The Kentucky Governor's Mansion is a historic residence in
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...
. It is located on the east lawn of the Capitol, at the end of Capital Avenue. On February 1, 1972, it was added to the United States
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 ...
.
Description
It was built in 1912–14 for use as the governor's mansion, according to designs submitted by Weber, Werner & Adkins of Cincinnati, Ohio. The politically connected Weber Brothers, Edward Addison Weber and Christian C. Weber received and handled the commission officially. However, because neither appears to have any architectural or design training, "the actual designer appears to have been
John Scudder Adkins (1872-1931), a well-trained and talented St. Louis-born architect who moved to Cincinnati in 1893." Adkins designed several notable commercial and institutional buildings as well as residences throughout the mid-west. John Adkins and G.S. Werner were partners in a firm prior to merging with the Weber brothers' firm. The firm was selected from among four firms invited to submit plans.
The new mansion replaced the
Old Governor's Mansion, built in 1798, which still stands, at 420 High Street, Frankfort. The Act specified that the new mansion should be "constructed, trimmed and finished with native stone produced from quarries in Kentucky." The
Beaux-Arts design owed a great deal to the
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon (; French for 'small Trianon') is a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 ...
at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
' interiors were in
neoclassical French taste. The landscaping design for the mansion was developed and implemented by William Speed
of
Louisville
Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
.
In 1980, Kentucky's First Lady,
Phyllis George Brown, began a fundraising effort called Save the Mansion, which was designed to fund the restoration of the interior and furnish the building. The restoration project was completed in the spring of 1983. The Governor's Mansion Preservation Foundation is a charitable trust that is charged with conservation of the historic structure. The Governor's Mansion is regularly open for tours.
See also
*
Old Governor's Mansion (Frankfort, Kentucky)
The Old Governor's Mansion, also known as Lieutenant Governor's Mansion, is located at 420 High Street, Frankfort, Kentucky. It is reputed to be the oldest official executive residence officially still in use in the Contiguous United States, as ...
References
External links
Kentucky Governor's Mansion
{{Authority control
Houses in Frankfort, Kentucky
National Register of Historic Places in Frankfort, Kentucky
Governors' mansions in the United States
Historic house museums in Kentucky
Museums in Franklin County, Kentucky
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky
Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky
Houses completed in 1912
Government buildings completed in 1912
1912 establishments in Kentucky
Beaux-Arts architecture in Kentucky
Mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
Central Frankfort Historic District