Florida Governor's Mansion

Coordinates: 30°26′59″N 84°16′57″W / 30.44972°N 84.28250°W / 30.44972; -84.28250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Florida Governor's Mansion
Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.06000618
Added to NRHPJuly 20, 2006

The Florida Governor's Mansion (also called The People's House of Florida) is a historic

U.S. National Register of Historic Places
.

Architecture

The mansion, which was designed to resemble Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, was designed by Marion Sims Wyeth. The building has 30 rooms and 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of living space on 1.5 acres (6,100 m2) of land.[1]

Furnishings and antiques

State reception room in the Mansion at Christmas time.

The mansion's furnishings are managed by the eight-member Governor's Mansion Commission,[2] established by the Florida Department of Management Services.[3] The commission is responsible for cataloging and maintaining a descriptive, photographic inventory of the antique furnishings and articles of furniture, fixtures, and decorative objects used or displayed in the state rooms of the Governor's Mansion.[4]

Public tours

Half-hour, public tours of the Florida Governor's Mansion are available year-round. The guided tours, led by trained volunteers of the Governor's Mansion Docent Program, also welcome school groups. The Governor's Mansion curator coordinates all tour requests.[5]

Entrance park and Florida's Finest sculpture

The focal point of the park directly across the street from the mansion is the bronze sculpture, Florida's Finest, which was unveiled in April 1998 by then Governor and Mrs. Lawton Chiles and was dedicated to the children of Florida. The sculpture features five life-size children and a dog playing a game of "Follow the Leader" atop three logs of a nearby fallen tree.[6]

History

Postcard, ca.1960, showing the mansion

From 1845 (the year Florida was admitted to the Union) to the beginning of the 20th century, governors of the state usually lived in hotels or

Georgian interior.[7]

The 1907 mansion attracted at least one candidate for governor. In the fall of 1915, West Florida Baptists held their annual convention in

DeFuniak Springs, was assigned by the convention committee to be the guest of Governor and Mrs. Trammell. Reverend Catts, during dinner the first night there, asked many questions about the mansion and inspected the entire premises, including the attic and stables. At the last meal before leaving, the Reverend Catts asked Governor Trammel, "Governor, how much rent does this place cost you?" Governor Trammel replied, "Reverend, it is provided rent-free by the taxpayers of Florida." A few weeks later, the Reverend Catts announced his candidacy for governor and was elected in 1916.[8] Reverend Catts brought a pig, milk cow, and chickens to the mansion during his tenure as governor.[9]

The house served fifteen governors and their families until 1955, when it was determined that a new mansion would need to be built due to a lack of enough space in the house and various structural issues.

Florida State Legislature in 1953 for a new mansion, and the Cabinet approved the plan in 1955.[10] Many items in the first mansion were auctioned in 1955 to aid in furnishing the new mansion, raising $7,500.[1]

The original Florida Governor's Mansion, circa 1912.

Noted Palm Beach architect Marion Sims Wyeth was unanimously chosen by both the Cabinet and the Governor's Mansion Advisory Committee to design the new home. Wyeth was told to use Andrew Jackson's home in Tennessee, The Hermitage, as a model for the exterior. However, due to a shortfall in the state's budget, the completed home had fewer rooms than originally planned. Including furnishings, the new mansion cost $350,000 and was completed a year later, in 1956.[1] The first governor to live in the new mansion was LeRoy Collins, in the spring of 1957.[2] Collins and his wife were actively involved in the new house's construction, and in 1957, they suggested to the state a Governor's Mansion Commission.[1] In 1979, First Lady Adele Graham, the wife of Bob Graham, began organizing tours for the mansion. The next year, she founded the Florida Governor's Mansion Foundation.[11] The contributions of this foundation helped to make possible the first addition to the Governor's Mansion since 1957, the Florida Sun Room. The foundation was created to solicit private funding for the restoration of the mansion, its furnishings, and its grounds.[1]

In 2006, the second addition to the mansion was completed, a new 550-square-foot (51 m2) library for Governor

hydrogen fuel cell at the mansion.[14] The mansion now includes a greenhouse and the Manatee Sculpture Garden, and is next to a private park.[1]

On August 30, 2023, the northern front of the building was struck by a falling oak tree as Hurricane Idalia passed to the east, but no injuries or serious damage was reported.[15]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8262-1785-1
    .
  2. ^ a b c Norman Morgan (28 May 1998). "Mansion is like not other in the state". Ocala Star-Banner. Archived from the original on 2016-07-03. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  3. ^ "Florida Statutes 272.18". Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  4. ^ "Florida Statutes 272.18, Section C". Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  5. ^ "Schedule a Tour". Archived from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  6. ^ "Entrance Park". Archived from the original on 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  7. ^ "The Florida Governor's Mansion - Florida Historic Capitol Museum". flhistoriccapitol.gov. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  8. ^ Allen Morris' The Florida Handbook (1997-1998 ed.) at p. 351
  9. ^ a b "The "state shack" bows to "executive residence "". digitalcommons.usf.edu. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  10. ^ UP (1 February 1955). "Florida Governor's Mansion OK'd". The Miami News. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  11. ^ "Mansion benefit Saturday". Sarasota Journal. 25 September 1981. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  12. ^ "Areas of the Mansion". Archived from the original on 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  13. ^ Lauer, Nancy Cook (10 August 2005). "Governor's Mansion to get library add-on". Tallahassee Democrat, Fla. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  14. ^ "'Green' power systems installed at governor's mansion". American City Business Journals, Inc. 19 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  15. ^ O'Kane, Caitlin (2023-08-30). "A 100-year-old oak tree falls on the Florida governor's mansion, Casey DeSantis says". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-08-30.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Florida Governor's Mansion.
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