Presidential Real Estate

With the presidential inauguration less than a week away, we thought it would be fun to throw in some presidential real estate. While just about everybody knows who lives in the White House, we wondered where exactly does the Vice President get to live?

He doesn't get his own wing of the White House and he certainly doesn't have to sleep on the couch either. Vice president elect, Joe Biden will get to live about 2.8 miles from the White House at Number One Observatory Circle on the corner of 34th Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Washington DC located on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory.

Originally built in 1893 for the superintendent of the observatory, it later became the official residence of the Chief of the Naval Observatory in 1928 and because of this it is sometimes still referred to as the "Admiral's House".

In 1974, Congress designated the house as the official temporary residence for vice presidents. Before this, the vice president lived in temporary houses and hotels but the cost of providing security for these private residences had become quite prohibitive.

We think this brick walled Queen Anne Victorian style home is much more fitting for the vice president.

The 9150 square foot, three story home consists of:

• Ground floor -- a reception hall, living room, sitting room, sun porch, dining room and small pantry
  
• Second floor -- two bedrooms, a study, and a den.


• Third floor -- the attic which was originally servants' quarters and storage space.


• Basement -- kitchen, laundry room and other storage rooms

The home has undergone many changes throughout the years. It was originally a terracotta brick colored Victorian with warm putty gray wood trim, window frames and mullions. The wooden porch was painted in a combination of the same putty gray color and white while the shutters were painted a contrasting olive green.

The home in 1895.

Historically when Victorian style architecture began to fall out of fashion, many attempts to update the homes were made by trying to simplify them with white paint both inside and out. Many homes of this period had their beautiful wood millwork painted white to lighten them up. In 1961, the exterior of the house was painted white and remains white to this day while each vice presidential family has put their own stamp on the interior decorations.