Photos courtesy the Governor's Mansion Preservation Foundation.
During the Governor's Mansion's recent renovations, the upstairs Master Bedroom and adjacent sitting room were switched to enable a better flow through the house. Renovations for the sitting room were headed by New Orleans designers Chad Graci, Susan Taylor Wadick, and Marilyn Stotz Young.
In all its grandeur upon Capital Lake, against a backdrop marked dramatically by that iconic spire itself, the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion stands as a literal house of worshipful symbolism to the state it is meant to serve. Replicating the Southern subspecies of Greek Revival architecture known as the peripteral mode, a style blending the classic Greek temple with the French Creole aesthetic, the Mansion’s architectural sisters are such distinctly Louisiana landmarks as River Road’s Houmas House and Oak Alley, along with several parish courthouses and churches. Inside, guests are greeted in a foyer adorned by Auseklis Ozols’ iconic mural—depicting on four walls scenes from Louisiana’s diverse landscapes, littered with hidden odes to each governor who has lived in the home. In the Drawing and Dining Rooms, the floors are covered in Edward Fields rugs, adorned with magnolias and oak leaves, acorns and sixty-four fleur de lis (for each of the state’s parishes). Standing in the rotunda—a room centered by a stunning marble motif of Louisiana’s State seal—the suspended stairway leads visitors’ eyes up past fifty-nine years of Louisiana political history marked by portraits of each of its past nine governors against a one-of-a-kind custom-made wallpaper, featuring more fleur de lis pierced by what has come to be called the “Foster stripe.” Above the new Baccarat chandelier in the home’s rotunda, the ceiling crowns the room in eighteen stars, a nod to Louisiana’s place as the eighteenth state of the Union, which are then surrounded themselves by the names of each Louisiana parish.
And for most of the public, this is where it ends. Entryway, Drawing Room, Dining Room, Rotunda—four rooms bursting with sacred nods of allegiance to the state, its history, and all it stands for. The rest of the Mansion’s 25,000 square feet stays behind closed doors, honoring the privacy of Louisiana’s first family. Because after all, at the end of the day, for all its status and symbolism, the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion is—at its core—someone’s home.
For the past eighteen months, these private spaces have been undergoing a major renovation, the first in the Governor’s Mansion since 1996, when Governor Frank Foster’s wife Alice founded the Governor’s Mansion Foundation. After raising $2,000,000 through a grassroots campaign to fund the mansion’s renovations, the Foundation was dissolved. In 2016, current First Lady Donna Edwards—realizing the mansion was again in need of a refresh—revived it, renaming it the Governor’s Mansion Preservation Foundation.
A large part of the Foundation’s efforts has been the refurbishment of the second and third floor living spaces of the Mansion—areas typically not open to the public. But this month, the family welcomed guests upstairs, sharing the home’s newest updates with visitors and media from all over the state. “This belongs to you,” the First Lady told guests.
For the project—a careful balance between tasteful modern updates and preservation of the home’s historical aesthetics—the First Lady opted against trusting one single, esteemed professional to do the job; instead she invited nineteen designers from every corner of the state to contribute to the renovations, overseen by Executive Director Sandy McClelland, Heidi Meibaum of the Louisiana Coalition for Interior Design and Mary Mowad Guiteau of Holly & Smith Architects. It was an important opportunity, said Lady Edwards, to showcase the talents of designers all across the state in establishing the mansion’s design for the years to come.
The Magnolia Room, a guest room on the Mansion's second floor, received its makeover at the hand of Baton Rouge designer Ty Larkins.
Baton Rouge’s Ty Larkins headed the second floor guest room renovations, adding special touches to the Pelican and Magnolia rooms. Across the way, Jefferson Parish designers Michelle Verdigets, Adrian Naquin, and Stacey Serro teamed up to rejuvenate the Master Suite, with New Orleans neighbors Chad Graci, Susan Taylor Wadick, and Marilyn Stoltz Young rethinking the Master Sitting Room and Balcony. Upstairs, Northshore designers Mary Mowad Guiteau, Judith André Verges, and Elizabeth Walther updated the family room into a stylish, yet comfortable game-night, football-watching haven. Down the hall, Lafayette designers Justine Hebert and Brian Powell capitalized on the way the light filled the Governor and First Lady’s daughter Sarah Ellen’s bedroom, dubbing it the “Sunshine Room.” The room that their other daughter, Samantha Bel, stays in with her husband when they visit was made much softer, with rose and pink accessories chosen by Central and North Louisiana designers Missy Dubroc, Marion Johnston, and J. Shelby Taylor. At the end of the hall, Berwick designer Lisa Parsiola teamed up with Baton Rouge’s Amanda Cason to successfully source all of the furnishings for “La Petite Room” from within the house and did a total reworking of the mansion’s personal gym.
Each designer worked from the same spare template: a beige-colored carpet identical to the ones at (and donated by) Windsor Court in New Orleans and the First Lady’s preferred palette of ivory with soft blues and greens. From room to room, the plans were not discussed or coordinated in any fashion, and even within rooms, most of the time the designers on a project had never worked together before. And yet, the finished result was an overall cohesive and distinguished design that felt fresh, understated, and classic. Dignified, while still comfortable and functional—a natural transition from “home of the state” to the “state of the home.”
Northshore designers Judith André Verges, Elizabeth Walther, and Mary Mowad Guiteau worked together to update the family room, called the "Jazz Room," into a space that is both comfortable and classic.
And practical as well. As much as possible, the designers—who volunteered their time entirely—utilized existing furniture, and on our tour the First Lady repeatedly shared that one item or another was taken from the mansion’s attic, bringing a charming sort of nostalgia to it all and piling on symbolism, even in the most private areas of the home. The “Jazz Room,” “Fleur De Lis Room” and “Magnolia Room” are among the vivid spaces, where Louisiana artists have depicted dearly familiar scenery, jazz musicians, magnolias (including one in the form of a bath mat), fleur de lis galore, and one giant pelican. Suffice to say, the spirit of Louisiana lives in each and every room of the mansion, in its very walls.
For more information on the Louisiana Governor's Mansion and the Preservation Foundation, visit governorsmansion.org.
