Inside the vice president's official residence, where JD Vance and Usha Vance live
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Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File/AP
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- The vice president's official residence is on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory.
- Different vice presidents have added amenities such as a pool, a jogging track, and a garden.
- The residence may be haunted — Walter Mondale's daughter once said she saw a ghost in her bedroom.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, moved into the vice president's official residence at Number One Observatory Circle with their three children upon taking office in 2025. They're expecting their fourth child, a boy, in July.
The 9,150-square-foot historic home features personal touches and luxury features added by vice presidents over the years, including a swimming pool, a running track, and, most recently, a large chicken coop that reflects the mansion's architectural style. It's also been home to a few ghost stories.
Here's a closer look at the vice president's residence.
The vice president's official residence is located on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.This is a satellite image of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. United States, one of the oldest scientific agencies in the US with a mission to produce positioning, navigation and timing for the US Navy and the US Department of Defense. Collected on April 2, 2012.DigitalGlobe/Getty Images
Established in 1830, the US Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the US, where scientists collect astronomical data for accurate navigation, according to the official website of the Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
The movements of planets and stars are used to accurately provide positioning, navigation, and timing for the Navy and Department of Defense.
Measuring 9,150 square feet, Number One Observatory Circle contains 33 rooms.Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the US Vice President.Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File/AP
The home features six bedrooms, a dining room, a garden room, a study, and an attic.
The home was built in 1893 for the Naval Observatory's superintendent and began housing its chief of naval operations in 1923.Winter view of Number One Observatory Circle, the US Vice President's official residence, in snow, Washington DC, January 17, 1977.U S News & World Report Collection/Thomas O'Halloran/PhotoQuest/Getty Images
Vice presidents used to live in their own homes until Congress devoted funds to refurbishing the home for vice presidential use in 1974, according to the White House.
Number One Observatory Circle became the official vice presidential residence in 1974.1/14/1975- Washington, DC: Mansion on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in NW section of the Capital will soon become home for U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and family. Known by U.S. Navy as "Admiral's House," it was formerly home of the Chief of Naval Operations.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images
President Gerald Ford's vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, hosted events at the home but didn't live there.
In 1977, Vice President Walter Mondale, who served under President Jimmy Carter, became the first vice president to live in the residence full-time.
Mondale's daughter, Eleanor, once called the Secret Service when she said she saw a ghost in her bedroom.Walter Mondale and Eleanor Mondale during Sighting at Jimmy's Restaurant at Jimmy Restaurant in Los Angeles, California, United States.Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Eleanor Mondale wrote in a 1998 issue of Swing magazine that the Secret Service was less than pleased when they found out she had reported a ghost sighting, rather than an intruder.
"I was so scared, I fainted," she wrote, Deseret News reported. "Upon coming to, I phoned the Secret Service Command Post. I whispered that there was a man in my room and hung up. Minutes later, two agents busted into the room, guns drawn. When I told them the 'man' was actually a ghost, they requested that I NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!"
Vice presidents can redecorate the home according to their tastes.WASHINGTON, DC -- CIRCA 1983: U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush at the Vice President's residence circa 1983 in in Washington, DC.David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
Money for maintaining the home, as well as for additions or renovations, comes from private funds or donations to the Vice President's Residence Foundation, which was founded in 1991.
Dick and Lynne Cheney decorated the residence in neutral colors.This photo provided by the White House shows Vice President Dick Cheney bidding farewell to Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, following their visit at the Vice President's Residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.David Bohrer/White House/AP Photo
They enlisted interior designer Frank Babb Randolph to help with the transformation.
The Bidens added pops of color throughout the house, such as "Biden blue" walls in the dining room.WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 28: At the Vice President's residence the dining room is painted Biden blue and photographed October 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Interior designer Victoria Hagan worked with the Bidens to add touches such as green wallpaper to the library and "daffodil yellow" walls in the living room.
The Bidens' favorite room in the home was the Solarium.WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 28: Joe and Jill Biden's favorite room in the Vice President's residence is the Solarium photographed October 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. Every Vice President since Walter Mondale has lived with their families on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory.Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
"I love to go in that room and sit on the couch and grade papers or have meetings," Jill Biden told The Washington Post in 2017. "Often, they put a round table in there and we would have dinner or lunch."
Vice presidents have also added amenities over the years, such as a jogging track, exercise room, and horseshoe pit.U.S. President George H. Bush, along with an unidentified aide and agent jog at the vice president's residence in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 1992. On Thursday, the President will head up to Bethesda Naval Medical Center for his annual check-up.Barry Thumma/AP Photo
George H.W. Bush installed a quarter-mile jogging track at the residence, and he liked it so much that he continued running there even after he became president.
The house features a pool added by Dan Quayle.The Quayle family had the pool installed when they lived at the Vice President's residence which is still open October 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Biden told reporters in 2010 that "no one can say a negative thing about Dan Quayle" because he added the pool to the vice president's residence.
"He's my favorite vice president," Biden said. "And my granddaughters love it."
Joe Biden surprised Jill Biden with a tree swing on the grounds of the residence for Valentine's Day in 2010.WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 28: Vice President Joe Biden surprised his wife, Jill, with a tree swing with a commemorative plaque on a tree on the grounds of the Vice President's residence on Valentine's day in 2010 that is photographed October 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The commemorative plaque reads "Joe loves Jill. Valentine's Day 2010."
