Executive Mansion
Executive Mansion Tour
Behind the Scenes - Executive Mansion
Virginia's Executive Mansion, a masterpiece of Federalist architecture, is the oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States.
In 1810, the Virginia General Assembly authorized $20,000 for the construction of Virginia's Executive Mansion. With work completed in 1813, then Governor James Barbour and his family moved into the mansion as its first residents. Since that time, the Mansion has been the home of Virginia Governors and their families.
The Mansion, which is both a Virginia and National Historic Landmark, underwent some major changes in 1906. In 1926 a fire in the rear of the house caused extensive damage to the Mansion. With the establishment of the Citizen's Advisory Council on Furnishing and Interpreting the Executive Mansion in 1973, numerous projects have taken place to restore the furnishings and architectural features.
The Commonwealth of Virginia has appropriated over five million dollars for the current restoration of the Mansion—encompassing not only the historical rooms on the first floor but also family residence on the second floor.
Projects include the complete overhaul and modernization of the basement to include a state-of-the-art caterer's kitchen for official functions, all new mechanical systems, and updates for wheelchair accessibility.
As the First Family finished preparations for its move to temporary living quarters and the Mansion's exquisite furnishings and architectural embellishments were on their way out either to storage or for restoration work, Bob dropped by for a quick pre-demolition tour with First Lady Roxanne Gilmore.
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5) This is one of 1815 Regency-style chandeliers that were donated to the Executive Mansion a few years ago. The chandeliers will be all be removed and sent out to be cleaned. Each prism and all the glass will be cleaned individually. When reinstalled, part of the fire alarm system will be fed down through the chandeliers with the smoke detectors housed in what is called the "sniffer". |
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