Old Governor's Mansion (Frankfort, Kentucky)


Old Governor's Mansion
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


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Location	420 High St., Frankfort, Kentucky
Coordinates	38°11′58″N 84°52′25″W / 38.19940°N 84.87368°W / 38.19940; -84.87368
Area	less than one acre
Built	1797
Architect	Robert P. Letcher; Thomas Metcalf
Architectural style	Georgian
NRHP reference No.	71000345^[1]
Added to NRHP	March 11, 1971

The Old Governor's Mansion, also known as Lieutenant Governor's Mansion, is located at 420 High Street, Frankfort, Kentucky. It is reputed to be the oldest official executive residence officially still in use in the Contiguous United States, as the mansion is the official residence of the lieutenant governor of Kentucky.^{[citation needed]}

In 1796, the Kentucky General Assembly appropriated funds to provide a house to accommodate the governor. Construction was completed in 1798. The home barely survived fires and neglect through the years. It has undergone several style changes as evidenced by some Victorian design elements that were added.

The Mansion was often referred to as the "Palace" in its early days. Dignitaries including Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Louis-Philippe of France, Henry Clay, William Jennings Bryan, and the Marquis de Lafayette have been guests of the Mansion. The last occupants of the mansion were Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry and his wife Heather French Henry. Since Henry, Lieutenant Governors have chosen not to live in the mansion but to maintain residences in their hometowns and travel to Frankfort as needed. Because of this, the mansion has been turned over to the Kentucky Historical Society.^[2]

Both a bricklayer and stonemason who helped build the house, Robert P. Letcher and Thomas Metcalf, later became governors and lived there.^[3]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.^[1]^[3]