Number One Observatory Circle

Early history house in 1895; built of terracotta brick, it was unpainted until 1960 The house at One Observatory Circle was designed by architect Leon E. Dessez and built in 1893 for $20,000 (equivalent to $ in ) for the use of the superintendent of the Naval Observatory who was the original resident. It was built on of land which had originally been part of a farm called Northview, which the Navy purchased in 1880. The Naval Observatory is located from the White House and directly to its south is the British Embassy. The observatory was moved from Foggy Bottom to its present location the same year the house was completed and 12 observatory superintendents lived in what was then known as ''The Superintendent's House. In 1928, with the passage of Public Law 630, Congress appropriated it for the chief of naval operations, and in June 1929, Charles Hughes became the first resident of what became known as Admiral's House''. For the next 45 years, it served as the home of admirals such as Richard Leigh, Chester Nimitz, and Elmo Zumwalt. In 1966, the House Public Works Committee approved the construction of a three-story vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory. A month later, President Lyndon B. Johnson suspended construction until the economy improved; construction never restarted. The 1974 renovation replaced and updated building systems and increased the size of several rooms by removing internal walls. As a part of this renovation, the interior trim was painted white, and the walls had a palette of mostly neutral colors. Little consideration was given to historic preservation with interior or exterior spaces. No attempt was made to restore any interior space to its appearance at the period of construction or early use. The 1961-era white paint on the exterior was retained. Second-floor shutters, which appear in an 1895 photograph, were reinstalled. and Second Lady Joan Mondale host President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1977 The house formally opened as the vice presidential residence in September 1975. Vice President Gerald Ford would have been the first resident if President Richard Nixon had not resigned, leaving the White House to Ford. The new vice president Nelson Rockefeller chose to live in his larger private home instead and used Admiral's House only for entertaining. In January 1977, Walter Mondale became the first vice president to live in the house, and it has served as the home of every vice president since. Later vice presidents Instead of building a new vice presidential residence, One Observatory Circle continued to have extensive remodels. In 1976, the Navy spent $276,000 to replace 22 window units with steam heat and central air conditioning; the leaky roof was replaced in 1980 with slate. In 1981, George H. W. Bush and Second Lady Barbara raised $187,000 for carpeting, furniture, and upholstery when they moved in. The next year, the Navy spent $34,000 to repair the porch roof. Repairs to interior and exterior walls damaged by water seepage amounted to $225,000, and $8,000 more was spent to build a small master bedroom. Bush also constructed a horseshoe pit and quarter-mile track around the residence. Dan Quayle delayed his move-in by a month in 1989 for an extensive $300,000 remodeling that included a rebuilt third floor with bedrooms suitable for children, a wheelchair-accessible entrance, and an upgraded bathroom off the vice president's room. In 1991, a non-profit organization, the Vice President's Residence Foundation, was established to raise further funds to redecorate the residence. The Navy, responsible for upkeep on the residence, decided in 1991 that Congress would never build a permanent vice president's residence (ostensibly next door to Admiral's House) and opted instead to remodel and repair the house substantially. Al Gore agreed to delay his move into the house by nearly six months in 1993 to allow for the largest renovation of the house since 1974. The $1.6 million repair job replaced the heating, air conditioning, plumbing, removed asbestos, rewired the house, replaced the ventilation systems, restored the porch, and upgraded the family quarters on the second floor. Vice President Dick Cheney and Second Lady Lynne Cheney's changes to the residence included renovating the upstairs exercise room, redoing the kitchen pantry, and decorating the house in neutral colors. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff moved into Number One Observatory on April 7, 2021. They temporarily resided at Blair House during the renovations as they agreed to move in once the $3.8 million upgrades to the residence had been completed. The repairs consisted of replacing chimney liners, heating, air-conditioning, and plumbing systems. Harris was responsible for having the kitchen remodeled and the hardwood floors refurbished. On October, 2021, Emhoff affixed a white mezuzah to the right-hand side of the doorway of the residence's wooden entryway, which marked the first time an executive home in American history has carried the abiding sign of sanctity of a Jewish home. On November 28, 2021, Harris and Emhoff became the first second couple to light a menorah in the window of the official residence in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah. On April 15, 2022, Harris and Emhoff became the first known second family to host a Passover Seder at the vice president's residence. In 2024, Harris and Emhoff did not invite Vice President-elect JD Vance and the incoming second family to visit the home before moving in. Incoming second lady Usha Vance unsuccessfully sought information about the home from Harris's staff before communicating with Naval officials. Vance was concerned about childproofing the house to accommodate the couple's three young children, all under the age of 7, when they moved into the home in January 2025. File:Vice President and Mrs. Bush at the Vice President's home at the Naval Observatory the day after the VP wins the election.jpg|President-elect George H. W. Bush and First Lady-designate Barbara, after he was elected president on November 9, 1988 File:1OC2003.jpg|Number One Observatory Circle in 2001 File:Joe Biden and Dick Cheney at VP residence.jpg|Vice President Dick Cheney meeting with Vice President-elect Joe Biden, on November 13, 2008 File:Mike and Karen Pence having lunch with Jill and Joe Biden - 2016.jpg|Vice President Joe Biden and Second Lady Jill meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Second Lady-designate Karen, on November 16, 2016 File:Halloween at the Vice President's Residence 2019 (48995619023).jpg|Halloween festivities during the tenure of Vice President Mike Pence in 2019 File:Donald Trump and Melania Trump Join JD Vance and Usha Vance For Dinner - October 3, 2025.jpg|Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance host President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, on October 2, 2025 == Architecture and decoration ==

