The Arkansas Governor's Mansion is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

governor of Arkansas The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...

and Arkansas' first family. The mansion is located at 1800 Center Street in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

and is included in the Governor's Mansion Historic District, a district that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Notable former residents include later president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

and politician turned TV presenter

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...

. Until 1950, the State of Arkansas did not have an official residence for its governor.

History

In 1947, Act 257 of the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 1 ...

established a Governor's Mansion Commission with an appropriation of $100,000.00. The site was the former location of the

Arkansas School for the Blind The Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASB or ASBVI), is a state-run public school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, serving blindness, blind and vision impairment, vision impaired students of kindergarten through high sc ...

, which had moved to new quarters near the city's

Pulaski Heights Pulaski Heights is a section of the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, located in the north-central portion of the city. Locally, the area is referred to as the Heights. History The Pulaski Heights neighborhood was historically an affluent area of L ...

neighborhood. The architects were Frank J. Ginocchio, Jr. and Edwin B. Cromwell. Little Rock insurance and television executive Clyde E. Lowry led the effort to raise funds to build the mansion. The architectural style of the mansion is Georgian Revival, colonial type. The main material of the exterior is brick. Construction began in December 1947 (incorporating 300,000 bricks from the original School for the Blind structures), and the Governor's Residence became operational officially on January 10, 1950. The first governor to reside here was Sidney S. McMath, who moved in on February 3, 1950. Significant additions to the mansion were completed during the administration of

(1996-2007). From 1986 to 1993, footage of the mansion was used for the television program ''

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS between September 29, 1986 and May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomas ...

'' to represent the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

home of character Suzanne Sugarbaker, played by

Delta Burke Delta Burke McRaney (born July 30, 1956) is an American actress, producer and author. From 1986 to 1991, she starred as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom '' Designing Women'', for which she received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstand ...

, and in later seasons, the home of Anthony Bouvier, played by

Meshach Taylor Meshach Taylor (; April 11, 1947 – June 28, 2014) was an American actor, widely known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the CBS sitcom '' Designing Women'' (1986–93), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstandin ...

. In 2008, footage of the mansion was also used for the television program ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'' to represent the home of a character played by

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

References

External links

* 1950 establishments in Arkansas Buildings and structures in Little Rock, Arkansas Colonial Revival architecture in Little Rock, Arkansas Governors' mansions in the United States Government buildings completed in 1950 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Government of Arkansas Historic district contributing properties in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Little Rock, Arkansas Neoclassical architecture in Little Rock, Arkansas Official residences in the United States {{LittleRockAR-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References

External links