Where Does the Vice President Live?

succession to the nation's highest office. It's a post that's become increasingly important as a source of policy advice and legislative lobbying muscle in presidential administrations. But does it come with an official residence as well? The answer is yes. Since the mid nineteen seventies, the Vice president has had a mansion of his and now her own as well, and though it's not as well known as the White House,

it's pretty fancy and historic in its own right. The Vice President's resident is located on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory, about two and a half miles or four kilometers northwest of the White House. It doesn't have a similarly iconic name, and is often referred to prosaically as the VPR or by using its address Number one Observatory Circle. We spoke with Kyle Copco, an adjunct professor of political science at Elizabethtown College and the author

of two books on vice presidential candidates. He explained it's probably due to the fact that a catchy name simply didn't develop. The White House wasn't originally called that it developed over time. Originally, the White House was called the Executive Mansion, or President's Mansion, or various generic combinations throughout history. In fact, the Presidential Mansion wasn't officially named the White House until nineteen o one. But don't let the nondescript

nomenclature fool you. Number one Observatory Circle, built in three is an ornate, three story Queen Anne style brick Victorian home with nine thousand one square feet that's eight hundred and fifty square meters of interior space. A Cupco said, the demands of the vice presidency and the need for security necessitate a government owned house for the vice president and the second family. The establishment of an official vice presidential residence also coincides with the rise of the offices

informal power. Historically, the office of the vice president was not very powerful, and the vice president mainly assumed ceremonial duties. However that changed over time. Vice presidents now play significant advisory roles overseas policy and assume a variety of responsibilities on behalf of the President. Designed by Washington architect Leon E. Disays and built by Philadelphia based construction firm, the house originally was intended to serve as the home of the

superintendent of the Naval Observatory. According to book by Gail S. Clear, called the House on Observatory Hill Home of the Vice President of the United States. The home was meant to be quote a gracious country house after the style of the time. The ground floor consists of a reception hall, living room, sitting room, sun porch, dining room, and pantry, plus offices that were added on to the homes north side.

The second floor contains two bedrooms, a study, and a den, while the third floor has four more rooms which originally served as servants quarters and storage areas. In the basement,

there's a kitchen, laundry room, and more storage. A dozen observatory superintendents lived in the house from eight to ninety seven, but the mansion was coveted by various officers who held the post of Chief of Naval Operations, and in Congress finally passed a law giving it to the Cieno at the time when Admiral Charles Frederick Hughes, known as Handlebars because of his lush mustache, he moved into the House

the following year. Vice presidents mostly either resided in their own homes, or, as Calvin Coolidge did during the Warring Gy Harding administration, lived in hotels. Coolidge, who became president after Harding's death in n may have been the first to advocate the notion of giving the vice president an official home in keeping with the dignity of the position. Coolidge wrote in his memoirs, the Great Office should have a settled and permanent habitation, and a place irrespective of

the financial ability of its temporary occupant. By the mid nineteen sixties, the expense of outfitting vice presidential residences with adequate security and communications equipment prompted Congress to pass a bill authorizing construction of a new home for the Vice President on a portion of the Naval Observatory grounds at the cost of seven and fifty thousand dollars, which would be about six million in today's money, but as the cost of the Vietnam War escalated, then Vice President Hubert

Humphrey asked that project be delayed as quote an example of prudent budget practices, and the new house was never built. Meanwhile, the government continued to spend a fortune outfitting vice presidential residences. After Richard Nixon picked Gerald R. Ford to replace Spireau Agnew as vice president. When Agnew resigned in nineteen seventy three, construction workers descended upon Ford's home in Alexandria, Virginia to

make extensive modifications, including installation of bullet resistant windows. Those retrofits were only needed for nine months because Ford eventually replaced Nixon as president. Eventually, as Clear's book notes, Congress decided that what was at the time called the Admiral House presented a cheaper alternative. In four Congress passed legislation that took Number one Observatory Circle away from the Ciano

and made it the vice presidential residence. The Ciano was relocated to Tigney House, a nineteen o four Georgian style mansion that stands in the Washington Navy Yard, but the transition didn't occur right away. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller never actually moved into Number one Observatory Circle, though he did use it for official events. Walter Mondale, who moved into the mansion in nineteen seventy seven, was its first vice

presidential occupant. Over the years, various modifications have been made to the vice presidential residence. Dan Quayle, who served as vice president during the George H. W. Bush administration, added a swimming pool. Karen Pence, the wife of Donald Trump's Vice president Mike Pence, added a beehive as a reminder of bees important role in agriculture. After Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice President of the United States in January one, she and her husband, Doug Emhoff didn't immediately

move in. Instead, they temporarily took up residence in Blair House, the presidential guest residence at sixteen fifty one Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, so that repairs and maintenance could be completed. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Haiger and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other curious topics, visit hous to works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. Or more

podcasts my Heart Radio. Visit the i heart radio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.