California Governor's Mansion
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Location: | Sacramento, California |
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Coordinates: | 38°34′48.52″N 121°29′1.25″W / 38.5801444°N 121.4836806°WCoordinates: 38°34′48.52″N 121°29′1.25″W / 38.5801444°N 121.4836806°W |
Built: | 1877 |
Architect: | Nathaniel D. Goodell |
Architectural style: | Second Empire-Italianate |
Governing body: | State of California |
NRHP Reference#: | 70000139 [1] |
CHL #: | 823 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP: | 10 November 1970 |
Designated CHL: | August 10, 1974 |
Governor's Mansion State Historic Park is the location of Historic Governor's Mansion of California, the former official home of the Governor of California. It housed 13 governors and their families from 1903 to 1967.[3] The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located at 1526 H Street in Sacramento, the mansion is now used primarily for public and state ceremonies and events. George Pardee was the first governor to live in the house; Ronald Reagan, who lived in it for only four months, was the last.[3]
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History
The thirty-room Second Empire-Italianate Victorian mansion was built in 1877 for local hardware merchant Albert Gallatin. The State of California purchased the house in 1903 to serve as a governor's mansion. Many furnishings remain from former governors, including Pardee's 1902 Steinway piano, velvet chairs and sofas belonging to Governor Hiram Johnson, and Persian rugs bought by Mrs. Earl Warren. The structure has been renovated a number of times.
Avoidance by later governors
Currently, the state of California does not have an official residence or mansion for its governor. The state had built a governor's residence in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, which was completed just as Reagan left office. Jerry Brown, who succeeded Reagan, refused to live in the house and it was sold by the state in 1982. Brown lived in a sparsely furnished "bachelor pad" during his first two terms as Governor from 1975 to 1983. When Brown became Governor again in 2011, he opted to live in a 1,450-square-foot (135 m2) downtown loft.[4]
George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, and Gray Davis all lived in different Carmichael residences. Arnold Schwarzenegger stayed in a hotel suite (Hyatt Regency Sacramento) near The Capitol when he was in Sacramento, but ordinarily commuted each day by private plane from his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.[5]
The former Carmichael mansion is now a gated community called La Casa de los Gobernadores in Carmichael. It is located next to Ancil Hoffman Golf Course, the 11,000–12,000-square-foot (1,000–1,100 m2) home is located at the end of (6232) Gobernadores Lane and accessed via a gate at 2300 California Avenue.[6] The home overlooks the American River.
Proposed for closure
The Governor's Mansion is one of 70 California state parks proposed for closure by July 2012 as part of a deficit reduction program.[7] It was previously one of several state parks threatened with closure in 2008. Those closures were ultimately avoided by cutting hours and maintenance system-wide.[8]
References
- ^ "California (CA), Sacramento County: California State Capitol". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Tuesday, 20 July 2010. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/CA/Sacramento/state.html. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ Office of Historic Preservation (2010). "California Historical Landmarks: Sacramento". California State Parks. http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21454. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Mansion History". California State Parks. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1282. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- ^ Shane Goldmacher (December 22, 2010). "Jerry Brown chooses a trendy loft near the Capitol". The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1222-jerry-brown-20101222,0,5964843.story. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ Evan Halper; Michael Rothfeld (2008-03-07). "This puts your commute to shame". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/07/local/me-arnold7. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- ^ http://www.insidepublications.com/IMC%200802/pdf_articles/2004_Stories/Sept04/Carmichale%20Gov%20Mansion%20Tour%200904.pdf
- ^ "State Parks Announces Closures" (Press release). California State Parks. 2011-05-13. http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/712/files/2011ParkClosures_attachments20110513.pdf. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
- ^ McGreevy, Patrick; Sahagun, Louis (2009-09-26). "State parks to stay open, but with cuts in hours, staffing". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, Calif.). http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/26/local/me-state-parks26. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
Further reading
- "California Landmark 823: Governor's Mansion". Noehill. 2010. http://www.noehill.com/sacramento/cal0823.asp. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- Joan Didion. (1979). "Many Mansions" in The White Album. New York: Simon and Schuster.
- "National Register #70000139: Governor's Mansion". Noehill. 2010. http://www.noehill.com/sacramento/nat1970000139.asp. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
External links
- Governor's Mansion State Historic Park - official site
- Online tour of the Historic Governor's Mansion
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