Georgia Governor's Mansion facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Georgia Governor's Mansion |
|
|---|---|
State of Georgia Governor's Mansion
|
The Governor's Mansion is the official home for the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. It's like the White House, but for Georgia's leader! The mansion is located in the fancy Tuxedo Park neighborhood of Atlanta.
Contents
Building the Governor's Home
The land where the Governor's Mansion stands today used to belong to a former Atlanta mayor named Robert Maddox. He had a big English Tudor-style house there. Sadly, a fire damaged a large part of his home. After the fire, Mr. Maddox sold the property to the state. The rest of his old house was taken down to make way for the new mansion.
The current Governor's Mansion was built in 1967. It's a three-story building with 30 rooms. It's designed in the Greek Revival style, which means it looks a bit like ancient Greek temples with its tall columns. The mansion sits on about 18 acres (that's like 13 football fields!) on West Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta. A Georgia architect named A. Thomas Bradbury designed it, and it officially opened on January 1, 1968.
In 1975, a strong tornado hit Atlanta and damaged the mansion. This happened just a week after Governor Busbee moved in! The damage was fixed, and people even called it the "governor's tornado." Later, in 2008, the front door was slightly damaged by a small fire during another renovation. Firefighters quickly put it out, and no one was hurt.
Outside the Mansion
The mansion itself is huge, covering 24,000 square feet. It has 30 large columns around its porches. These columns are made from California redwood trees and are each 24 feet tall. They are hollow inside and help drain water from the roof! The area around the mansion looks like a park with many trees. You can also find a swimming pool, tennis courts, a children's playground, and a greenhouse on the grounds. At the entrance, there's a beautiful Georgia marble fountain with three tall flagpoles.
Inside the Mansion
The mansion has three levels: a lower level, a main level, and an upper level.
The lower level has many rooms that support the mansion's activities. The ballroom is here, which can hold up to 175 people for big dinners. The pool and outdoor patio are also connected to this level.
The main floor is called the State Floor. Most of the rooms on this floor are used for official events and entertaining guests. The Entrance Hall is where you first come in. To the right, you'll find the Georgia Library, filled with books by Georgia authors. To the left is the guest bedroom, which is the only bedroom on this floor. Towards the back, there's the Circular Hall with a grand staircase. The State Dining Room and State sitting room are used for formal state events. The back of the entrance hall has a powder room, the Family Dining Room, and the Family Sitting Room. The kitchen is also on this floor, and these three rooms are used daily by the governor's family.
The upper floor is where the governor and their family live privately. This level includes the Governor's Mansion office, the first lady's office, and a family living room. There are also several special bedrooms here. The Presidential Suite has its own sitting room, bedroom, and bath, with a great view of the front lawn. Other bedrooms on this floor include the Carter Bedroom (named after former president Jimmy Carter) and the Lincoln Bedroom.
Mansion Furnishings
All the furniture and decorations in the mansion are very special, like pieces you would see in a museum! They are part of one of the best collections of Federal period furniture in the United States. A group of 70 art experts chose these items while the mansion was being built. This collection belongs to the state of Georgia and stays the same, no matter which governor is living there.
Governors Who Have Lived Here
Lester Maddox was the first governor to live in the mansion. Since then, many other governors have called it home, including Jimmy Carter, George Busbee, Joe Frank Harris, Zell Miller, Roy Barnes, Sonny Perdue, Nathan Deal, and Brian Kemp, who is the current resident.
Public Tours
Lester and Virginia Maddox, the first family to live in the mansion, started a tradition of opening the home to the public for tours. This tradition continues today! You can take a tour of the mansion on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. If you have a group of 10 or more people, you'll need to make a reservation. The best part is, there's no charge to visit!
Previous Governor's Homes
| Georgia Governor's Mansion 1870–1923 | |
|---|---|
State of Georgia Governor's Mansion 1870–1923
|
Georgia has had a few different official homes for its governors over the years:
- The very first official Governor's Mansion (from 1838 to 1868) was in Milledgeville. You can still visit it today!
- When the state capital moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868, the first home for the governor in Atlanta was not officially owned by the state. It was a three-story building on Peachtree Street.
- In 1870, the state bought its first official mansion in Atlanta. It was a large Victorian home. Seventeen governors lived there until 1921, when Governor Dorsey moved out because the building was getting old and run down. That old home was taken down in 1923.
- In 1925, the state bought another mansion, a granite one, located in Ansley Park. Eleven governors lived in this home before it was also taken down in 1968, even though it was historically important.
