The Queen Anne-style home offers privacy and a respite from the hustle and bustle of Washington that is not available in the White House, which is “beautiful and handsome, but you stay above the store,” he said. Dufour said.
The seven vice presidents who lived before Number Harris at Number One Observatory Circle cherished the expansive grounds, and the ability to make the house their own. When the Bidens lived there, they painted the dining room the same blue hue as their home in Delaware, and hung their pieces from the National Gallery of Art.
It has also become a tradition for every new tenant to improve the 128-year-old home. The Cheneys, for example, renovated the kitchenette. The Pences added a beehive. (On Tuesday, an official at Mrs Harris’ office said the bees would remain “absolute”.) And the Bidens added a small garden containing the names of previous residents and their pets, nestled in stones around a fountain is.
“Each person added something to make the home better for the next family,” Jill Biden told The Washington Post as the Bidens, then vice president and second lady, were ready to leave the home in 2017. Most residents hired a designer to help, but me. Harris and Mr. Emhoff has not done so yet.
On Tuesday, an official in the office of Mrs. Harris said the vice president and Mr. Emhoff will “discuss long-term projects” that will include elements of California, where she serves as attorney general and senator, and her cultural heritage. as the first colored woman to hold the post.
Me. Harris’ predecessors often offered personal or official events at home and regularly spoke to people from the area who were concerned with the daily congestion of motor vehicles and the noise of Marine Two flying overhead.
“You have to be aware when you present an event,” he said. Dufour said. “People in the area feel a lot of traffic.”