Let's discuss and rank the 45 governor's mansions of the U.S.

Which mansions are trashy-looking and should be bulldozed or possibly destroyed by oak trees? Which ones are beautiful?

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by Anonymousreply 41September 2, 2023 6:53 AM

Kentucky, Maine and California have okay mansions. The rest are either hideous or unremarkable. All 45 could burn down and the country wouldn't lose any architectural gems.

by Anonymousreply 1August 31, 2023 8:06 AM

Wait…which states don’t had governor’s mansions, and why?

by Anonymousreply 3August 31, 2023 2:46 PM

R3, in small states, the governor doesn't have a long commute. In other states without mansions, there is a tradition of the governor trying to appear to be a frugal ordinary person.

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by Anonymousreply 4August 31, 2023 3:00 PM

The moron who wrote that article seems to think that Mississippi's governor's mansion is in Florida.

The capital of MS is JACKSON, not Jacksonville.

by Anonymousreply 5August 31, 2023 3:26 PM

I think the governor's mansion in Mississippi is one of the worst. It looks like a very tacky McMansion.

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by Anonymousreply 6August 31, 2023 3:35 PM

I read Huey Long had the Louisiana governors mansion rebuilt to be a close replica of the White House he intended to inhabit. I also read he spent most of his time in a room at the top of the (art deco high rise) Louisiana state capital and that looked more luxe to me.

by Anonymousreply 7August 31, 2023 3:43 PM

I like New York's grandiose mansion.

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by Anonymousreply 8August 31, 2023 4:54 PM

Iowa's mansion is too whimsical and pretty and quaint. It looks like something from a Disney theme park.

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by Anonymousreply 9August 31, 2023 5:02 PM

I like Cedar Crest, in Topeka.

The Missouri Governor's Mansion looks like a vintage McDonald's.

Terrace Hill, the Iowa Governor's Mansion, looks delightfully haunted.

Washington Place, the Hawaii Governor's Mansion, is gorgeous.

by Anonymousreply 10August 31, 2023 5:08 PM

I like the Arizona one.

Kansas looks like it could be interesting.

The Michigan one looks like a regular house.

by Anonymousreply 11August 31, 2023 7:19 PM

They left the worst til last - Wyoming. That looks more like a factory than a mansion

Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Michigan are all pretty dire too, variations on the McMansion theme

Idaho had one for a while which was truly hideous, it has since been demolished, no great loss

The rest are all at least moderately attractive, the best being California, Iowa, Kentucky, and Utah.

Ohio looks like a regular house, but its still quite beautiful

Alaska's one is surprisingly attractive

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by Anonymousreply 12September 1, 2023 12:45 AM

I've only ever been in one (the one in Richmond, VA) and I have to say it was a lovely house. Nothing remarkable on the outside but beautiful inside and had so much history from the early 19th century right through the confederacy to the present day. I visited in 2009 the week before the Obama inauguration (Tim Kaine was the Governor at the time).

by Anonymousreply 13September 1, 2023 1:08 AM

North Carolina’s isn’t bad. Built by prison labor with prison produced materials in the 1870s in a restrained Victorian style, it features NC produced-materials in the brick, heart pine floors and interior woodwork. It occupies a whole city block very close to the Capitol and Legislative Building.

One of the main architects, A.G. Bauer had a tragic story. He married a Cherokee woman and was shunned by society. She dive years into their marriage, and he spent the rest of his life and money building her a memorial in Oakwood Cemetery. Once it was done he killed himself.

FDR said it was, “the most beautiful Governor’s residence interior in America.”

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by Anonymousreply 14September 1, 2023 1:10 AM

The current Ga. governor's mansion (top image) was finished in 1968. It's a huge home with 30 rooms. It had the roof ripped off in a tornado in 1975.

The previous mansion (bottom image) was a hideous thing built entirely of granite in Ansley Park. They tore that monstrosity down in 1967.

The first official mansion (middle image) was located at the corner of Peachtree St. & Cain St., (now Andrew Young Intl. Blvd), downtown, right in the spot where the 73 floor Peachtree Plaza Hotel now stands. Most native Atlantans don't even realize that. There was a previous mansion nearby on Peachtree the governor lived in, but it was privately owned and never the official governor's mansion.

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by Anonymousreply 15September 1, 2023 1:18 AM

My five years were spent in debauchery.

by Anonymousreply 16September 1, 2023 1:21 AM

My dive years were spent in debauchery.

by Anonymousreply 17September 1, 2023 1:22 AM

R15 the current one is surprisingly nice for something built in 1968. The previous one is as you say hideous, looks like a McMansion predecessor

Its a pity they never kept the first one though, that was stunning

by Anonymousreply 18September 1, 2023 1:59 AM

The Mississippi mansion would be much prettier if they hadn't painted it from stem to stern in that boring boring grey and left the brick its natural color. The mansion is 184 years old & is on the national registry of historic places. But it doesn't look very historic.

by Anonymousreply 19September 1, 2023 2:20 AM

IMO the prettiest Ga. governor's mansion was when the Capital city was Milledgeville, Ga. before being moved to Atlanta a few years after the Civil War. It, like the Mississippi mansion, is 184 years old and used to serve as the residence for the president of Ga. College. I think it's now a museum.

Thank God they never tore that one down.

