The Vice-Presidency: A Home for Hubert

Ever since he arrived in Washington 17 years ago as the brash junior Senator from Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey has been happy as a clam in his modest, $40,000 home at 3216 Coquelin Terrace in suburban Chevy Chase, Md. So has his wife Muriel. For both, the place has a strong sentimental attachment. Their children's footprints are set in the sidewalk. Muriel takes great pride in a bedroom that she has converted into a sewing room. Hubert liked to relax after a hard day in the Senate by donning an apron and sweeping the halls.

Now that Hubert is Vice President, the Humphreys may have to say goodbye to Coquelin Terrace. Because there is no official residence for the nation's No. 2 executive, Hubert is encountering many of the problems that plagued his predecessors, some of whom also lived very simply. Calvin Coolidge and Cactus Jack Garner, for example, lived in hotels, and Harry Truman occupied a $150-a-month apartment. Some people did not think these arrangements very seemly, and there was always some agitation for the Vice Presidents to move.

Wining & Dining. In the Humphreys' case, the reasons for having a larger place are even more compelling. Under President Johnson, the Vice President has been given responsibilities for entertaining that far outweigh those of his predecessors; he must wine and dine visiting VIPs from mayors to maharajahs, yet Hubert and Muriel do well to pack 50 guests into their house for a stand-up cocktail party.

Since 1909 almost a score of bills has been introduced to establish a litfle White House for the veep, but all have died. Now the movement has been given a boost by L.B.J., who knows the problem from firsthand experience. Naturally, everyone has his own idea of what kind of house the Humphreys need. Senator George Smathers has introduced a bill that would make a vice-presidential residence out of Admiral's House, a 14-room mansion just off Massachusetts Avenue's Embassy Row, now assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations. Another bill, by Democrat Mike Monroney, would create a three-member commission, give it $1,000,000 to buy or build an appropriate house.

Ready for a Change. Mrs. Elizabeth Rowe, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, has submitted a list of 14 homes for consideration. Among the top contenders: Tregaron, the late Joseph E. Davies' 7½-acre wooded estate (the setting for the ballroom-party scene in the movie Advise and Consent); Dumbarton Oaks, a Georgetown estate where the conference that hatched the United Nations was held; Octagon House, a Georgian-style Washington landmark on New York Avenue; Hitt House, the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization; and Bonnie Brae, a barnlike Tudor house of fieldstone and brick.

The Humphreys have not stated their preference, but they are willing to move into something better—even if someone else picks it for them.