Clintons buy $2.85 million Washington house

Clintons buy $2.85 million Washington house
Deborah Charles

Washington, Dec 30: President Bill Clinton andSen.-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday sealed a deal to buy a $2.85 million house in Washington and secured a bank loan worth nearly $2 million to help cover the cost, the White House said.

The Clintons signed a contract for the house in theObservatory area of northwest Washington on Friday, the White House said in a statement. They are financing the house with a $1.995 million loan from Citibank.

The Clintons will make a 30-percent down payment on thehouse they are buying from a couple who are registered Republicans, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday editions.

The five-bedroom house, which includes a study and anoffice, was built in 1951, has approximately 5,500 square feet (511 square metres) and sits on one-third of an acre (0.13 hectare) of land.

The house sits on a secluded dead-end street near the U.S.Naval Observatory, the site of the Admiral's House, home to the U.S. Vice President, the Post reported. The newspaper described the neighborhood as "reserved" and said the Clintons will be moving to a stately block that is home to diplomats, the wealthy and the well-connected.

The Clintons' new home is across the street from the RoyalDanish Embassy, down the street from the Italian Embassy and near the embassies of Great Britain and New Zealand, according to the Post.

Clinton friend Vernon Jordan lives two blocks away.Businessman and Republican fund-raiser Wayne Berman and former Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady, also a Republican, are neighbors on the Clintons' street, the Post said.

Berman told the Post he would certainly welcome theClintons to the neighborhood. "It's fun and fascinating and interesting, and it's going to improve security on the street, not that that's an issue," he said.

The first couple, who will move out of the White House whenClinton leaves office on Jan. 20, have been searching for a home in the nation's capital to serve as Mrs. Clinton's residence while she is a U.S. Senator from New York.

In the statement the Clintons thanked everyone who helpedin their house search.

"We particularly want to thank the homeowners and brokerswho have been so kind to us during our search," the Clintons said in the statement.

Mrs. Clinton wants the house as a residence and toaccommodate researchers for her memoirs of her years as first lady.

The Clintons in 1999 bought a $1.7 million home inChappaqua, New York, which allowed the first lady to establish residency for her successful run for the Senate.

As Clinton noted in a news conference on Thursday, his wifeneeded a place to live in Washington.

"She needs an address, and I'D Like to have some place tocome see her," he said.

When asked if he could afford it, Clinton said: "Well, Ihope so. You know, I'M Going to go out and go to work."

Clinton is expected to use the Chappaqua home as his mainresidence, and he will commute into an office in New York.