The large Spanish-style California Mission Revival Style mansion was modeled after a country home in San Sebastian, Spain and was designed by architect Carl Lindbom.

Around the time Nixon took office in 1969 he asked a young campaign aide, Fred Divel, to search the coast of Southern California for a presidential hideaway.

[3] Divel found the Cotton estate at the southernmost end of the then-sleepy San Clemente and immediately adjacent to the northern border of the massive Camp Pendleton Marine Base (USMC).

[4] Today the almost six-acre (2.4 ha) estate includes about 9,000 square feet (840 m2) of living space, with tile and hardwood flooring, arched doorways and detailed groin-vaulted ceilings.

During Nixon's tenure as chief executive, the home was visited by such VIP guests as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, President of Mexico Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Prime Minister of Japan Eisaku Satō, longtime aide Henry Kissinger and close friend Bebe Rebozo.

Chief Judge George Hart signed an order authorizing that the sworn deposition of Mr. Nixon be taken at the Coast Guard Station in San Mateo, California with two members of the grand jury present.

[8] The Nixons sold their home to Allergan founder Gavin S. Herbert and his business partners and moved to New York City in 1980 before resettling in Park Ridge, New Jersey in 1982.