Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to make his big San Diego house even bigger.

Romney filed an application with the city to bulldoze his 3,009-square-foot, single-story home in the affluent San Diego neighborhood of La Jolla, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. He wants to replace it with a two-story, 11,062-square-foot house.

Romney originally purchased the oceanfront house and half-acre lot for $12 million, according to the real estate Web site Curbed.com.

I wanted to be where I could hear the waves, he told reporters last year, the Union-Tribune reported. As a boy we spent summers on Lake Huron and I could hear the crashing waves at night. It was one of my favorite things in the world.

Romney's campaign people told Politico that the project would not start while he is a presidential candidate.

Construction will not begin until the permits have been obtained and the campaign is finished, an official said, Politico reported. The official also said that Romney's large family is a reason for the new house.

They want to enlarge their two-bedroom home because with five married sons and 16 grandchildren it is inadequate for their needs, the official said, according to Politico.