The thirty-room, three story Second Empire-Italianate Victorian mansion was built in 1877 for local hardware merchant Albert Gallatin, who sold it to businessman Joseph Steffens, the father of journalist Lincoln Steffens, in 1887. The State of California purchased the house in 1903 to serve as the governor's mansion. Many furnishings remain from former governors, including Pardee's 1902 Steinway piano, velvet chairs and sofas belonging to Governor Hiram Johnson, and Persian rugs bought by the wife of Earl Warren. The structure has been renovated a number of times over the years. In 1967 after the Reagans moved out, the mansion was turned into a museum and opened to the public. The third floor of the mansion has been closed to the public since the 1990s.
Avoidance by later governors
The Governor's Mansion was not occupied by state governors between 1967 and 2015. In 1974, an alternative governor's residence was constructed in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael and was completed just as Reagan left office. Jerry Brown, who succeeded Reagan, refused to live in the large residence, and it was sold by the state in 1982. Instead, Brown lived in a sparsely furnished apartment during his first two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983. When Brown became governor again in 2011, he opted to live in a downtown loft. George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, and Gray Davis all lived in different Carmichael residences. Arnold Schwarzenegger stayed in a hotel suite at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento near the Capitol when he was in Sacramento but ordinarily commuted each day by private plane from his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. The former Carmichael house is now in a gated community called La Casa de los Gobernadores. It is located next to Ancil Hoffman Golf Course. The home overlooks the American River.
Proposed for closure
The Governor's Mansion was one of 70 California state parks proposed for closure by July 2012 as part of a deficit reduction program. It was previously one of several state parks threatened with closure in 2008. Those closures were ultimately avoided by cutting hours and maintenance system-wide.
Resumption of use as official residence
After extensive renovations, Governor Brown moved into the Governor's Mansion during his fourth term, the first governor to reside there since Ronald Reagan in 1967. His successor, Governor Gavin Newsom, and his family moved temporarily into the mansion before taking up residence in a house they bought following his election in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks. A spokesman for the governor said that the mansion would be open for tours and state business.
