The Texas Governor's Mansion, is a historic home for the Governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. It was built in 1854, designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor Greg Abbott and First LadyCecilia Phalen Abbott are the 40th family to live in the Texas Governor's Mansion and Abbott is the 41st governor to live in the mansion full-time. On June 8, 2008, while midway through a major renovation, the mansion was badly damaged by an arson fire started with a Molotov cocktail.
Built by Abner Cook in a Greek Revival style and completed in 1856, the building occupies the center of a block and is surrounded by trees and gardens. The original mansion was. Remodeling in 1914 increased the size of the mansion to 8,920 square feet. The original mansion had 11 rooms but no bathrooms. The remodeling brought the room count to 25 rooms and 7 bathrooms. In 1931, at the recommendation of former Texas First Lady Mildred Paxton Moody, the Forty-second Texas Legislature established the Board of Mansion Supervisors to oversee all interior and exterior upkeep and enhancements to the mansion. Mrs. Moody was the first head of the Board, which was abolished in 1965.
2008 fire
The mansion was partially destroyed by a four-alarm fire during the early morning of June 8, 2008. Then-Governor Rick Perry and his wife Anita Thigpen Perry were in Europe at the time of the fire. They had relocated in October 2007 for a $10 million major deferred maintenance project that began in January 2008. The project was to include a fire suppression system. State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado said the next Sunday that investigators had evidence that an arsonist targeted the 152-year-old building. On February 2, 2011, Chief Tony Leal, an assistant director of the Texas Rangers, announced that a person of interest has been identified that is connected to an Austin-based anarchist group which has also been linked to an attack which was planned for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul during September 2008. No one has ever been charged and there has never been any evidence linking anarchist involvement to date. An official close to the investigation said agents determined the fire was a criminal act "after reviewing footage from security cameras." To date the crime has gone unclaimed. A restoration was begun, with a scheduled completion in 2012. In May 2009, $22 million was allocated to the restoration of the Governor's Mansion, $11 million of which came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. An additional $3.4 million has been raised through private fund raising. The restoration area, which includes the mansion and the adjacent segment of Colorado Street, has been closed to the public with a chain-link fence and barbed wire.
