Seeking third roommate for a two-bedroom house near Capitol Hill. Potential candidate needs to be OK with laundry on the floor, perhaps the occasional rodent, and must love cereal. Oh, and you need to have a flawless legislative record in Congress.
That last bit might be a tall order, but then again, there aren’t many houses like the one occupied by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, California Rep. George Miller, and Illinois Sen. and Majority Whip Dick Durbin, three powerful and veteran Washington D.C. Democrats. Earlier this week, Miller announced he would be stepping down from Congress after four decades. Soon after, Miller’s friend and fellow senator took to the Internet looking for a new roommate, just like any of us would do.
“Seeking roommate. 20 terms in the House & unmatched legislative record preferred. Lover of cold cereal a must,” Schumer tweeted.
Miller isn’t just a roommate, he’s also the owner of the home that inspired the Amazon.com series Alpha House. According to a 2007 New York Times story, the California Democrat purchased the house in 1977 and started renting rooms to fellow Congressmen in 1982. Among the first to move in was Schumer. Rent is about $750 a month, which might be a little pricy if you consider the Times also reported the house had a rat problem. In fact, it might be a little bit more, considering Miller gets the larger of the two bedrooms in the house; Schumer chooses to sleep in the living room. None of the three occupants spend a lot of time in the house though, and it’s mostly used for sleeping and eating in, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t gained that lived-in feel. In fact, it resembles a college frat house: The fridge reportedly has more beer than anything else, and Schumer allegedly leaves his boxers on the floor. Since Miller owns the house, it’s unclear if his departure means he’ll be booting his roommates or if he’ll be changing his title to landlord. His office told the Washington Post that nothing was set in stone.
If the response from Schumer’s tweet is any indication, however, it wouldn’t be hard to fill Miller’s spot. Schumer’s message about the roommate search was retweeted more than 500 times, and many jokingly asked how much the security deposit was.
Of course, Schumer may have a little more luck looking for a new roomie on Craigslist. After all, that’s how the self-described Best. Roommate. Ever. landed a pad, right?
Photo by musicfanatic29/Flickr
