The congressional authorization covered the cost of refurbishment and furnishing the house.īefore that time, the Vice President lived in his own home, but the cost of providing security for these private residences had become prohibitive.Īlthough Number One Observatory Circle was made available to the Vice President in 1974, three years passed before a Vice President lived full-time in the house. It remained the residence of the CNO until 1974, when Congress authorized its transformation to an official residence for the Vice President. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) liked the house so much that in 1923 he took over the house for himself. Located on the northeast grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the house was built in 1893 for its superintendent. Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the Vice President of the United States. The kitchen was placed in the basement, along with a laundry room and other storerooms.A broad porch wraps around the front of the house, photographed during the tenure of Vice President Al Gore. The third floor attic was originally servants' quarters and storage space. The second floor contains two bedrooms, a study, and a den. On the ground floor are a reception hall, living room, sitting room, sun porch, dining room and small pantry, and lavatories added later to the north side. The three-story brick house is compact, 39 by 77 feet (12 m by 23 m), with 9,150 square feet (850 m 2) of floor space. That workspace was converted into an upstairs guestroom when the Bidens moved into the residence." an underground facility, but rather, an upstairs workspace in the residence, which he understood was frequently used by Vice President Cheney and his aides. The vice-president's spokesperson later claimed, "What the Vice President described in his comments was not. Him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by anĮlaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelvesīiden also reportedly said that Cheny's aides often worked on policy in a room in the house. Vice-President Joe Biden was reported to have said that "a young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed In 2002, neighbors of the Naval Observatory reported explosion sounds coming from the house, which many interpreted as the construction of a bunker built to help ensure the security of the vice-president's family in times of emergency. In 1923, the Chief of Naval Operations took the house for himself, and it was used as such until 1974. The observatory itself is still in use by the Navy, but the superintendent lives in another residence. The house was built in 1894 for the superindendent of the US Naval Observatory. As a result, it was Walter Mondale who became the first vice-president to live in the house in 1977. Ford named Nelson Rockefeller as his vice-president, but the Rockefellers already lived in Washington and had no desire to move, so they used the house only for entertaining. Ford never moved in, however, as he was quickly elevated to president when Richard Nixon resigned. The house was designated the official residence of the vice-president in 1974, after Gerald Ford had been named as the replacement for Vice-President Spiro Agnew.
The house at One Observatory Circle in Washington, DC is the official residence of the Vice-President of the United States. One Observatory Circle in 2003 ( Wikipedia)