To spot the Washington Governor’s Mansion, just look ahead for a grand red-brick house set high above the hedges, with tall white columns and a fancy balcony at the center, perched right at the top of the hill with trees framing each side.
Now, take a deep breath and picture yourself back in Olympia in the early 1900s. You’re standing before this stately Georgian-style mansion, freshly built in 1908. Imagine the bustling noise as dignitaries and townsfolk gathered for the cornerstone ceremony, their voices echoing across Capitol Point. The excitement was thick in the air as Governor Albert E. Mead attended the celebration-but, plot twist, poor Mead never actually got to live here! He lost the Republican primary that same year, and the next governor, Samuel G. Cosgrove, only served for a single day before illness struck. In fact, the first family to ever move in was that of Lieutenant Governor Marion E. Hay, who took over after Cosgrove’s passing. Sometimes real estate really is all about timing!
Inside, Governor Hay’s wife, Elizabeth, got straight to work turning this mansion into a true showpiece, buying $15,000 worth of fancy furniture-imagine mahogany tables and stately grandfather clocks-pieces you’d still spot if you were to peek in the windows today. But not everyone found the mansion cozy. Just seven years later, Governor Ernest Lister and his family packed up and left, complaining that they simply couldn’t keep the house warm during the Olympia winters. Gas lights flickered in the halls until electricity finally arrived.
Time wasn’t always kind to the mansion. Despite renovations in the 1950s, clanking radiators and drippy ceilings kept making mischief. There was so much trouble at one point that the state considered tearing the whole place down to put up a brand-new office building! But in 1972, Nancy Evans, wife of Governor Daniel J. Evans, stood her ground, rallying preservationists to save and restore the home instead. With her zeal, a group called the Governor’s Mansion Foundation formed-imagine 47 women and 5 men gathered in the elegant Great Hall, plotting the mansion’s glorious comeback.
And oh, what treasures the mansion holds! The Great Hall glimmers with marble-topped Empire tables thanks to Charles Lannuier of New York, and a pair of gold-silk chairs gifted from Clallam County adds a splash of sparkle. Wander farther, and you’d find a collection of American-made Federal and Sheraton furniture: delicate Pembroke tables, a stately eagle-footed sofa, a regal piano, and even a fine mahogany sewing stand from the early 1800s.
The library holds not just stately bookshelves, but also rare rosewood and brass furniture-a gift in memory of the ill-fated Governor Cosgrove himself. In the State Dining Room, you’d hear the whispers of history in the painted wall panels, reminiscent of murals once chosen for the White House. Here are the dining chairs embroidered by volunteers from across Washington, each one stitching their initials and a story into the mansion’s fabric.
Would you believe there’s a shimmering silver service once made for the USS Olympia after the victory at the Battle of Manila Bay? It was custom-crafted in San Francisco, sailed with Commodore George Dewey, and is now right at home in the mansion-a glimmering link between state and nation.
But every stately home has its wild tales: in 1997, Governor Gary Locke had to battle a bat infestation, leading to midnight chases through moonlit halls and, for safety, rabies vaccinations for the whole family-cats included! In 2001, the Nisqually earthquake rattled the mansion’s bones. And in 2021, the mansion faced yet another trial as crowds breached the gates during a tense moment in history, forcing the governor into hiding.
So, as you stand here before these elegant red bricks and white columns, imagine all those voices-of governors, families, guests, and even the odd bat-echoing through 19 rooms, each adding a layer to the ever-growing story of Washington’s own house on the hill.
