Vice President JD Vance, his wife Usha, and their three children have officially moved to the historic Vice President’s residence at One Observatory Circle after the 2025 inauguration.
To the Vance family, the house is a new chapter. “My kids are settling in, and I just want to say thank you to the American people. While we don’t own this property, it’s a beautiful home for our little family, and we’re grateful to take good care of it,” Vance said on X.
My kids are settling in to the Vice President’s official residence, and I just want to say: thank you to the American people.
Advertisement · Scroll to continueWhile we don’t own this property, it is a beautiful home for our three little kids. We are grateful, and will take good care of it.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 23, 2025
While President Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term, Vice President Vance started settling into One Observatory Circle nestled just over two miles from the heart of American governance at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Inside The Vice Presidential Resident
The vice president usually resides in the fourth quadrant of Washington, DC. The address is 1 Observatory Circle, a large, opulent home that occupies 9,000 square feet.
President Jimmy Carter’s vice president, Walter Mondale, was the first one to move to the vice president’s residence in 1977.
Notable features in the residence are a sunlit solarium, a heated outdoor pool, and a library. Its richly forested surroundings provide the utmost privacy and serenity, all within the hubbub of Washington, D.C. With 33 rooms, it provides spaces for both public events and private family life.

The dining room of the Vice President’s residence is a space for both formal gatherings and personal intimate gatherings.
The interior of the house changes with each administration, reflecting the personal tastes and cultural influences of its occupants. For instance, Vice President Kamala Harris brought elements of her Indian and African heritage into the space, while the Bidens often spoke of their fondness for the solarium, calling it their favorite retreat within the house.
Constructed in 1893 and originally intended for the superintendent of the Naval Observatory, the building is located at Number One Observatory Circle in the District of Columbia. Designed in Victorian style by architect Leon Dessez, the house later became the home of the chief of naval operations in the 1920s before its designation as the vice president’s residence in 1974. Congress undertook this transformation to provide vice presidents with secure, official housing after years of them living in private homes.
One Observatory Circle, apart from being a residence for the VP, is often used as an event venue. It has witnessed the vice president entertain foreign dignitaries, heads of other countries, special guests, and many others who come to America. For example, Joe Biden is said to have spent Thanksgivings with the wounded warriors; Mike Pence entertained the St. Patrick’s Day revelers. The VP uses the three-story home as both an office outpost and a roost. Former vice presidents have occasionally invited dignitaries and world leaders to stay on the grounds, such as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In addition to the residence, Vice President Vance will have offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located adjacent to the West Wing on the White House grounds. This arrangement ensures that the vice president remains closely integrated with the president’s administration while also maintaining a distinct role.
I was today’s years old when I learned the Vice President doesn’t also live in the White House but instead, lives on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/d9BhU9Kkrj
— Brittany’s Strangely Optimistic (@MissBeeBright) January 20, 2021
A dense green forest that serves as a good buffer against the noise of nearby Massachusetts Avenue is located next to the 73-acre plot. One of the nation’s oldest scientific institutions, the observatory has been essential to the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense’s navigation, timing, and positioning. The renowned marvel of accurate timekeeping, the atomic clock, is also housed there.
However, the land’s history predates the observatory because it was previously owned by Margaret C. Barber, who owned 34 enslaved people on the land before the beginning of the observatory.
JD Vance and his family now join a distinguished list of former residents, including George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and others who have made this house their home in the course of their duties as the second-highest officeholders in the land.
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