Virginia Governor's Mansion | |
Location | Capitol Square, Richmond, Virginia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°32′19″N77°25′57″W / 37.53861°N 77.43250°W |
Built | 1811 |
Architect | Parris, Alexander; Thompkins, Christopher |
Architectural style | Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 69000360 [1] |
VLR No. | 127-0057 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | June 4, 1969 |
Designated NHL | June 7, 1988 [2] |
Designated VLR | November 5, 1968 [3] |
The Virginia Governor's Mansion, better known as the Executive Mansion, is located in Richmond, Virginia, on Capitol Square and serves as the official residence of the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Designed by Alexander Parris, it is the oldest occupied governor's mansion in the United States. It has served as the home of Virginia governors and their families since 1813. This mansion is both a Virginia and a National Historic Landmark and has had a number of renovations and expansions during the 20th century.
Adjacent and immediately north of Capitol Square is the Court End neighborhood, which houses the White House of the Confederacy. During the Civil War, the Virginia State Capitol, also in Richmond, housed offices of the Confederacy. Tours of the mansion are offered several days a week.
When Richmond became the capital of Virginia in 1779, there was no residence for the governor, but Thomas Jefferson rented one. The state was so poor that it could not pay the rent in time and blamed Jefferson for the problem. The state finally paid its rent and built a residence for the governor on the site of the present building.
The law that provided for the construction of the current building was signed on February 13, 1811, by James Monroe, with the building being completed in 1813. Monroe was succeeded by George William Smith in 1811, but Smith was not the first governor to live in the mansion because he lost his life in the Richmond Theatre fire while he was saving others on December 26, 1811. [4] His successor, James Barbour, was the first governor to live in the mansion. The term "mansion" was not used in the law authorizing it to be built, but it has been used ever since.
The gardens were redesigned in the 1950s, at the request of Governor Thomas B. Stanley, by noted landscape architect Charles Gillette. [5]
Anne Holton lived in the mansion twice: during the 1970s when her father, A. Linwood Holton Jr., was governor, and returned to the home as Virginia's first lady when her husband, Tim Kaine, served as governor from 2006 to 2010. Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph, known as "Patsy", was also the daughter and wife (to Thomas Mann Randolph Jr.) of Virginia governors, but never lived in the Mansion.
Under First Lady Roxane Gilmore, the mansion was renovated and expanded in an effort to restore the home to its historical appearance and to bring the Mansion into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, while providing additional living space for the First Family. [6] [7]
As of 2024 [update] , Governor Glenn Youngkin occupied the mansion.
It was featured on American Idol (season 5) when Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, welcomed Richmond-native and Idol-finalist Elliott Yamin and his family to the mansion on national television.
Restoration and remodeling work on the Mansion was shown on Bob Vila's Home Again television show's tenth season, which aired in early 2000.
The Mansion's most notable television appearance occurred on January 31, 2006, when recently inaugurated Governor Tim Kaine delivered the Democratic response to the 2006 State of the Union address. The address was delivered from the Mansion's historic ballroom.
Goochland County is a county located in the Piedmont of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its southern border is formed by the James River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,727. Its county seat is Goochland.
Oak Hill is a mansion and plantation located in Aldie, Virginia that was for 22 years a home of Founding Father James Monroe, the fifth U.S. President. It is located approximately 9 miles (14 km) south of Leesburg on U.S. Route 15, in an unincorporated area of Loudoun County, Virginia. Its entrance is 10,300 feet (3,100 m) north of Gilberts Corner, the intersection of 15 with U.S. Route 50. It is a National Historic Landmark, but privately owned and not open to the public.
Abner Linwood Holton Jr. was an American politician and attorney. He served as the 61st governor of Virginia, from 1970 to 1974, and was the first elected Republican governor of Virginia of the 20th century. He was known for supporting civil rights, integration, and public investment.
