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

Oak Hill, Tennessee Oak Hill is a city in 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 of Nashville and Davidson C ...

, a suburb of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, 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 Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

and his or her family. It is a three-story Georgian-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" a literary movement of the 1920 ...

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 Tenn ...

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, located in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, instead of Trenton; the Wisconsin Governor's Mansion, located in Maple Bluff, 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 * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

; 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. ...

, 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 Ch ...

instead of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

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 an American nurse who served as First Lady of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011 as the wife of former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. Early history and education Andrea Conte was born in Great Barrington, ...

, 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 ...

. 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 ro ...

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 accel ...

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 * Mem ...

-based architectural firm

Archimania Archimania is a collective of architects and designers in the South Main Historic Arts District of downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The collective was founded in 1995 and is led by Todd Walker, FAIA, and Barry Alan Yoakum, FAIA. Honors and awards Th ...

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 systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

(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