No governor's mansion in Atherton No governor's mansion in Atherton (November 26, 2003)

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

Newspapers from San Francisco to Montreal have been abuzz with rumors that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking to relocate his family from Santa Monica to bucolic Atherton.

Local residents say they've heard that First Lady Maria Shriver has been househunting in town -- exact locations vary widely, depending on who is recounting the tale -- but now the Sacramento Bee has weighed in, debunking the rumor.

According to Bee reporter Bob Shallit, aides to the new governor say the Schwarzeneggers are searching for new digs in Sacramento, not in Atherton.

While commuting from Atherton to the state capital is not unheard of -- state controller Steve Westly does it -- the flight isn't much shorter than that from Santa Monica and it's still a pretty long drive to Sacramento, no matter how well equipped one's Humvee happens to be.

While Sacramento was denounced as a "cow town" in the press, Atherton has fared little better in the adjective department. It's a "chi-chi peninsula town" according to the Sacramento Bee, a "high-rent town near San Francisco" according to Montreal's Gazette and most damning of all, the Modesto Bee described it as a "suburb of Palo Alto."

The whole affair is reminiscent of the rumors that gripped Woodside residents a few years back that had Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (pre-messy divorce) shopping for property. That story turned out to be the invention of prankster raconteur Jamis MacNiven, who owns Buck's restaurant.