architecture (United States)|shingle style]], has nine bedrooms, four sitting rooms, an office, a den, a library, a dining room, a kitchen, and various patios and decks. Next to the main house are a four-car garage, a pool, tennis court, dock, boathouse, and guesthouse. There are spacious lawns on either side of the house, on which there is a small sportsfield.

The entrance is gated and guarded by [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] officers, though visitors can see the driveway leading up to the main house and a circular driveway, in the middle of which is a large flagpole flying the American flag.

The home and contents were substantially damaged by a strong series of storms in late October 1991.<ref name="nyt1991">{{cite news |title= 3-Story Waves Heavily Damage Bush Vacation Compound in Southern Maine |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6D71230F932A35752C1A967958260|newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 1, 1991 |access-date=2008-05-08 }}</ref> The damage was estimated at $300,000–$400,000. The president did receive an undisclosed amount in flood insurance, but he chose not to take a deduction for storm damage on his 1991 tax return to avoid a conflict of interest as he was the one responsible for declaring Maine as a disaster area.<ref>{{cite news|title='Millie's Book' Sends Bushes' Income Soaring|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-16-mn-879-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Douglas|last=Jehl|date=April 16, 1992}}</ref>

In 2015, it was reported that [[Jeb Bush]] was building a home on Walker's Point.<ref>{{cite news |title =New cottage at Maine compound for Jeb Bush| url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/05/23/jeb-bush-having-new-house-built-for-him-family-compound-maine-even-prepares-for-campaign/mrVSwhPYkanfgL6nA4fRVK/story.html | newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=May 23, 2015 |access-date=2015-06-30}}</ref>

=== Flagpole ===
When either presidents Bush were present at the compound while in office, the [[Flag of the President of the United States|presidential flag]] was hoisted below the national colors; the flagpole was a popular backdrop for television journalists during the elder Bush's presidency. In addition to the presidential flag, the flag of Maine & the flag of Texas flew on the nautical flagpole.<ref>{{Cite web |title=flags, Walker’s Point, Kennebunkport, Maine {{!}} Notable Travels |url=https://www.notabletravels.com/the-nonantum-resort-kennebunkport-maine/flags-walkers-point-kennebunkport-maine/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.notabletravels.com}}</ref> Although at times, only the American flag would fly, when at half staff.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.wmtw.com/article/video-american-flag-at-walker-s-point-lowered-in-honor-of-barbara-bush/19846164 |title=VIDEO: American flag at Walker's Point lowered in honor of Barbara Bush |date=2018-04-18 |language=en |access-date=2025-04-09 |via=www.wmtw.com}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of residences of presidents of the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Additional sources==
{{commons category|Walkers Point}}
* Bush, George H. W. ''All the Best''
* Kelly, Kitty. ''Dynasty; the true story of the Bush Family''
* [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/briefings/ George W. Bush White House press reports]
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6764809.stm

{{George H. W. Bush}}
{{George W. Bush}}
{{Bush family}}

[[Category:Bush family residences]]
[[Category:Houses in York County, Maine]]
[[Category:Presidential homes in the United States]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kennebunkport, Maine]]
[[Category:1902 establishments in Maine]]