Christmas at the Governor's Mansion

The Governor's Mansion in California is an Italianate mansion built for the Gallatin family in 1877. Thirteen governors lived in the mansion between 1903 and 1967. Newly re-elected Jerry Brown lived here when his father, Pat Brown, was governor.

I thought it would be fun to visit the mansion for the holidays. The Christmas decor was actually more subdued and understated than I had expected, but I really liked that it wasn't overly done like it probably would have been during Victorian times. 

This is the music room. The piano has been played by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liberace, and John F. Kennedy. I think there were many other well known people who played it, but I stopped listening to the tour guide after I heard that John F. Kennedy had sat there and played. I imagined what an evening would have been like to sit there and listen to the President of the United States play the piano.

The ornate woodwork is so beautiful and I love that there is a small library tucked into a small closet off of the music room. Originally, the music room was the library for the Gallatin family.

The formal parlor

The formal dining room

What makes the governor's mansion so interesting and unique is the mixture of victorian-era furnishings with more mid-century modern. I am going to save pictures of the informal parlor and the 2nd floor rooms for another post.