TED Cruz left his dog at home during a winter storm in Texas while he and his family traveled to sunny Cancun, Mexico.
The property in Houston is estimated to be worth $2.1 million today.
We take a look at the mansion where Snowflake the dog was stranded in freezing temperatures.
The three-story house was built in 1940 and spans 4,142 square feet.
There are five bedrooms and three bathrooms, an outdoor patio with a garden and a BBQ area.
The property features a spacious entryway and a hallway leading to several rooms such as the kitchen and living area.
HOME ALONE
The kitchen, with cream cupboards, has been newly renovated with dark hardwood flooring, chairs and a table.
There are also two armchairs and a small bookshelf by the window.
In the living room, there is a sofa with a big coffee table as well as a smaller table in between two armchairs.
The living area also features two built-in bookshelves with frames of family photos as well as home ornaments.
In the kitchen and living room there are floor-to-ceiling windows which offer a view of the garden.
There is also a more private and formal living area with two sofas, a table and a fireplace.
The master suite comes with two large walk-in closets.
On the third floor, there is an office space as well as a game room.
The outside area features a well-maintained garden and a patio with red brick floors and a barbecue area.
Cruz purchased the home in 2011 for $1.5 million, property records show.
Its value has now gone up to $2.1 million, according to property website Realtor.
The Texas senator has faced intense backlash for taking the Cancun trip but later admitted it was "a mistake".
Michael Hardy, a reporter for New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, said he decided to pay a visit to Cruz’s Houston home in the exclusive River Oaks neighborhood, where he spotted a white dog peering out a pane of glass in the front door.
“Is this Senator Cruz’s house?” the reporter asked a man who stepped out of a vehicle parked in the driveway.
The man, who identified himself as a security guard, said it was and that the Republican lawmaker wasn’t home, the NY Post reports.
When asked who was taking care of the animal, the guard said he was.
“Just drove by Ted Cruz’s house in Houston. His lights are off but a neighbor told me the block got its power back last night. Also, Ted appears to have left behind the family poodle,” he wrote.
Twitter users hit out at the embattled senator over his apparent decision to leave his dog at home.
“Tell me they really didn’t leave that dog home alone,” one person wrote.
Another said: “That pooch deserves better,” another snarled.
“Snowflake has now joined the 99.9 percent of Americans who reportedly can’t stand @tedcruz,” a third person wrote.
Some users tagged the ASPCA and PETA, while others expressed some skepticism about the image.
“Where’s the snow and ice?” one said.
“I don’t think this is really @tedcruz house, where’s the snow?” added another.
“I tried to explain that after two sunny, 40-degree days, the snow and ice had melted, but some continued to insist the photo was fake,” Hardy wrote.
After dashing to a luxury resort in Mexico, Cruz landed back in Texas yesterday and had a police escort at the airport, where protesters held signs stating "24 dead" from the winter storm.
Speaking to reporters outside his house, Cruz admitted he made a mistake and insisted he was "just trying to be a dad."
"It was obviously a mistake and in hindsight I wouldn't have done it," Cruz said.
"I was trying to be a dad and all of us have made decisions – when you've got two girls who have been cold for two days, and haven't had heat or power, and they are saying: 'Look, we don't have school, why don't we go, let's get out of here.''
Asked directly what he was thinking, Cruz replied: "You question what I was thinking, and… I was trying to take care of my family.
"I was trying to take care of my kids. It's unfortunate, the fire storm that came from it.
"It was not my intention – in saying 'yes' to my daughters to somehow diminish all the Texans that were going through real hardship."
The senator later expressed his regret as text messages obtained by The Sun emerged showing his wife Heidi planning the Cancun trip to escape the bitterly cold weather in Texas.
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