Almost every person thought that the Vice President used to stay in the White House. But he stays in his official residence known as the Number One Observatory Circle located on the northeast grounds of the U.S naval observatory in Washington D.C. was designed and built-in 1893 by the famous architect Leon. E. Dessez with a budget of $20,000.
The Number One Naval Observatory was built on 13 acres(5.3 ha) of land, which was originally a farm lying about 73 acres( 30 ha) known as Northview. The navy bought them in the year 1880. The observatory was moved from foggy bottom to the new place after the house was completed. As 12 of the superintendents lived there it is popularly known as the superintendent’s house.
Does the Vice President Live in the White House?
- A. Yes
- B. No
In 1974, congress made a new law to make the naval observatory “the official temporary residence of the vice president of the united states”. Before it became the official residence of the vice president, Elmo Zumwalt was the last chief of naval operations to live in the Number One Observatory Circle.
And finally, congress agreed to renovate and refurbish the building with the increased size of rooms and also by removing the internal walls. Interiors were painted white and the walls were painted with neutral colors. And the second-floor shutters were also reinstalled. After all these processes the house was finally opened as a vice-presidential residence in 1975.
Instead of building a new vice presidential residence, they kept on renovating & remodeling the admiral building. In 1976, the Navy spent $276,000 dollars to replace 22 window units with heat and central air conditioning. The bush raised $187,000 dollars for carpeting, furniture, and upholstery.
Gerald Ford would have been the first resident of the house if President Richard Nixon hadn’t resigned. Nelson Rockefeller, the new vice president preferred to live in his private home instead of the admiral’s house rather he used it for entertainment purposes. Walter Mondale was the first vice president to live in the house.
Since then it has served as a home for every vice-president and their families like Bush, Quayle, Gore, Cheney, and Biden. Currently, Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence stayed there. After the September 11 attacks, they planned to build an underground bunker, and in 2011, Joe Biden revealed the existence of a secret underground “9/11” bunker beneath the house.