Nebraska Governor's Mansion facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Nebraska Governor's Mansion
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 Location in Nebraska
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1425 H St., Lincoln, Nebraska |
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| Built | 1957 |
| Architect | Solheim, Selmer A.; Broer, W.J., Construction Co. |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 08000173 |
| Added to NRHP | March 12, 2008 |
The Nebraska Governor's Mansion is where the governor of Nebraska and their family live. It's located in Lincoln, Nebraska. This beautiful home, designed in a style called modified Georgian Colonial, has been the governor's official residence since March 17, 1958.
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Exploring the Governor's Home
The Nebraska Governor's Mansion sits on a whole city block, showing how important the building and the governor's job are. The area around the mansion has big lawns, pretty gardens, paths for walking, and a fountain. A strong, fancy iron fence was added in the late 1990s to surround the property.
Main Entrance and Design
The main door of the mansion is on the north side. It's not exactly in the middle of the building. Six white Doric columns stand tall at the entrance, holding up a two-story triangular shape above the door. This shape has small block-like decorations called dentils. The main door has twelve panels and is surrounded by narrow windows on the sides and a window above it. These windows have a criss-cross pattern. The doorknob on the main door is special because it came from the first governor's mansion, which was taken down in the 1950s.
Windows and Other Features
All the windows on the rectangular, brick building have decorative shutters. They also have flat arches above them, called jack arches. On the west side of the building, there's a one-story garage for three cars. Its flat roof is also a porch for the guestrooms on the second floor. A sunroom was added to the east side of the building to make it look balanced with the garage. This sunroom also has a porch, surrounded by white wood panels and brick columns. The windows on the east and west sides are arranged differently than the front. They focus more on privacy and comfort inside the home, with single windows in bathrooms instead of double ones.
History of the Mansion
The current Governor's Mansion wasn't the first one. Nebraska has had a few official homes for its governors over the years.
The First Governor's Mansion (1899-1955)
The original Nebraska Governor's Mansion was a large private home built in 1890. The state of Nebraska bought it in 1899. However, by the mid-1900s, the old mansion was getting too old and wasn't very practical for the governor's family or for official events. Parts of the building were even considered unsafe by the fire department. People felt that the family's private areas were too big, while the spaces for official gatherings were too small.
From 1945 to 1953, lawmakers in Nebraska talked about what to do. They thought about buying a different building or accepting a donated home. In 1953, they decided it would be cheaper to build a brand new mansion than to fix up the old one. So, in 1955, the Nebraska legislature set aside $200,000 to buy the land around the old mansion and build a new one.
Planning the New Home
The governor at the time, Victor E. Anderson, was very involved in designing the new mansion. He wanted to make sure it was a good use of public money. Governor Anderson even looked at the plans for the Florida Governor's Mansion and visited the Arkansas Governor's Mansion to get ideas. He also asked the wives of past Nebraska governors for their thoughts. Mrs. Elizabeth Peterson, whose husband was a former governor, suggested that the first floor should be for all official and public events. The governor's family would then live separately on the second floor. This idea was used in the final design of the new mansion.
A special committee of three well-known local architects helped choose the designer for the project. In January 1956, Selmer A. Solheim, an architect from Lincoln, was chosen to design the new mansion.
Design and Construction
Solheim first designed the mansion to use expensive Indiana limestone, to match the nearby State Capitol Building. However, the Building Commission decided this was too costly. Instead, they chose to use cheaper, locally sourced red brick. Before the old mansion was torn down, Solheim saved some interior items to use in the new building. About 300 other items were sold to the public, which helped raise money for the new mansion.
The plans for the new mansion were shared in August 1956. Solheim described his design as "Modified Georgian Revival." He chose this traditional American style because he believed modern styles might look old-fashioned quickly.
Some local architects didn't like the design at first. One architect, Harry F. Cunningham, thought the new mansion wouldn't look good next to the impressive Capitol building. He especially disliked the "pink brick" next to the Capitol's "warm gray stone." He blamed the State Building Commission for this choice.
However, other important local architects defended the design. Frank Latenser, who was on the committee that chose Solheim, helped convince others that the plans were good. Eventually, even Harry Cunningham agreed to stop criticizing the design.
Construction finished, and the new mansion opened for public tours in March 1958. About 35,000 people from all over the state visited the mansion in the first two days! On the opening day, Solheim even wrote a poem to honor the building, the workers, and the people of Nebraska who supported the project:
"All have a share in the beauty,
All have a part in the plan
What does it matter what duty
Falls to the lot of man?
Someone has blended the plaster
And someone has carried the stone:
Neither the man nor the master
Ever has builded alone.
Making a roof from the weather,
Or building a house for the king,
Only by working together
Have men accomplished a thing."
Mansion Renovation Efforts
In the late 1980s, Bill Orr, who was the husband of Governor Kay Orr, led efforts to update the mansion. When he moved in with his wife in 1987, he felt the inside looked a bit plain. Bill Orr wrote a cookbook called The First Gentleman's Cookbook. All the money from selling the cookbook went towards a $200,000 fund to renovate and update the mansion. His cookbook included recipes from famous people like Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Warren Buffett, and Johnny Carson.
