Hunter Biden was marked by tragedy at a young age; first losing his mother and sister in a car accident when he was just two years old and later, his brother to rare brain cancer. While the scandal-plagued middle child of the current President of the free world seems to have turned a corner in recent years, Hunter’s real estate portfolio has always remained strong. Click or scroll through for a peek at every place Hunter has lived, from his childhood Delaware mansion to his current Malibu artist getaway...
Robert Hunter Biden, born 4 February, 1970, is the sole surviving son of President Joe Biden and first wife Neilia Hunter Biden. Like his brother and father, Hunter graduated from Catholic high school – Archmere Academy, in Claymont, Delaware – before enrolling at Georgetown University in 1988. He spent his early years in a gorgeous 1723 colonial manse in North Star, Newark. A lawyer by profession, Hunter followed in his father's footsteps, working his way up in Washington, even serving as a lobbyist and later an advisor to investors.
When his father made his first foray into politics, winning election to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and assuming office the following year, the family were living in Joe’s parents' four-bedroom Faulkland home. Although the family had just bought an elegant 1723 colonial mansion in Newark, Joe Biden was not comfortable living outside his county district and decided to house swap with his parents.
The young family eventually moved into their trim mini-estate in Delaware when Joe was elected junior senator for Delaware in November 1972. Although mortgaged up to their eyeballs, the North Star House, as it was referred to in old deeds, was a big step up from the Faulkland house.
The five-bedroom mansion sits on nearly three acres and has five fireplaces for 4,875 square feet of residence. Built in 1723, it was originally part of a 300-acre plot which was later divided by the du Pont family. The property was sold in 1975 after the Bidens made it their own, namely extending the den.
Recent pictures of the home highlight a mix of historic and contemporary features, like the exposed beams throughout the home and oversized stone fireplaces. Outside, there is also a pool, hot tub, stone fireplace and a professional built-in gas grill and pool house.
The Bidens have been said to resemble the Kennedys in some ways – Catholic, tight-knit, marked by tragedy and driven to political involvement. Hunter’s first brush with tragedy came in 1972, when he and older brother Beau sustained injuries in the car accident that took the lives of his mother Neilia and baby sister Naomi. Hunter sustained a skull fracture and severe traumatic brain injuries that doctors feared might be permanent.
Yet, despite these setbacks, Hunter went on to earn a BA in history at Georgetown University. While studying and living in Washington DC Hunter worked odd jobs, and it was here he began to diverge from his reportedly teetotal father. According to a 2019 interview with The New Yorker, he started social drinking and ultimately, occasionally using drugs.
After graduating, Hunter decided to pursue a law degree like his father and brother, but first took a year off working in Portland at the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, where he first met now-estranged wife Kathleen Buhle. Initially not accepted by Yale Law, according to The New Yorker, Hunter went to Georgetown Law for a year, before transferring to Yale and graduating in 1996.
From then, Hunter’s career seems to have been closely tied to his father's political interests. Returning to his roots in Wilmington, Delaware, with his wife Kathleen and daughter Naomi, Hunter was made deputy campaign manager for Joe’s reelection to the Senate, according to The New Yorker. While renting an apartment close to his father’s campaign HQ, Hunter also got a job as a lawyer at MBNA, which, according to Open Secrets, also happened to be a big donor to several of Joe Biden's campaigns over the years.
Like his father, Hunter caught the renovation bug and in 1997 he reportedly bought a historic estate in Wilmington with an original structure dating back to before the Revolutionary War. He lived there with his wife and young daughters, while brother Beau moved in too, taking over the third floor after he was appointed a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s office in Philadelphia. Hunter had risen to the role of executive vice president at MBNA by then and it was reported that the historic estate had become the go-to weekend hang-out for their friends and family. This achive image shows Hunter with Beau and younger sister Ashley.
Growing tired of the stiff corporate culture at MBNA, Hunter made his first move to DC in 1998, reaching out to an “old friend” of his father, William Oldaker, a Washington lawyer who had worked on Joe Biden's 1987 presidential campaign. Hunter wanted to become a DC player and wanted a job in President Bill Clinton's administration, reported The New Yorker.
Hunter reportedly sold his Delaware house for about double what he’d paid and moved his family into a rental home in the Tenleytown neighbourhood of Washington DC, taking a job as a director in the Department of Commerce, focusing on e-commerce policies. He served in the Clinton administration from 1998 to 2001, after which he once again consulted with William Oldaker, who at the time was starting a lobbying business, the National Group.
The early 2000s brought a lot of change for Hunter; he officially became a lobbyist, primarily restricting his clients mostly to Jesuit universities. He also moved his young family back to Wilmington to be closer to the rest of the Biden clan in 2001. Although it is unclear where his primary residence was in Delaware, he did follow in his father’s footsteps, commuting to Washington on the Amtrak.
Hunter hung up his lobbying boots in 2008, reported CNN, when then Senator Obama asked Joe to be his running mate. However, his financial worries were mounting, having purchased a $1.6-million (£1.3m) house in an affluent DC neighbourhood in 2006. The New Yorker article stated that “without the savings for a down payment, he took out a mortgage for 110 per cent of the purchase price.”
