JD Vance’s future neighbors have expressed their horror at his imminent arrival in their genteel town, with locals angered by road closures and Secret Service helicopters buzzing overhead.
PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, reported Friday that the vice president, 41, and his wife, Usha, 40, are looking to lease Wolver Hill—an $8.5 million, 423-acre horse farming estate on the northern edge of Middleburg, Virginia—as a country bolthole for their growing family. The couple’s fourth child, a boy, is due this month.
The Vance clan hasn’t moved in yet, but some of the people of Middleburg—a town of barely 700 that’s packed with multimillion-dollar homes and is renowned as the country’s “horse and hunt capital”—are already up in arms.
In a private Facebook group for residents of the exclusive town, locals have been asking why the surrounding airspace had been closed, why roads had been shut for Secret Service motorcades, and why helicopters had been whirring overhead.
One woman racked up dozens of likes for a broadside that took in the whole Trump administration. “They’re invading so much of our private lives… from the pool disaster, interference with FIFA, our 4th of July, wrecking the White House, and now HIM,” she said, in reference to the VP.
“Here in our lovely little burg without a thought as to the vile daily upset he is causing,” she went on. “He needs to go back to the Naval Observatory and STAY THERE til we can rid ourselves of this threat,” she added, referencing the Vances’ primary residence in D.C.
“Amazingly, a lot of your friends and neighbors not only voted for, but actually support, these disrespectful criminals in charge of our country, who have no problem with destroying your small town country vibe just because they feel like it,” another person posted in the group.
After PunchUp confirmed the news that Vance was eyeing up a move to Middleburg, another resident wrote, “The vice president is putting down some roots. He’s your neighbor, aren’t you lucky?”
“Lucky” was not the word most people were reaching for. “You think traffic is bad now?” one person fumed. “Imagine Secret Service all over town, shutting down roads for travel…” Others questioned why the Vances, who have no agricultural background, would be interested in moving out that way.
“Congratulations to Middleburg, which will be locked down on the regular so these people can play on a big farm they don’t know how to take care of,” one person wrote.
Wolver Hill is owned by Charles “Chuck” Kuhn, 60, one of northern Virginia’s biggest landowners and, lately, one of its most aggressive data-center developers—a sector that the Trump administration and Vance in particular have consistently backed.
Kuhn’s joint venture priced $715 million in bonds late last month to fund its next Loudoun County data hall—shortly before locals began noticing the security buildup around the estate.
County records show the estate’s centerpiece is a 1920 solid-masonry manor graded “luxury” by assessors. It boasts 8,532 square feet, six full bathrooms, and seven fireplaces. It is set on a 423-acre parcel owned by Wolver Hill LLC. Kuhn and his wife, Stacy, bought the property, which had been the home of the thoroughbred-breeding Iselin family for more than a century, for $8.5 million in December 2020.
PunchUp approached Vance’s office on Wednesday to ask about the VP’s plans to move into the mansion. Vance representatives asked for more time to respond, but did not provide a comment on the record. Fifteen hours after our last message to Vance’s office, a story appeared on NBC.
As news spread on the Facebook group, a neighbor shared a photograph of the new arrivals. The image shows unmarked SUVs favored by the Secret Service, towable floodlight masts—and, parked among them, a boxy white motorhome.
Should the Vances sign on the dotted line, they will at least be in colorful company. Blackwater founder Erik Prince—the private-military tycoon and longtime Trumpworld fixture—has for years made Middleburg his home.
Vance has declined to reveal how much he will be paying in rent. Federal ethics rules bar officials from accepting gifts from “prohibited sources” with business before the government, and a below-market lease can count as one.
Whether the Vances pay full rent—and whether any deal is cleared by White House lawyers and disclosed in the vice president’s public filings—will determine how the arrangement sits with the rulebook. Kuhn assembled much of his land empire before Trump returned to office, and there is no suggestion that the lease talks are tied to his business interests.
The Daily Beast has contacted Vance’s office for comment on this story.
