The Tennessee Governor's Mansion, also known as the Tennessee Residence, in

Oak Hill, Tennessee Oak Hill is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County, Tennessee. The population was 4,529 at the 2010 census. The Tennessee Governor's Mansion is located in the city. Although the city is administered under the Metropolitan Government ...

, a suburb of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, is the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

and his or her family. It is a three-story

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

-style mansion that was built as a private home for

William Ridley Wills William Ridley Wills (March 4, 1897 – September 8, 1957) was an American novelist, poet, and journalist. Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, he was a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a member of the "Fugitives (poets), Fugitives" a literary m ...

and his family in 1929. It is on a tract about south of the

Tennessee State Capitol The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves as the home of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly–the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Tenne ...

in Nashville. The state purchased the house in 1949 and it has served as the home of Tennessee's governors since then. The house is open to the public for tours by advance reservation. It is one of four official state governor's residences in the country that is not located within its state's capital (the others being

Drumthwacket Drumthwacket ( ) is the official residence of the governor of New Jersey. The mansion sits at 354 Stockton Street in Princeton, near the state capital of Trenton. It is one of only four official governor's residences in the country not locat ...

, located in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, instead of Trenton; the

Wisconsin Governor's Mansion The Executive Residence, known better as the Governor's Mansion, is located at 99 Cambridge Road in the Village of Maple Bluff, Wisconsin (a suburb of the state capital of Madison), on the eastern shore of Lake Mendota. It is currently the official ...

, located in

Maple Bluff Maple Bluff is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,313 at the 2010 census. A suburb of Madison, it is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Maple Bluff is the site of the Wisconsin Governor's Man ...

, instead of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

; and the

Ohio Governor's Mansion The Ohio Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden is the official residence of the governor of Ohio. The residence was built during 1923–1925 by industrialist Malcolm D. Jeffrey and has served as the official home of the governor since 1957. T ...

, located in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

instead of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

Renovation

The first renovation since the residence was purchased by the state was completed during the spring of 2010. The project was initiated in 2005 by

Andrea Conte Andrea Conte (born February 13, 1941) is the wife of former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, serving as First Lady of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. She is a 1968 graduate of the University of Washington and a registered nurse. Early history ...

, the wife of then-Governor

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in 20 ...

. For years, maintenance had been deferred by governors wary of alienating voters. Prior to the renovation, the

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof leaked, ceiling and wall plaster had many cracks,

lead-based paint Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to acceler ...

was peeling, and the residence was still heated and cooled by the original hot and cold water radiator system. Two other major problems were the relative lack of accessibility for disabled persons, and inadequate formal dining/gathering space. The formal dining room seated only 22 people, but state dinners often had more than 50 guests. In those situations, tents were erected on the front lawn along with port-o-let toilets for the guests of state to use. Conservatory Hall-CONTE SPEAKS

To address these problems, the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

-based architectural firm

Archimania Archimania is a collective of architects and designers in downtown Memphis, Tennessee’s South Main Historic Arts District. The collective was founded in 1995 and is led by Todd Walker, FAIA, and Barry Alan Yoakum, FAIA. Archimania was ranked 8 ...

was selected to design what was to be named

Conservation Hall Conservation Hall was part of a renovation of the Tennessee Governor's Mansion. It is a subterranean meeting and banqueting facility built under the front lawn of the Tennessee Residence. It brings the Tennessee Residence up to modern standards for ...

, which was completed during the spring of 2010. It is a mainly underground dining and meeting room capable of seating 160 people. The center of Conservation Hall is a glass-walled oval atrium that opens to the sky. It is

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED)-certified, the first governor's residence to be given the LEED designation.

References

External links

Tour the Tennessee Residence
{{US Governor Mansions Governors' mansions in the United States Houses completed in 1929 Government buildings in Tennessee Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings Museums in Nashville, Tennessee Historic house museums in Tennessee Houses in Nashville, Tennessee Governor of Tennessee