Mansion Tour

Please browse our:
BEFORE & AFTER GALLERY , ROOM GALLERY , FURNITURE GALLERY and MURAL GALLERY .

The Governor’s Mansion was built in 1963 when Jimmie Davis was Governor of Louisiana. The Mansion is located on Capital Lake near the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. This period marks a distinct departure from earlier Louisiana architecture.

The Mansion was designed by the architectural firm of Annan and Gilmer of Shreveport, Louisiana. The inspiration for the exterior design was Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. Like many plantation homes built between 1830 and 1860, Oak Alley was designed with a second story veranda that was typical of many Louisiana houses.

The second-floor veranda found at Oak Alley was omitted. It was thought that the concept of a second story veranda was too informal for a Governor’s Mansion. Although the new Mansion is in the Greek Revival style, it also incorporates several Georgian features such as dormers, a fanlight of the doorway at the front entrance, and the long window on the circular stairs in the rotunda.

White Dome columns line the building on three sides. The columns are interrupted on the east side by a driveway leading to an underground garage. The exterior of the building is constructed of hand-molded brick that has been painted white. The roof is made of cleft- face Vermont non-fading, gray-green slate. Front and side porches are of the same type of slate. Lampposts located in the parking lot east of the building were once gas lights used in Plymouth, England. The cast iron railing atop the driveway retaining walls and at the second story windows was designed from the railing used on the old Beauregard House on Chartres Street in New Orleans and was modified with the diamond pattern by the architect.