Exclusive: Vanity Fair/Bloomberg WHCA Bash Finds a New Home

The peripatetic Vanity Fair/Bloomberg White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after-party has found a new home at Villa Firenze, the Italian ambassador’s residence on Albemarle Street, Northwest, Washingtonian has learned.

The party had been held at the French ambassador’s residence since 2009, when the two powerhouse hosts joined forces to throw what for a dozen years has been the hottest social event of the season. Extensive renovations to the Kalorama mansion that began early last year forced its organizers (mostly the Vanity Fair event squad) to seek shelter elsewhere. (The French ambassador is living in temporary quarters on Foxhall Road.)

Founded as an intimate gathering at Vanity Fair writer Christopher Hitchens’s Adams Morgan apartment, the fete has always stayed close to the Washington Hilton near Dupont Circle to keep celebs’ exposure to the crowds short and walking in heels to a minimum. The Albemarle Street location immediately raised concerns about the logistics of moving Hollywood stars and Capitol Hill heavies up to the rambling Tudor mansion, close to Rock Creek Park and more than three miles from the Hilton.

That said, a chance to rub elbows with Clooney and Carney guarantees that anyone who gets an invite will make the trek.

Rebecca Nelson