By Sarah Paynter

Outside Tampa, Fla., a lakefront estate with a life-size replica of the Oval Office is going on the market for $23.6 million.

The oval-shaped space -- furnished with a copy of the Resolute Desk -- was the brainchild of the home's history-loving longtime owner Tom Simpson, according to his wife, June Simpson. "It was just something he wanted," she said. "It made him happy." The house, which the couple built for about $18 million in 2012, also contains Tom's vast collections of baseball memorabilia and signed guitars.

June is selling the 22-acre estate after Tom, who had Parkinson's disease, died at age 79 in 2024. "Walking through this house, as beautiful as it is, it's got so many wonderful memories, but I just can't do it," she said. "I just can't."

The six-bedroom, roughly 25,000-square-foot home sits on Lake Thonotosassa in the affluent Tampa suburb of Thonotosassa, said listing agent Karen L. Hegemeier of Premier Sotheby's International Realty, who has the listing with colleague Paul DeSantis.

The Simpsons sold their Tampa-based company, Health Advocates, to AmerisourceBergen for $83 million in 2006, and bought the land in Thonotosassa a few years later. They bought most of the land around 2008, but June said she doesn't recall the price. They chose the lakefront property in part so June could have more space for gardening, but much of the home's interior was designed for Tom's collections. One room is dedicated to baseball memorabilia, with a rug that looks like a baseball-diamond, vintage Yankee Stadium seats and display cases for his keepsakes. Tom, an Atlanta Braves fan, hosted parties for 30 to 40 people in the room, which cost about $150,000 to build.

Next to the baseball room is Tom's favorite room: a 20-seat, 1,500-square-foot replica of the Tampa Theater. Tom enjoyed classical music and opera, and the room was often the site of fundraisers for the Tampa Theater, where their son is on the board of directors, June said.

One of the home's hallways, which they call a "Walk of Fame," displays collectible guitars used by The Beach Boys and Aerosmith. On the floor are stars containing the names of celebrities the Simpsons have met, including Lady Gaga, Elton John, Tom Hanks and Cher.

The home's Oval Office is about 900 square feet. The desk, just one of the historical replicas in the room, was used in the movie "National Treasure," June said. Each year, the Simpsons put up a Christmas tree in the room decorated with the annual official White House ornaments.

The estate also has an indoor "lagoon" with a waterfall. The estate has served as a soap opera set and an event space for the U.S. Navy Seals. During the Seals event, the service people pretended to kidnap her son and used guns and dogs to re-enact a rescue, she said. "It was unbelievable," said June.

Living at the house was a "wonderful, wonderful experience" for the couple, she said. When the house is sold, she plans to stay in the area.

The estate is also available for sale in pieces. The price is $18.9 million dollars for the main house on 14 acres, and $4.7 million for the remaining 8 acres, which includes the barn and a greenhouse.

The priciest home sale in the Tampa area to date was Derek Jeter's $22.5 million sale in 2021, said DeSantis. The frequency of luxury transactions in the area has increased so far this year compared with the same time last year, said Hegemeier, who said the volatility of the stock market is prompting wealthy buyers to pay all cash for real estate.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2025 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT)

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