Barack Obama has picked mansion two miles from White House as post-Oval Office digs

He has another seven months in office, but it appears that President Barack Obama is already measuring the curtains for his next house - an 8,200-square-foot rental just two miles away from the White House, his home since 2009.

After Mr Obama acknowledged earlier this year that he intended staying in Washington DC with his family for a couple of years at least to allow his youngest daughter, Sasha, to graduate from her school there, the capital has been abuzz with speculation as to what part of town he’d choose.

Now, it seems we know the neighborhood and even the address. The large mansion - no longer white, but certainly still impressive - reportedly chosen by the first family is in the Kalorama district in Northwest DC, two miles from the White House and close to several important foreign embassies, including the British embassy and the adjacent Edwin Lutyens-designed residence.

In an exclusive report, Politico said it had confirmation that the Obama’s plan to rent the gated house, which is currently owned by Joe Lockhart, a Democratic Party stalwart and one-time spokesman for former President Bill Clinton.

Built in 1928 with nine bedrooms and set on one acre, the luxury property was purchased two years ago, records show, for $295,000, has a two-car garage and courtyard parking big enough for ten cars.

Mr Obama, who will be 55 when he leaves the Oval Office, will be the first sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1921 to defy the usual etiquette of leaving town following the inauguration of his successor. Where the family will eventually settle and how Mr Obama will occupy himself after next January remain unanswered questions.

Of prime importance for the first family, is the proximity of the the Lockhart residence to Sidwell Friends School, the private high school that Sasha, who shortly turns 15, will still be attending.

Her older sister, Malia, will graduate from the school next month and then celebrate her 18th birthday on the Fourth of July. She is expected to take a gap year - more of a British than an American tradition - before attending Harvard University starting in 2017.