Imelda Marcos decided to build a mansion on top of Mount Sungay, which was at that time land owned by the government. The summit before was used by the Bureau of Air Transport as a radar station. Construction in the mansion began in 1981, and the work was a difficult due to the height of the summit. Roads were built specially for this purpose enabling supplies to reach the summit of the 2,500 ft Mount Gonzales. The mountain was leveled by bulldozers, and farmers living on the mountainside were asked to relocate. Construction of the mansion was hastened when US President Ronald Reagan announced his intention to visit the Philippines in November, 1983. It was reported that the Marcos administration planned to accommodate Reagan at the then-completed mansion.