The 4,390-square-foot home, located in Northwest Washington, DC, is a four-level Colonial property with hardwood floors, large socialising and dining spaces, a white chef’s kitchen and a master suite with two walk-in closets. In addition to the expansive master suite, there are five other spacious bedrooms that follow a neutral colour scheme. The lower level houses the porch, family room, kitchen and dining and a bedroom.
After Hunter and Kathleen finalised their divorce in mid-April 2017, the property was listed with Nancy Taylor Bubes of Washington Fine Properties, the realtor that helped Ivanka Trump secure a $15,000 a month rental in Kalorama. The DC home was listed for $1.85 million (£1.5m) and sold in August of the same year for $1.6 million (£1.3m).
Realtor.com reported that the DC home came up during the divorce proceedings when Kathleen stated that they had a double mortgage on the property and owed $314,000 (£258k) in taxes. The divorce papers filed in Washington, DC, Superior Court, first obtained by the New York Post, mentioned: “his spending rarely relates to legitimate family expenses, but focuses on his own travel (at times multiple hotel rooms on the same night), gifts for other women, alcohol, strip clubs, or other personal indulgences.”
The brothers were always close; Hunter even helped to pay off Beau’s law school debts, while Beau was the one to take Hunter to rehab. However, Hunter’s spiral came when the family was faced with yet another tragedy in 2015 when Beau died of a rare brain cancer. In his memoir, Beautiful Things, Hunter recalls nursing his brother through his final days. However, his personal life continued to make headlines when he divorced Kathleen, the mother of his three daughters and according to The Washington Post reportedly started dating Hallie Biden, Beau's widow.
Although it is unclear when Hunter and Hallie Biden broke up; it was first reported by Page Six in April 2019 and not soon after, TMZ reported the "secret" wedding between Hunter to South African model and activist, Melissa Cohen, on 16 May in Los Angeles. As The Standard details, in his memoir, he credits his current, clean state to Melissa and details their courtship and how she faced down the "hoodlums" who came after him and took charge of his sobriety.
Hunter reportedly first made the move to LA in 2018. Although it was alleged by Ann Coulter and the New York Post that he had purchased a multimillion-dollar hideaway in LA’s storied Hollywood Hills, Dirt later reported that it was actually leased to Hunter for $12,000 (£10k) per month over the summer of 2019. Dirt stated that the home was owned by a China-born businessman who acquired the property in 2013 for $2.2 million (£1.8m).
Built in 1961 and designed by Buff & Hensman, the home spans just over 2,000 square feet and includes distinct mid-century modern features. Just off famous Mulholland Drive, the three-bed, three-bath house can be accessed only from a long, gated driveway – ideal for a celebrity trying to keep out of the public eye. The space takes advantage of the views with an open floor plan, minimalist decor and floor-to-ceiling glass sliders for seamless indoor-outdoor living.
The outdoor space comes equipped with a zen courtyard and a wraparound deck with multiple socialising spaces to enjoy the panoramic views of LA, while the angular pool, tucked away into a lower hillside area for privacy, can be accessed through a pine tree-canopied pathway. Alongside it is a glass cabana that could also double as an office space.
At the end of 2020 the Daily Mail, Hunter had upgraded his digs to a 3,800-square-foot Venice canal-side rental. The two-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home was owned by Sweetgreen co-founder and CEO Jonathan Neman, who purchased the property in 2017 for $4.9 million (£4m). Hunter is believed to have rented the waterfront stunner for anywhere between $17,500 (£14.6k) to $25,000 (£21k) a month according to news sources.
The all-white palette carries into the interiors as well. Although it is an open living, kitchen and dining area, shades of brown, beige and red define each space. The 25-foot-high acoustic ceiling gives the room a more intimate feeling.
Both bedrooms are large enough to be the masters, each with an expansive, luxe bathroom. While one of the bedrooms also comes with an airy lounge that extends into a small walled courtyard and plunge pool, the other spans across the entire top floor of the three-storey property and includes a sauna box and a spiral staircase to the roof terrace.
With privacy being the main concern for Hunter, according to TMZ, the family swapped their Venice home for their current $20,000-a-month (£16.9k) rental in Malibu in early 2021. The four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom property spans 3,000 square feet and reportedly sold for $3.3 million (£2.7m) in 2019. The home comes with a built-in art studio, which is ideal given Hunter’s newfound career as an artist. “In the new house, the studio occupies a converted three-car garage, with a brick floor and a skylight,” stated an Artnet description.
Sitting on a 0.7-acre lot, the open floor-plan maximises the stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. The indoor-outdoor living room features pocket doors and a vaulted ceiling, but the pièce de résistance is a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. The bedrooms have a similar relaxed feel, the all-white colour scheme accentuated by blue-hued elements to complement the Pacific views. The outdoor area is spacious yet private and is ideal for socialising on the stone patio with a built-in barbecue, a pool with a Baja shelf and a hot tub.
Being the President’s son means having your own Secret Service detail. Earlier this year, ABC News reported that the agency was paying more than $30,000 (£25k) a month to rent out a swanky Malibu mansion for nearly a year, next to Hunter’s rental. The Spanish-style sea view villa is a six-bedroom, six-bath, spanning 3,778 square feet and comes with a gym, tasting room, built-in barbecue, guesthouse and a castle-like tower.
With a more settled home life with wife Melissa and son Beau, who was named after his late brother, as well as a newfound career as an artist, we can't wait to see what's next for Hunter Biden and where he may lay down his roots.
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