The California 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 California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

, located in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, the capital of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Built in 1877, the estate was purchased by the State of California in 1903 and has served as the executive residence for 14 governors. The mansion was occupied by governors between 1903–1967 and 2015–2019. Since 1967, the mansion has been managed by

California State Parks California State Parks is the state park system for the U.S. state of California. The system is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, a department under the California Natural Resources Agency. The California State ...

as the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park.

History

The thirty-room, three-story Second Empire-

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

mansion was built in 1877 for local hardware merchant Albert Gallatin, who sold it to businessman Joseph Steffens, the father of journalist

Lincoln Steffens Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

, in 1887. In 1903, the State of California purchased the house to serve as the governor's mansion. Many furnishings remain from former governors, including George C. Pardee's 1902

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

piano, velvet chairs, and sofas belonging to Governor

Hiram Johnson Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917 and represented California in the U.S. Senate for five terms from 1917 to 1945. Johns ...

, and

Persian rugs A Persian carpet ( ), Persian rug ( ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed 30 January 2007. or Iranian carpet is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in Iran (histo ...

bought by the wife of

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...

State park

In 1967, ownership of the mansion was transferred from the Governor of California to

, establishing the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park. Governor Reagan lived in the mansion for a few months while making arrangements for his own residence. He leased a home in East Sacramento's "Fabulous 40s" neighborhood at 1341 45th Street. Reagan set a precedent that was adopted by all subsequent California governors until 2015. In 1970, the mansion was designated as a "historic house museum" and opened to the public. From 1974 to 1975, during Reagan's tenure, a new executive mansion was constructed in the Casa de los Gobernadores neighborhood of Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento. Reagan never resided in the mansion, as it was completed after his tenure as governor ended, and the mansion was subsequently sold by

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

, Reagan's successor. Brown, during his first two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983, lived in a sparsely-furnished two-bedroom apartment at the Dean Apartments at 1400 N St. Governors

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. ( ; June 6, 1928May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, he was the state's first governor of Armenian descent. B ...

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Wilson previously served as a United S ...

, and

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor ...

lived (successively) in an east Sacramento residence bought by Deukmejian and later leased by the state. Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

ordinarily commuted each day by private plane from his home in the Brentwood area of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. When he would need to stay in Sacramento overnight, he would take a hotel suite at the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

Regency Sacramento across the street from the

California State Capitol The California State Capitol is the seat of the California state government, located in Sacramento, the state capital of California. The building houses the chambers of the California State Legislature, made up of the Assembly and the Senat ...

. When Brown became governor again in 2011, he opted to live in a downtown loft. In July 2012, the Governor's Mansion was one of 70

proposed for closure as part of a deficit reduction program. Previously, it was also one of several state parks threatened with closure in 2008. These threatened closures were ultimately avoided by cutting hours and maintenance system-wide.

Renewed executive residence

In 2015, the mansion once again became the official residence of the governor of California as well as being a museum, when Governor Jerry Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, moved into the governor's mansion after it underwent $4.1 million in renovations to update electrical and plumbing systems, as well as to remove lead-based paint and install a fire sprinkler system and other security features. In 2019, Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

and his family lived briefly in the mansion before taking up residence in a house purchased in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks.

Stanford Mansion

The Leland Stanford Mansion, the former residence of

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...

(8th Governor of California and founder of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

), serves as the official reception house for the

State of California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is often used by the governor for official receptions of foreign dignitaries and for ceremonial purposes. The Stanford Mansion also hosts an official office and working space for the governor.

Casa de los Gobernadores

Casa de los Gobernadores was built in 1974–75, in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, to serve as the new official residence of the governor. Reagan never resided in this new governor's mansion as it was completed after his term ended.

, who succeeded Reagan, refused to live in the mansion. In 1982, it was sold by the state and is now a private residence.

References

External links

Official Governor's Mansion State Historic Park website

Parks.ca.gov: Online tour of the Historic Governor's Mansion
* ''Visiting... with

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

'
Episode 417
features a tour of the mansion by

Kathleen Brown Kathleen Lynn Brown (born September 25, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 29th treasurer of California from 1991 to 1995. Brown unsuccessfully ran for governor of California in the 1994 election. Early life and e ...

{{National Register of Historic Places in California Official residences in California California State Historic Parks Museums in Sacramento, California Historic house museums in California

Houses completed in 1877 Houses in Sacramento County, California California Historical Landmarks Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento, California Landmarks in Sacramento, California Parks in Sacramento County, California Protected areas established in 1970 Italianate architecture in California Second Empire architecture in California Victorian architecture in California 1970 establishments in California Gilded Age mansions