By Daily Mail Reporter

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A full-scale construction project is underway at Mitt Romney’s $12million lavish beach house - and it's ticking off his new neighbours.

The likely Republican nominee’s vacation home in the La Jolla neighbourhood of San Diego, California, will eventually feature a car elevator and its own lobbyist to add to its incredible ocean view.

But until then, it's a cacophony of hammers and drilling, and those who live nearby have had enough.

La Jolla beach house

Tear it down: Mitt Romney's 75-year-old beach house just isn't big enough. He plans to level it and replace it with a mansion two and a half times the size, featuring a car elevator

An elderly woman who lives next door to the home at 311 Dunemere Drive told The New York Times that her car has repeatedly been boxed in due to the construction.

Neighbours told the paper that as many as six gay couples reportedly live within a three-block radius, which may cause some tension at the next block party.

One couple, Michael Duddy and his partner James Geiger jovially suggested to neighbours that they hang a gay pride flag from the pine tree on their property 'so that Romney’s motorcade has to drive under it.'

Irritated: Michael Duddy and his partner James Geiger disagree with Romney's stance on same-sex unions

Irritated: Michael Duddy and his partner James Geiger disagree with Romney's stance on same-sex unions

Mark Quint, who lives several houses away, told the Times that he's tired of seeing the modest beach houses levelled to make room for sprawling properties.

He told the paper that he fears the 'nightmare of construction.'

The house came under scrutiny back in March, when Romney's political foes made public the plans for the construction project and began wielding them as another claim that the super-rich former Massachusetts governor is out-of-touch with Americans.

Ironically, in 2004 when Romney was governor of Massachusetts, he took a shot at Sen John Kerry, the Democratic presidential contender, over the size of his house.

He told a conference of governors: 'There's a senator of my state who wants to be elected president and I don't know why he'd want to do that, because he'd have to move into a small house,' Romney joked.

Romney, whose wealth is estimated at $250million, is in the process of tearing down the 76-year-old home and replace it with a building more than two and a half times the size.

The plans call for a 3,600-square-foot basement that is - by itself - bigger than the existing home.

Included in blueprints, obtained by Politico.com, are a split-level four-car garage with an elevator for the vehicles.

Romney defended the garage as a way to fit more vehicles into a compact space.

Opposition: Romney's house came under scrutiny in March, when political foes made public the plans for the construction and used them as another claim that he is out-of-touch with Americans

Opposition: Romney's house came under scrutiny in March, when political foes made public the plans for the construction and used them as another claim that he is out-of-touch with Americans

The Romneys will keep the home's outdoor lap pool and add a shower and a 'water feature' (it's unclear what, exactly, this is.)

And to make sure the construction permits and paperwork are shepherded through the San Diego bureaucracy, the project comes with a lobbyist.

Romney has paid $21,500 to San Diego lawyer Matthew A. Peterson to be his liaison to city government and answer questions that city officials might have.

The La Jolla beach house is one of three homes that Romney currently owns.

Protestors

Headache: Critics have seized on the plans for a 'car elevator' as yet another sign that Romney is too wealthy to identify with most Americans

He has a six-bedroom, three story summer home that sits on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, which he bought for $3million in 1997.

With a guest house and a 5,400-square-foot main home, the estate is worth an estimated $10million today, according to the real estate blog Zillow.

In 2010, he picked up a two-bedroom townhouse in the Boston suburb of Belmont.

At a mere $895,000 for 2,100 square feet, the Romneys reportedly keep it to maintain their residency in Massachusetts.