Texas Governor's Mansion
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Governor's Mansion
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The Texas Governor's Mansion in 2006.
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| Location | 1010 Colorado St., Austin, Texas, USA |
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| Coordinates | 30°16′21.72″N 97°44′34.79″W / 30.2727000°N 97.7429972°WCoordinates: 30°16′21.72″N 97°44′34.79″W / 30.2727000°N 97.7429972°W |
| Built | 1854 |
| Architect | Abner Cook |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000896 |
| TSAL # | 613 |
| RTHL # | 13932 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 25, 1970 |
| Designated NHL | December 2, 1974 |
| Designated TSAL | 5/28/1981 |
| Designated RTHL | 1962 |
The Texas Governor's Mansion, also known simply as Governor's Mansion is a historic home for the Governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. It was built in 1854, designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecilia Phalen Abbott are the 40th family to live in the Texas Governor's Mansion and Abbott is the 41st governor to live in the mansion full-time.
On June 8, 2008, while midway through a major renovation, the mansion was badly damaged by an arson fire started with a Molotov cocktail.
The mansion is the oldest continuously inhabited house in Texas and fourth oldest governor's mansion in the United States that has been continuously occupied by a chief executive. The mansion was the first-designated Texas historic landmark, in 1962. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as "Governor's Mansion" in 1970, and further was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1974.
Built by Abner Cook in a Greek Revival style and completed in 1856, the building occupies the center of a block and is surrounded by trees and gardens. The original mansion was 6,000 square feet (560 m2). Remodeling in 1914 increased the size of the mansion to 8,920 square feet (829 m2). The original mansion had 11 rooms but no bathrooms. The remodeling brought the room count to 25 rooms and 7 bathrooms. In 1931, at the recommendation of former Texas First Lady Mildred Paxton Moody, the Forty-second Texas Legislature established the Board of Mansion Supervisors to oversee all interior and exterior upkeep and enhancements to the mansion. Mrs. Moody was the first head of the Board, which was abolished in 1965.
The mansion was partially destroyed by a four-alarm fire during the early morning of June 8, 2008. Then-Governor Rick Perry and his wife Anita Thigpen Perry were in Europe at the time of the fire. They had relocated in October 2008 for a $10 million major deferred maintenance project that began in January 2009. The project was to include a fire suppression system. State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado said the next Sunday that investigators had evidence that an arsonist targeted the 152-year-old building.
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