Vice President Kamala Harris made a quick transition to her new position in Washington, but she and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are not going to settle in their official residence for a while.
That’s because the home of the official VP at the United States Naval Observatory in northwest Washington, DC, is undergoing maintenance ordered by the Navy. Instead, Harris and her husband moved into their temporary homes on Thursday – right in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. Known as the Blair House, the residence serves as the president’s inn.
President Joe Biden stayed at Blair House the night before his inauguration on Wednesday, a pre-inaugural tradition for incoming presidents, which goes back more than 40 years to Jimmy Carter’s term. Since then, he has hosted the Reagans for six nights, the Bushes and their large families, the Clintons for three nights and the Trumps for just one night.
The Obamas faced some problems in 2009 when they planned to move in on January 5, but the house was already reserved for the Australian Prime Minister, so the first family that arrived stayed in a hotel until they could move to Blair. House on January 15.
According to Blair House’s official website, the US government bought the house in 1942 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s insistence that it was necessary for diplomacy during World War II. Now, world leaders and their delegations are staying in the residence that offers 14 rooms, each with a bathroom, three formal dining rooms, two conference rooms, a beauty salon, exercise room and fully equipped kitchen with an executive chef.
From 1948 to 1952, President Harry Truman lived at Casa Blair while the White House underwent a major renovation. The house is part of a larger 60,000-square-foot complex of four connected urban residences that includes more than 120 rooms and a full-time staff of 18 people. During the 1980s, a renovation at Blair House included the addition of immaculate gardens.
The entire Blair House complex is slightly larger than the White House, which comprises about 55,000 square feet with 132 rooms, including 16 family rooms, three kitchens and 35 bathrooms.
The Observatory Number One Circle of the US Naval Observatory is the official residence of the Vice President. It was built in 1893 for the superintendent, but in 1923, the head of naval operations liked the house so much that he moved to it, according to the official website.
Until 1974, vice presidents and their families lived in their own homes, but their security was difficult and expensive, so the observatory’s home was renovated. Vice President Walter Mondale was the first to move when he took office in 1977. Since then, Vice Presidents George HW Bush, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and Mike Pence and their families have all lived in mansion.
The 9,000-square-foot Queen Anne-style house was designed by Leon E. Dessez and is just 2 ½ miles from the White House. It has three floors, six bedrooms, a wraparound balcony and a reception hall. Over the years, vice presidents have added additions, including a track and a swimming pool.
It is unclear when Harris and Emhoff will move into their permanent home. Harris was born in the Bay Area and served as a district attorney in San Francisco and Attorney General of California prior to her election to the United States Senate in 2016. According to a Business Insider report, she and her husband, an entertainment attorney from Los Angeles who put his career on a hiatus to join Harris in the election campaign, owns several properties in California and Washington:
• A 1,000 square foot loft-style condominium in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, purchased by Harris for just under half a million dollars when she became a promoter in 2004.
• A $ 1.78 million two-bedroom condominium in DC, just over a kilometer from the White House, which she bought in 2017 after being elected to the Senate. The residence did not meet the security requirements for an incumbent vice president.
• A 3,500-square-foot house purchased by Emhoff in the exclusive Brentwood area of Los Angeles, the couple’s primary residence.
Kellie Hwang is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @KellieHwang