The Obamas buy Kalorama home for $8.1M

For $8.1 million, former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have purchased a Kalorama single-family home that for many months they were renting.

The eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bath home was previously owned by Bill Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife, Giovanna Gray Lockhart, according to The Washington Post. Lockhart purchased the property in 2014 for $5,295,000.

The home was constructed in the 1920s and renovated and expanded in 2011. With 8,200 square feet of space, the listing offers a fully finished lower level, au-pair suite, and a gated courtyard with enough space for up to 10 cars.

In a statement, Spokesman Kevin Lewis said, “Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property.”

With the multi-million dollar purchase, this causes the Obamas’ Kalorama home to be the second-most expensive home in the Kalorama neighborhood, behind the $23 million former Textile Museum owned by Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post Jeffrey P. Bezos.

Still, the Obamas continue to own a home in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Obama is the first president to stay in the District post-term since Woodrow Wilson in 1921.

• The Obamas just bought their rental home in Washington [The Washington Post]

• See Inside the Home the Obamas Will Move Into [Curbed DC]