Lexington, KY - Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear calls it "an ongoing history" and David Buchta, the director and state curator of the Division of Historic Properties, calls the project "an evolution of the 200 plus years of grandeur."
Meg Jewett, the owner of L.V. Harkness, says it's "an old-fashioned barn raising."
All of these descriptions, from the rural to the cosmopolitan, do encompass the months-long revitalization of the Old Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, which corralled a hodgepodge of over 300 willing participants from across the state - designers, decorators, artists, electricians, organizers, retailers, upholsterers, landscapers -
who donated their materials, time and talents in rendering the historic residence's metamorphosis. And the project didn't cost the state one single penny.
Not that the structure was in shambles - far from it. Major renovation work was completed as recent as 2002, but First Lady Beshear called the early 1800s decorating motif "rather cold and uninviting." The state didn't even offer tours of the premises. The first bricks of the building's potential were laid when Beshear and her husband, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, attended a governors conference in Washington D.C. in February of 2008. All the first ladies took a tour of the Blair House, the official residence for guests of the president -
most notably foreign dignitaries. "And I thought, 'Maybe that's something we could do here, because we have the Alltech 2010 World Equestrian Games coming next year,'" Beshear remembered. (Incidentally, the Blair House is named after its second owner, Francis Preston Blair, a Frankfort newspaper publisher and close confidant to President Andrew Jackson.)
Later, at a luncheon for the Kentucky Executive Mansion Foundation, Inc. (KEMFI) - a group comprised of former first ladies and others interested in the state's executive mansions and other historic structures and properties -
former first lady Phyllis George lamented over the languishing state of the Old Governor's Mansion, the abrupt stop in the home's continuous history. The words struck Meg Jewett, who enthusiastically approached George about the overhaul. "I said, 'I think we can do it. We can get it done and redecorated; we can have a decorators' showcase,'" Jewett recalled. They called the first lady, who gave them the go-ahead.
The most glaring, and potentially insurmountable, obstacle was the complete absence of funding for the project. "It was not the time, of course, to raise money for anything," Jewett said. This is where the barn raising aspect comes into play. Instead of focusing on the entire house as one endeavor, each room was broken down into an individual undertaking and assigned to an "area coordinator," who would then be in charge of that single space -
its furnishings, color scheme, decorations -
working in tandem with an oversight committee to ensure historic integrity. For some consistency, area coordinators could cull furniture from the state's coffers of antiquities, coordinate with a pool of volunteer contractors and choose colors from a prearranged palette of historic paints.
The eight approved colors came from American Historical Paints, a Lexington business specializing in pure paints that satisfy many historical societies' stipulations. The ceilings were painted with a half tint of the color picked for the walls. "There's a contrast between the ceiling and the walls, but the colors keep flowing because they're all in the same family," owner Steve Moore said. Serendipitously, the color selected for the entire house's trim work was called Jewett White. "Meg (Jewett) liked that name really well," he said. "And we like it too, so we kind of refer to it as Meg's color."
Moore said it was a privilege to have his product on exhibit at the Old Governor's Mansion and donated all the paint for the project -
he couldn't help but to think of who might be laying down to sleep at night in one of the bedrooms and seeing his work before they dozed off.
That sentiment, according Donna Borden, the participant chairman for the project, was very enticing for all the volunteers involved. Borden was sought out for the project because of her work with decorators' showcases in both Louisville and Lexington. She worked closely with all of the area coordinators. "That's something I love to do, I enjoy working with everybody. As we went on with this project, more and more people came forward," she said. "To think that every item here was donated, it's an unbelievable statement. This is so unique to have an entire household refinished by so many people coming together."
The residence now stands as a testament to Kentucky's history while also honoring contemporary talents -
a successful mÈlange of past and present -
and a fitting tribute to the oldest executive residence still in use in the country. Since being completed in 1798 (the "Palace," as it was called in its early days, is two years older than the White House), the house has been home to 33 governors until 1914 (when the Executive Mansion was completed) and 10 lieutenant governors from 1956 -
2002. According to David Buchta, the director and curator of the Division of Historic Properties, one of the driving forces behind the Executive Mansion, aside from having larger quarters, was that the state penitentiary, with about 3,800 inmates, was across the street from the residence. "You can imagine it wasn't the most gratifying place to bring dignitaries and presidents - these days you wouldn't be able to do that at all," he said. "But at that time in the early 1900s, I'm sure it was almost an embarrassment to bring President Taft to the Old Governor's Mansion." Other presidents to have been hosted at the mansion include James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton.
The transition has been eye-popping, especially for Buchta, who has served in his post for the past five years. Prior to the restoration, all the ins and outs of the building were committed to memory, now he's quickly trying to update his cheat sheet, which encompasses approximately 200 new pieces for furniture, decorative art and antiques. "I'm still learning it everyday, still compiling information," he said. "The actual provenance or description where the pieces came from is something that takes a while to obtain and get down in the correct manner."
Some of the pieces are rather striking, such as the flooring in the downstairs powder room. The wood, a donation from Long Wood Flooring, was taken from the barn where War Admiral stayed (potentially from his stall). The significance of other pieces might not be instantly realized, such as the MESDA registered cherry Sheraton sideboard in the dining room that dates to 1815. "It's probably one of the finest examples of that type of Kentucky furniture in existence," Buchta said.
He is also taken with the intricate mural that wraps around the foyer's staircase, painted by Louisville artist Sandy Kimura who worked on the composition daily for nine weeks straight. The painting is meant to resemble 18th century wallpaper, and small vignettes of Kentucky history have been incorporated into the design.
Aside from the original artwork, the Old Governor's Mansion was able to receive fine art from the Speed Art Museum, The Filson Historical Society and the University of Kentucky Art Museum. Also on display are four Paul Sawyier paintings from the Rebecca and Jay Rayburn Collection, on loan from Tallahassee, Fla. - a reminder of how far state pride can reach.
In stark contrast with the mainstream negative stereotype of Kentucky, the rejuvenation of the Old Governor's Mansion is a reflection of that pride, not just in historic structures, but in the commonwealth itself.
"This is really wonderful to see the sense of pride everyone has for the Old Governor's Mansion. And not just the Old Governor's Mansion, but Kentucky," Buchta said. "People are thrilled to hear the stories and the heritage of it. And for us to be able to weave back in the historical fabric that makes the tapestry of the commonwealth, that's what's most gratifying."