The American Civil War Museum is a multi-site museum in the Greater Richmond Region of central Virginia, dedicated to the history of the American Civil War. The museum operates three sites: The White House of the Confederacy, the American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar in Richmond, and the American Civil War Museum at Appomattox. It maintains a comprehensive collection of artifacts, manuscripts, Confederate books and pamphlets, and photographs.
The Second White House of the Confederacy is a historic house located in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Built in 1818, it served as the main executive residence of the sole President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, from August 1861 until April 1865. It currently sits on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
John Brockenbrough (1775–1852) was a business man and civic leader in Richmond, Virginia. He was an "intimate friend" and frequent correspondent of John Randolph of Roanoke. He was president of the Bank of Virginia. His home in Richmond's Court End District later served as the White House of the Confederacy.
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the state capital. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619.
St. John's Church is an Episcopal church located at 2401 East Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Formed from several earlier parishes, St. John's is the oldest church in the city of Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1741 by William Randolph's son, Colonel Richard Randolph; the Church Hill district was named for it. It was the site of two important conventions in the period leading to the American Revolutionary War, and is famous as the location where American Founding Father Patrick Henry gave his memorable speech at the Second Virginia Convention, closing with the often-quoted demand, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" The church is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
The Wren Building is the oldest building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Along with the Brafferton and President's House, these buildings form the College's "Ancient Campus." With a construction history dating to 1695, it is the oldest academic building still standing in the United States and among the oldest buildings in Virginia. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
The Governor's Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, was the official residence of the royal governors of the Colony of Virginia. It was also a home for two of Virginia's post-colonial governors, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, until the capital was moved to Richmond in 1780, and with it the governor's residence. The main house burned down in 1781, though the outbuildings survived for some time after.
Varina Farms, also known as Varina Plantation or Varina Farms Plantation or Varina on the James, is a plantation established in the 17th century on the James River about 10 miles (16 km) south of Richmond, Virginia. An 820-acre (330 ha) property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as "Varina Plantation". At that time it included two contributing buildings and one other contributing site.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal church in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Located directly across Ninth Street from the Virginia State Capitol, it has long been a popular house of worship for Richmond political figures, including General Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and many Virginia governors throughout the years..
The Hotel Richmond was a historic hotel located in Richmond, Virginia. Constructed in phases between 1904 and 1911, it was a rare example of a Gilded Age hotel built by a woman, Adeline Detroit Wood Atkinson. Atkinson turned the facility into a popular meeting spot for Richmond-area politicians, and the hotel acted as the headquarters for numerous political campaigns in the early 20th century. It was also the home of WRVA, the city's first radio station, from 1933 until 1968. After operating as a hotel under various names until 1966, the building was then purchased by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 as the Ninth Street Office Building, and was dedicated as the Barbara Johns Building in 2017. As of 2018 it housed the Office of the Attorney General.
Court End is a neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, that sits to the north of the Capitol Square and East Broad Street. It developed in the Federal era, after Virginia's capital moved from Williamsburg.
The Missouri Governor's Mansion is a historic U.S. residence in Jefferson City, Missouri. It is located at 100 Madison Street. On May 21, 1969, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is located in the Missouri State Capitol Historic District.
Anne Bright Holton is an American lawyer and judge who served as the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 to 2016. She is married to United States Senator and former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, the vice presidential running mate of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Tuckahoe, also known as Tuckahoe Plantation, or Historic Tuckahoe is located in Tuckahoe, Virginia on Route 650 near Manakin Sabot, Virginia, overlapping both Goochland and Henrico counties, six miles from the town of the same name. Built in the first half of the 18th century, it is a well-preserved example of a colonial plantation house and is particularly distinctive as a colonial prodigy house. Thomas Jefferson is also recorded as having spent some of his childhood here. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1969.
The Virginia Washington Monument, known locally simply as the Washington Monument, is a 19th-century neoclassical statue of George Washington located on the public square in Richmond, Virginia.