Jill Biden added the Family Heritage Garden where stones memorialize all the home's previous occupants and their family members, including pets.Dr. Jill Biden helped create the Family Heritage Garden of the Vice President where all occupants and their family members, including pets, are memorialized on the stone pavers around a fountain as seen October 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. A fiberglass replica of a bronze dog by artist Charles Parks is on loan and wears Champs collar. Champ is the Biden's dog. October 28, 2016.Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The garden also features a bronze sculpture of the Bidens' dog Champ, who died at age 13.
When the Pences moved into the residence, Karen Pence installed a beehive to raise awareness of the declining honeybee population.U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and his wife Mary joined Mrs. Karen Pence to unveil a bee hive on the Vice President's residential grounds in Washington, D.C., June 6, 2017.Preston Keres/USDA
Karen Pence previously kept bees at the Indiana governor's residence, unveiling a hive there in 2014. The hive she added to the vice presidential residence in 2017 held 20,000 bees.
"All types of pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, birds, and bats, are critical to providing our nation's food, fiber, fuel, and medicine," Pence said at the unveiling.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, became the first residents to affix a mezuzah to the door of the home.US Vice President Kamala Harris (2R) and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (R) greet Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (2L) and his wife Louise Araneta-Marcos (L) as they arrive for brunch at the Vice President's residence in Washington, DC, on May 2, 2023.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
In November 2021, the second couple put a white mezuzah — a small scroll of Hebrew text from the Torah in a decorative case — on the right side of the doorway of their residence.
When they affixed the object, which marks the space as sacred and holy, Emhoff's parents came to the ceremony, Harris told Vanity Fair.
"My mother-in-law, Barbara, is very pleased and proud of her son," she said.
Harris and Emhoff also planted a pomegranate tree on the grounds to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel.WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 7: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff looks on before they plant a pomegranate tree at the Vice President's residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory on October 7, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Second couple marked the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel by planting a memorial tree, a tradition done by second families on the grounds of the Vice President 's residence.Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
"For years to come, this pomegranate tree will stand here, spreading its roots and growing stronger to remind future vice presidents of the United States, their families, and all who pass through these grounds not only of the horror of October 7, but of the strength and endurance of the Jewish people," Harris said in her speech before planting the tree. "It will remind us all not to abandon the goal of peace, dignity, and security for all, and it will remind us all to always have faith."
There's rumored to be a secure bunker underneath the residence.The residence on Nov. 11, 2000, when Vice President Al Gore was secluded awaiting developments in the Florida recount.J Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
When loud blasts and construction noises were heard at Number One Observatory Circle in 2002, neighbors complained and received letters that read, "Due to its sensitive nature in support of national security and homeland defense, project-specific information is classified and cannot be released."
The letter sparked rumors that a secure bunker was being built after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
A spokesperson for the US Navy told the BBC in 2002 that the construction was "an infrastructure and utility upgrade."
Newsweek's Eleanor Clift reported in 2009 that Biden revealed the existence of the bunker at an annual Gridiron Club dinner, but Biden's spokeswoman told Fox News that his comments were not reported accurately.
"What the vice president described in his comments was not — as some press reports have suggested — 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 spokeswoman said. "That workspace was converted into an upstairs guestroom when the Bidens moved into the residence. There was no disclosure of classified information."
Vice presidents have more freedom of movement at their residence than presidents do in the White House.Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden host a barbeque for wounded service members from Walter Reed Army Medical Center outpatients and their families at the Vice President's residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, Tuesday, May 25, 2010. The service members currently reside at the Mologne House, which offers housing for patients and their families while they undergo rehabilitation and treatment.Charles Dharapak/AP Photo
Presidents can't just walk out of the White House whenever they want. At One Observatory Circle, though, vice presidents have more space and privacy to live normal lives.
At a CNN town hall in 2021, Biden likened the White House to a "gilded cage."
"The vice president's residence was totally different," he said. "You're on 80 acres, overlooking the rest of the city. And you can walk out, and there's a swimming pool. You can walk off a porch in the summer and jump in a pool, and go into work. You can ride a bicycle around and never leave the property and work out. But the White House is very different."
Harris occasionally hosted gatherings at the official residence.US Vice President Kamala Harris speaking during a breakfast meeting she hosted at her official residence in Washington DC, attended by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as part of his visit to the US for St Patrick's Day. Picture date: Friday March 15, 2024.Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images
Harris welcomed Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to the residence for a St. Patrick's Day breakfast in 2023.
In January 2025, JD Vance and Usha Vance moved into the residence with their three young children: Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel.US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance arrive to greet the Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin and his wife Mary O'Shea for a St. Patrick's Day breakfast at the Vice President's residence in the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC on March 17, 2026. The Irish prime minister arrived in the United States March 13 for an annual St Patrick's Day trip under pressure to talk tough to US President Donald Trump amid the Iran war. (Photo byROBERTO SCHMIDT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The Vances are the first vice presidential family to live at the residence with children since the Gore family in 1993.
They also hosted Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and his wife, Mary O'Shea, for a St. Patrick's Day breakfast in 2026.
In June 2026, the Vances added a chicken coop to the property.A new chicken coop at the vice president's residence.Office of the Vice President
Designed by Carolina Coops, the structure was designed to match the architecture of the Naval Observatory. It was not built with taxpayer funds, a source familiar with the matter told Business Insider.
The chicks will supply the vice president's residence with fresh eggs. Vance joked during a 2024 campaign trail visit to a grocery store that his young children "actually eat about 14 eggs every single morning."
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