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by Anonymousreply 20September 1, 2023 2:26 AM

Here is what Hot Wheels Abbott rolls up to each day. Locked and loaded.

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by Anonymousreply 21September 1, 2023 3:05 AM

R15 That looks like something out of a horror movie.

by Anonymousreply 22September 1, 2023 3:49 AM

The one in Minnesota is a not-very-distinguished mansion in a long row of late Victorian mansions on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. It's far from the most impressive or the largest house on the street.

by Anonymousreply 23September 1, 2023 6:14 AM

The California Governor's Mansion is very pretty, but oddly unimpressive in person. It's in a dubious neighborhood, it's on a comparatively small lot and is right on the street, there's a cheap motel across the street (where some past governors would use the pool), and it isn't the most impressive building around. If you go a few block and cross 16th street, you're among the gorgeous Victorians and Painted Ladies of Midtown. Just a few blocks away, there are houses that are both larger and more beautiful, and which are shaded by an urban forest of huge old trees.

I lived in Midtown for years, and when I moved in I was shocked to find that "Painted Lady" houses weren't limited to San Francisco.

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by Anonymousreply 25September 1, 2023 7:23 AM

As much as Iowa is a shitshow politically, we have a nice looking Governor’s mansion in a tasteful part of town. However, just below the bluff is where many of the local homeless people camp.

by Anonymousreply 26September 1, 2023 7:27 AM

I remember Nancy Reagan talking about the California mansion back when Ronald was governor. She said the place was a major dump that was falling apart.

The mansion is a pretty old house, but for a state the size and stature of California it's quite unimpressive as a Governor's Mansion.

by Anonymousreply 27September 1, 2023 11:05 AM

I like the Italianate and Victorians. But special mention for the very grand French petit palais in Kentucky.

by Anonymousreply 28September 1, 2023 11:13 AM

The "mansion" at R12 looks like a modern church meeting hall.

by Anonymousreply 29September 1, 2023 11:23 AM

I’m surprised by Alaska. Nice house, but seems so southern and put of place.

Delaware’s is 3,584 square feet and tours are available Monday to Friday by appointment? That would be awful. I don’t think that’s reasonable, but maybe the article isn’t reliable. Because at 3,584 sq ft, even if you cut out the bedrooms and private bathrooms, that still means you have people traipsing through your kitchen and living areas. Fuck that. Maybe the tours are of the grounds.

It would be interesting to get a sense of the uses and lifestyles. Some of these are probably more like private homes with somewhat compromised privacy, others more like commercial buildings.

by Anonymousreply 30September 1, 2023 11:31 AM

R10, Washington Place is nice enough, but after looking it up, I'm more impressed by its history.

I can't believe the house is over 170 years old and still standing.

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by Anonymousreply 31September 1, 2023 11:36 AM

Why didn't Hawaii use the palace as their Governor's mansion?

It's much more grand.

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by Anonymousreply 32September 1, 2023 12:03 PM

R25 I'm pleased to hear that those Painted Ladies arent just a San Francisco phenomenon, SF is unaffordable, Sacremento much less so

R30 Yeah the Alaska one did look a bit Southern to me too, I expected something more adapted to that environment.

R32 That palace is stunning - and yes would have made a much better Governors residence

by Anonymousreply 33September 1, 2023 1:14 PM

Oregon's Mahonia Hall looks nice. But, I wonder how the lesbian first lady of the state has it decorated these days.

by Anonymousreply 34September 1, 2023 3:09 PM

[quote] The Michigan one looks like a regular house.

Given how much hate Whitmer gets in Michigan from GOP cunts, it's probably best that the governor's residence has always been a regular type looking house. If it was something grand and large, the GOP cunts in Michigan would be whining about Whitmer living in a 'castle' or "big mansion".

by Anonymousreply 35September 1, 2023 3:19 PM

The NY mansion looks like an old mental institution. What shocks me the most about many of the mansions is how close they are to the street, and how open they are to the general public. Someone could just walk right up to the front door and ring the bell. There doesn't seem to be any security at the ready to keep people away who don't belong there.

by Anonymousreply 36September 1, 2023 4:38 PM

The mansions are usually guarded by state police officers or other law enforcement officers. But, shit could still happen if someone on the security detail isn't attentive or nutcases manage to break through gates or fences. That did happen at the Washington governor's mansion on January 6th. A group of Trumpsters broke through a gate and managed to get on the lawn.

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by Anonymousreply 37September 1, 2023 5:24 PM

A brief tour of Mississippi's governor's mansion:

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by Anonymousreply 38September 1, 2023 5:51 PM

The Minnesota mansion also looks like an old mental institution.

by Anonymousreply 39September 2, 2023 5:47 AM

[quote] Why didn't Hawaii use the palace as their Governor's mansion?

I think it would've been to controversial to house the Governor in Iolani Palace. Why? Because of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. Even Pres. Cleveland admitted it was illegal.

[quote] In his message to the Congress on December 18, 1893, President Grover Cleveland acknowledged that the Hawaiian Kingdom was unlawfully invaded by United States marines on January 16, 1893, which led to an illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government the following day.

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by Anonymousreply 40September 2, 2023 6:14 AM

[quote]The NY mansion looks like an old mental institution.

Yes, if a banker's Italianate mansion was converted into a psychiatric institution.

by Anonymousreply 41September 2, 2023 6:53 AM

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