Queen Anne style The house is built in the Queen Anne style prevalent in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The Rockefellers twice offered the bed permanently to the house but it was turned down both by Vice President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. On visiting Barbara Bush at the house, Mrs. Rockefeller offered her the bed, and Mrs. Bush responded, "you are always welcome in this house, but there's no need to bring your own bed." The Rockefellers did leave a lithograph called "The Great Ignoramus", several antique Korean and Japanese chests, and nearly a dozen other pieces. Vice Presidents often bring their own furnishings, often for the upstairs rooms, and redecorate to suit their tastes. When the Mondales occupied the house, Joan Mondale introduced more saturated upholstery and wall colors and contemporary art. Like the Rockefellers, the Mondales brought some Asian antiques into the house. The Bush family, working with interior decorator Mark Hampton, used a palette of celadon, lime green, and light blue. The Quayles removed the lime green and used off-white. The Gores oversaw a complete redecoration, the addition of a new dining-room table, new furniture for the library, and a substantial renovation of the grounds and porches to make them more suitable for outdoor entertaining. Immediately before the Cheneys moved in, some needed work on the air conditioning and heating was performed and the interiors were repainted. The Cheneys brought several pieces of contemporary art into the house. Before Vice President Kamala Harris moved in, the Navy refinished the wooden floors and relined the chimneys. Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence added a beehive to the grounds in 2017 as well as a new basketball court. In 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris planted a pomegranate tree at the residence to commemorate the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The 73-acre property is bordered by a dense forest, shielding it from the noise of Massachusetts Avenue. ==Privacy and security==

Privacy Unlike the White House, Number One Observatory Circle and the surrounding Naval Observatory do not offer any public tours. In 2009, recently inaugurated Vice President Joe Biden reportedly revealed the existence of an underground "9/11" bunker beneath the house. Elizabeth Alexander, Biden's press secretary, explained the following day, "What the vice president described in his comments was not—as some press reports have suggested—an underground facility, but rather, an upstairs work space in the residence, which he understood was frequently used by Vice President Cheney and his aides." The Christian Science Monitor suggested that Biden was actually referring to a tunnel which leads to one of the Navy-operated telescopes on the grounds. ==See also==