As the old saying goes, "A man's home is his castle." So what can we tell about Judge John G. Roberts, soon to be crowned as a Supreme Court justice (knock on wood), based on his federal judicial castle? Sounds like a job for UTR Cribs: Inside the Homes of Federal Judges!
Unfortunately, we don't know as much about the Roberts residence as we might like. (The photograph above is of a random mansion, not Judge Roberts's house.) If you have ever been inside the Roberts' home and have the inside scoop, please share what you know with Article III Groupie.
For now, all A3G has to offer is information that has previously appeared in prior news accounts:
1. Judge Roberts's house is located in the tony Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, just a few blocks away from the former home of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
2. With respect to Judge Roberts's choice of neighborhood, Washington Post Metro columnist Marc Fisher offers the following, intriguing ruminations:
John Roberts would take Sandra Day O'Connor's place as holder of the Chevy Chase seat on the court. Conservative justices tend to live in Virginia, as you might expect. Liberal justices tend to live in the District. Does Roberts' decision to live in Chevy Chase tell us anything useful about his temperament and values? (He recently moved from Bethesda to Chevy Chase, selling his old place for a hefty profit and moving on up thanks to the skyrocketing real estate market.)
(Thanks to DCist for the link.)
3. The Roberts home is a large, elegant, two-story, white-brick colonial. A3G was quite impressed by the imposing exterior of the house, which she saw when the Roberts family was filmed returning to their white house, after their visit to the White House, on the night that President Bush announced the Roberts nomination.
4. The house is worth approximately $1.3 million, which is in line with neighborhood standards. The charming Scottish Tudor shown at right, located not far from the Robertsian abode, sold last year for $1.5 million.
At $1.3 million, the Roberts house is a pretty nice pile o' bricks -- certainly nothing to scoff at. But it's worth about a tenth as much as the federal judicial mega-mansion inhabited by Judge Susan J. Dlott (S.D. Ohio) and her hubby, superstar plaintiffs' lawyer Stan Chesley.
Here at UTR, prestige is everything. And compared to working at blue-chip law firms like Hogan & Hartson or Pillsbury Winthrop, plaintiffs-side work is much less prestigious (at least in the eyes of Establishment-types). But if you're good at it, as Stan Chesley sure is, it pays really, really well!
5. Judge Roberts and his well-paid wife, Biglaw partner Jane Sullivan Roberts -- a.k.a. "the Pillsbury [Winthrop] Dough Girl"* -- carry a home mortgage of $790,000, at a 30-year fixed rate of 5.625 percent. They presumably have this mortgage just for the tax deduction, since they could pay off the mortgage anytime they want (out of their bulging bank accounts, which hold between $1 million and $2 million).
6. Rumor has is that Judge Roberts mows the lawn himself. How down-to-earth of him! Senate Democrats: How can you vote against a man who mows his own lawn?
7. According to Al Kamen of the Washington Post, there is no truth to the rumor that Judge Roberts "illegally trimmed his trees," which is "a big deal in that neighborhood."
The Roberts residence sounds quite lovely. And in a few weeks, assuming all goes well, Judge Roberts may soon be acquiring a second home. No, we're not talking about a beach house in Malibu, or a mansion in the Hamptons -- nothing as pedestrian as that. This locale is far more exclusive, a gated community with only nine permanent residents: One First Street, the most fabulous address in the land!
* A3G realizes that Mrs. Jane Roberts, as a professional development partner who no longer actively practices law, probably doesn't make as much as she used to from her partnership draw -- maybe $250-$400K, as opposed to the Pillsbury Winthrop profits-per-partner of $757,500. But A3G couldn't resist the opportunity to deploy her coinage of "Pillsbury Dough Girl"!
(This moniker refers, of course, to Mrs. Roberts's lucrative legal employment. It should not be construed as commenting on the physique of Mrs. Roberts, who is commendably trim and fit.)
Why show a mansion? Why compare a Scottish Tudor with a white brick Colonial?
Posted by: ChiLois | August 18, 2005 at 02:15 PM
If you know the address of the house you very likely can get an aerial picture of it from google maps.
Posted by: Silly Bob | August 17, 2005 at 03:03 PM