The Vice Presidents have lived in this house since 1975. Bild: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
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The US Vice President and America’s first “second gentleman” live in Washington
They are an unusual couple in several ways: Kamala Harris and Douglas Emhoff. The new Vice President of the USA makes her husband the first “second gentleman” in the country with her office in which she is the first woman. But what doesn’t change for them: Like many of their predecessors, they will live in the house at Number One Observatory Circle.
The house, built in 1893, is on the site of the “United States Naval Observatory”, a research institute of the US Navy. It has been reserved as a residence for the Vice Presidents since the 1970s after it became too expensive to adequately protect them in their private homes.
Tower room, veranda and of course a pool
Harris and Emhoff have a generous 850 square meters at their disposal, spread over three floors. The house is decorated with verandas and tower rooms – and surrounded by a twelve-hectare property. The choice of places to stay is large outside and inside: 15 rooms for living, sleeping and working are available, plus a fitness room, a pool and a golf course.
How Emhoff understands his role, he made clear in a double interview with his wife last Sunday: He will do everything in his power to support the new government. For him, this also meant that he had been resting his work as a lawyer in Los Angeles since the election campaign and was now moving to Washington with his wife. After all, there was no problem with finding an apartment.
A photo from the entrance area from 2016, when the current President Biden lived here as Vice President. Bild: Katherine Frey / The Washington Post/via Getty Images
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It was clear early on that he would support Kamala Harris on her biggest project to date: Doug Emhoff campaigned for Harris and Joe Biden and supported his wife on social media with family photos and encouraging messages. After Harris learned of the election victory, Emhoff tweeted a photo of their embrace with the words: “So proud of you.”
Support during the election campaign → here in January 2021 Bild: Hearst Newspapers / San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N
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“I’m too old to play games. I really like you”
The two 56-year-olds met in 2013. She is single and Attorney General of California, divorced father of two and an attorney in Los Angeles. The first date was arranged by a friend of Harris. “She’s hot,” was his reaction to the suggestion, as he recalled in an interview. After the first dinner he sent Harris a list of his free appointments for the coming weeks. “I’m too old to play games. I really like you,” he wrote. They were closely married in the Santa Barbara courthouse about a year later.
A reading corner in the Vice President’s domicile. Bild: katherine frey / the washington post/via getty images
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Seven years after the wedding, this residence will now be the couple’s home after a few cosmetic repairs. If they ever find time to read or swim, they have the opportunity.
Not just a pool, but a pool with a fountain. Bild: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
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The veranda in the new home of the Vice Presidents. Bild: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images
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Campaign selfie in August: the man at your side. Bild: Getty Images North America / Alex Wong
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Douglas Emhoff was born in New York and grew up in neighboring New Jersey. His father designed women’s shoes. In his teen years he moved to Los Angeles – and stayed there. After studying at the University of Southern California, he worked as a lawyer in the entertainment industry, among other things. As Harris’s election campaign got underway, Emhoff left his job at the law firm DLA Piper to avoid any conflict of interest.
(andi / dpa)
