CA: Leland Stanford Mansion to reopen in fall (for Governor to entertain dignitaries)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California's chief executive may not have an official governor's mansion, but he soon will have a historic place to entertain visiting dignitaries. The Leland Stanford Mansion was home to three governors before becoming an orphanage at the turn of the 20th century and finally falling into disrepair. When it opens to the public in September after a three-year, $20 million facelift, it will have been restored to its former glory with some high-tech additions.

The four-story Italianate mansion, with its distinctive double curving staircase at the entrance, will be a museum and a center for the governor's diplomatic functions.

"The building has a sense of gravitas and history," said Susan Peters, chairwoman of the Leland Stanford Mansion Foundation. "One of the governor's jobs is to create a healthy economic climate and to promote the state in a diplomatic arena."

The Stanford Mansion, located just two blocks from the Capitol, became the official governor's mansion in 1862 when Gov.-elect Leland Stanford bought the 4,000-square-foot house. The railroad magnate and future founder of Stanford University soon expanded it to 19,000 square feet to accommodate his growing family and so he could use it for receptions and other official duties.

It was sold to the state in the 1950s and transferred to the Parks Department in 1978. By the time the foundation formed to save the mansion in 1991, the ceiling was falling in and piles of plaster littered many of the rooms, Peters said.

The foundation raised about half of the $20 million cost of the renovation, with the balance coming from state park bonds. The state Parks Department will operate the museum component of the Stanford Mansion.

Well, there's more to the story than in tis article. yes, nancy Reagan refused to live in the Governor's Mansion (the Victorian one) because the fire marshall told her that it was unsafe for precious little Ronnie who was about 6 at the time.

The Reagans then moved to rented digs, and Friends of Reagan built a modern, California Ranch Style mansion to house the family in suburban Sacramento. The home was donated to the state after Reagan left office.

The new Governor, Jerry Brown, refused to live in Reagan's mansion. Brown had grown up in the old Victorian mansion when his father was Governor in the 60's and early 60's, but that was now a museum. Jerry sold the donated Reagan mansion and lived like a hippie when he was Governor, parking his sleeping bag in friend's homes (like Linda Rondstadt).

That is the "rest of the story": why California does not have a Governor's mansion.

No, once a donation is made the state is allowed to do anything they want with it. However, I doubt that the donors expected the next governor to sell it. And Brown did it with such contemptuous remarks and a "holier than thou" attitude that it was a particularly ugly move, IMHO.

I should add that the house was used for receptions, as well as a home, and built for that purpose. As I remember, it was a very large, rambling ranch style home on the opposite side of the Sacramento River.

Although I was a supporter of Reagan, I thought that Nancy Reagan did not look too good for abandoning the old Victorian. Old Victorian houses are particularly prized in Northern California, especially; and people go to great lengths to preserve, restore, and live in them. It seemed like such a Southern CA move. However, I was convinced after reading the Fire Marshall's report that someting had to be done; and I better understood her motives.

Nowadays, of course, I realize how biased the media is/was and I recognize the spin they were putting on the whole affair. The idea was to portray Nancy as a crass, So. Californian snob who thought she was too good for Sacramento. It was freely pointed out that Ronnie was away at boarding school much of the time and only spent holidays there. Patti was barely mentioned and neither were Maureen or Michael, who were young adults. Perhaps they lived with Jane Wyman at the time, anyway.

In any case, I'm glad that the grand old Stanford Mansion is being refurbished for the Governor's use. As a third generation native Californian (living happily elsewhere, thank God) it is embarrassing to me that my native state has had no proper venue for State Receptions, etc.

Love the list on your home page of California initiatives that have qualified for the ballot this year. At first glance, I'd probably vote yes on all of them. I have shared your list with three of our Wisconsin legislators.

My husband and I have been pressuring them (with no luck so far) to institute a California-style initiative process for Wisconsin. Our current initiative process is a joke -- they have to pass the voters twice over 8 years and then pass the legislature twice and then be signed by the Governor.

Needless to say, we NEVER get anything through that starts with the voters.

That's not altogether a bad thing. Initiatives can be profoundly anti-conservative if the public gets in the grip of an emotional, manipulative PR campaign. That's how we lost trapping in Arizona. If they can do it for trapping, they can do it for hunting, or drinking, or anything else the public gets in a frenzy about. We are a republic, not a democracy.

-ccm

I hear you. But right now the voter's in Wisconsin really have nothing to say about how this state is run. The Dem governor vetoes everything -- voter ID will go down for the 3rd time shortly, as has Concealed Carry and every other common sense proposal. This is all despite the Republicans controlling both the Assembly and the Senate!

We are one of the highest taxed states in the nation and have record deficits and we can't get a Taxpayer Bill of Rights or tax freeze past the Gov. This is the WORST state in the nation to retire (according to Money mag). Even the Teacher's Union (which is milking us dry with ever increasing taxes) counsels its members to take their fat retirement checks and paid medical and move to Arizona!

It is disgusting!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.