Inside the vice president's official residence, where JD Vance and Usha Vance live

• 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.

When the Pences moved into the residence, Karen Pence installed a beehive to raise awareness of the declining honeybee population.

There’s rumored to be a secure bunker underneath the residence.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”