OBAMAS DEEPEN D.C. ROOTS WITH US $8.1M HOUSE PURCHASE

Looks like former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are putting down deeper roots in Washington — after renting a house for their post-White House stint, the couple has purchased the eight-bedroom, nine-anda-half-bath home for US$8.1 million, according to property records. The Obamas have said they plan to remain in D.C. while their younger daughter, Sasha, finishes high school at Sidwell Friends. After leaving the executive mansion in January, the family settled into a rental home owned by Bill Clin- ton press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife, Glamour editor Giovanna Gray Lockhart, an 8,200-square-foot home that was built in 1921 and renovated in 2011. The Obamas still own a Georgian- style home in the Hyde Park neighbourhood in South Side, Chicago, the city that will house the Obama presidential library. D.C. records show that Lockhart sold the home for US$8.1 million to Homefront Holdings LLC, which is controlled by the Obamas. Lockhart bought the home in 2014 for US$5.295 million,.