Clintons to Buy House in Washington for $2.85 Million

President Clinton and his wife, Sen.-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), signed a contract Friday to purchase a five-bedroom, brick Colonial home near the Embassy Row area of Washington for $2.85 million.

The Clintons will finance $1.995 million of the purchase through Citibank, a White House spokesman said.

Escrow will close before the presidential inauguration Jan. 20, when the Clintons leave the White House, the seller’s lawyer, Edward Bell, said.

The Clintons already own a home in Westchester County, N.Y., and White House spokesman Jake Siewert said that $1.7-million white Dutch Colonial would remain their primary residence.

The first lady, fresh off an $8-million book deal, needed a place to live in Washington when the Senate is in session.

The Washington home sits on a third of an acre at the end of a secluded cul-de-sac near the vice president’s official residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory. Its bright red door was adorned with a Christmas wreath. “No trespassing” signs dotted the front lawn. Trees screen much of the property from public view.

The 5,500-square-foot home has 7 1/2 baths, a fireplace, a pool and garage, according to a real estate listing. It includes a study and an office and was built in 1951. The listing says the property has six bedrooms, but the White House said Friday there are five.

The Brazilian, Danish and Italian embassies are nearby.

The home had been listed at $3.5 million. It was assessed at $1.1 million in 2000, and property tax bills were $10,671, records show.

The home’s current owner is Joseph W. Henderson, a registered Republican and general partner of Alder Branch Realty, a Washington investment group.

Henderson and his wife, Lucia, lived in the house for 20 years, Bell said.

“They are very private people, but they really enjoyed their home over the years and they wish the Clintons the best there,” Bell said.

Bell called the deal standard, although he allowed that it was “the first one I’ve done where the Secret Service were involved.”

Last year, the Clintons bought a five-bedroom home in Chappaqua, N.Y.