Free Republic

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...