Gov. Gavin Newsom has always seemed to adore his home state, California, but his feelings about its capital were once lukewarm at best.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so dull,\u201d Mr. Newsom said in 2012<\/a> of Sacramento, a generally pleasant, family-oriented city that lacks the flash of San Francisco or Los Angeles. \u201cSadly, I just, ugh, God.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, with about 130 days left before he is termed out of office, the governor is putting Sacramento behind him by selling his house in the capital region \u2014 or trying to, anyway. He listed his property in Fair Oaks, a suburb, on Monday.<\/p>\n It was another sign that Mr. Newsom is getting ready for his next chapter after running California, which could include a campaign for president.<\/p>\n Mr. Newsom is testing the real estate market with his home sale, considering that his asking price, $7.5 million, would set a record in Sacramento County, according to Ryan Lundquist, a residential appraiser in the region.<\/p>\n That figure is nearly 14 times as much as the $540,000 median sales price for a single-family home in the county.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the same as New York, but this is what luxury looks like here,\u201d Mr. Lundquist said. \u201cThis is a unicorn property, and it requires a unicorn buyer.\u201d<\/p>\n The sprawling home sits on 8.2 acres near the American River, the same waterway where a sawmill discovery upstream in 1848 touched off California\u2019s Gold Rush. It includes 12,000 square feet of living space, seven bedrooms, a four-car garage, a swimming pool, a tennis court and a wine cellar that can fit 5,000 bottles. Animals like owls, goats and rabbits have been spotted there.<\/p>\n \u201cSome homes are beautiful in photographs,\u201d the listing proclaims, \u201cbut this is one you truly have to see with your own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n You cannot do that, though, unless you get past the front gate, the security vehicle and the signs warning \u201cPrivate Property. No Trespassing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Newsoms bought the home in December 2018 for $3.7 million, meaning they hope to nearly double their investment. Willie Brown, who knows Sacramento from having spent three decades there as a state legislator, helped Mr. Newsom find the property. (Mr. Brown, a former San Francisco mayor, is also credited with launching Mr. Newsom\u2019s political career by appointing him to the city\u2019s parking and traffic commission.)<\/p>\n The Newsom family briefly lived in the historic governor\u2019s mansion, an 1877 white Victorian in downtown Sacramento, but moved to the suburbs for something a spokesman described as \u201cmore kid-friendly\u201d<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cWherever the governor lived was important,\u201d Mr. Brown said in an interview on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Asked whether he thinks Mr. Newsom ever came to like Sacramento, he quipped, \u201cI doubt it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. Ronald Reagan lived in the official governor\u2019s mansion briefly in the 1960s before he and his wife, Nancy, left in 1967. For nearly 50 years afterward, all of California\u2019s leaders opted for other accommodations.<\/p>\n Mr. Newsom\u2019s predecessor, Jerry Brown, directed a multimillion-dollar renovation of the governor\u2019s mansion in 2015 and then moved in.<\/p>\n Since leaving for Fair Oaks, Mr. Newsom has mostly used the mansion to host dignitaries and social events. He has spent election nights there watching returns with his political aides and, in recent months, converted one of the rooms into a studio where he records his podcast, \u201cThis is Gavin Newsom.\u201d<\/p>\n The next California governor could be a Sacramento native. Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate, grew up in Sacramento and currently lives there. His spokesman declined to say where Mr. Becerra would live if he won, saying it was a question to consider after Election Day. Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate, grew up in England and now lives in Atherton, in Silicon Valley. If Mr. Hilton wins, his spokesman said, he will keep his family home in the Bay Area and stay in Sacramento when necessary.<\/p>\n