JD Vance, 40, is making history as the second-youngest vice president in American history — and leaving behind his sprawling Cincinnati digs to do it. The Ohio native is trading his five-bedroom, 4.5-bath, 6,400-square-foot home for Washington, D.C.’s storied Vice Presidential residence.
Vance and his wife, Usha, 39, are moving into the six-bedroom, 9,150-square-foot Queen Anne-style mansion on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory. The house, named the official VP residence in 1974, has hosted seven other vice presidents before him, according to the White House.
Set on 12 acres of the 72-acre observatory, the white, three-story mansion features a wraparound porch, green shutters, a turret, and a blue roof. Built with brick and wood, it’s a picturesque spot for the new VP to call home.
The ground floor has a dining room with a fireplace, pantry kitchen that was redone by Vice President Dick Cheney’s family, a reception hall with a fireplace, a living room with rounded outset, a sitting room, two lounges and a garden room, plus a garage, according to a floor plan at WhiteHouseMuseum.org, which is not affiliated with the US government.
The second floor has two bedrooms, an office and a den, and the third floor has four additional bedrooms. The kitchen and staff quarters are on the basement level. It is also rumored to have a bunker, according to the book “Number One Observatory Circle” by Charles Denyer.
The house is filled with art, including studio pottery made by Joan Mondale (wife of Vice President Walter Mondale) and art on loan from museums including Helen Frankenthaler’s “Lush Spring,” Andrew Wyeth’s “Siri” and western paintings by George Catlin, according to White House archives.
The backyard has a vine-covered gazebo, a heated swimming pool installed by the Cheneys and a pool house, according to pictures on the White House Museum website. A tree plaque reads “Joe loves Jill, Valentine’s Day 2010,” courtesy of now-President Joe Biden. Biden also installed the Family Heritage Garden of the Vice Presidents in 2012, which includes the names of the families (and pets) who have lived there.
DC architect Leon E. Dessez built the house in 1893 for the superintendent of the US Naval Observatory. It cost only $20,000, according to Denyer, which is the equivalent of about $575,000 today, according to inflation calculators.
The chief of naval operations soon commandeered the house as his own home in 1923 because “the house was so lovely,” according to the White House website. Since then, millions of dollars in renovations have been poured into the house, raised in part by the Vice President’s Residence Foundation, created by Vice President Dan Quayle in 1991.
Vice President Kamala Harris spent $458,597 on home renovations, art, and other improvements in 2024, tax records show.
The house was made the official residence of the vice president when housing prices near DC began to be a burden to vice presidents during Richard Nixon’s term.
Residents including the Mondales, the Gores and the Bushes have expressed what a treat it was to live in the house, with Al Gore’s wife, Tipper Gore, calling it an “amazing place,” according to Denyer’s book.
