The Old Governor's Mansion, also known as Lieutenant Governor's Mansion, is located at 420 High Street, Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...

. It is reputed to be the oldest official executive residence officially still in use in the United States, as the mansion is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

The office of lieutenant governor of Kentucky has existed under the last three of Kentucky's four constitutions, beginning in 1797. The lieutenant governor serves as governor of Kentucky under circumstances similar to the Vice President of the United States assuming the powers of the presidency...

.

In 1796, the Kentucky General Assembly

Kentucky General Assembly

The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky.The General Assembly meets annually in the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky, convening on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January...

 appropriated funds to provide houses to accommodate the governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 and 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

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

, Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

, Louis-Philippe of France

Louis-Philippe of France

Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...

, Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...

, William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

 and the Marquis de Lafayette have been guests of the Mansion. The last actual occupants of the mansion was Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry and his wife Heather French Henry. Both Henry's successor, Steve Pence

Steve Pence

Stephen B. Pence was the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He took office with fellow Republican Ernie Fletcher in December 2003.-Education:...

 and current Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo

Daniel Mongiardo

Frank Daniel Mongiardo is an American physician and politician from Kentucky. Mongiardo is a Democrat and has been Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky since 2007. He was a member of the Kentucky State Senate from 2001 to 2007. He also ran for the U.S...

 have chosen not to live in the mansion but to maintain residences in their hometowns (Pence in Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 and Mongiardo in Hazard

Hazard, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,806 people, 1,946 households, and 1,266 families residing in the city. The population density was 684.6 people per square mile . There were 2,291 housing units at an average density of 326.4 per square mile...

) and travel to Frankfort as needed. Because of this, the mansion has been turned over to the Kentucky Historical Society

Kentucky Historical Society

The Kentucky Historical Society , established in 1836, is committed to helping people understand, cherish and share Kentucky's history. The KHS history campus, located in historic downtown Frankfort, Kentucky, includes the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, the Old State Capitol and the...

.

It was built in 1797. Both a bricklayer and stonemason who helped build the house, Robert P. Letcher

Robert P. Letcher

Robert Perkins Letcher was a politician and lawyer from the US state of Kentucky. He served as a U.S. Representative, Minister to Mexico, and the 15th Governor of Kentucky. He also served in the Kentucky General Assembly where he was Speaker of the House in 1837 and 1838. A strong supporter of the...

 and Thomas Metcalf, later became governors and lived there.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1971.