It’s a first. On Richmond’s Capitol Square,
not far from where legislators and lobbyists gather, a
former first child has slipped into the Executive Mansion
to become Virginia’s first lady. Anne Holton, wife
of Governor Tim Kaine, shared the austere dwelling with
her parents and siblings from 1970 to 1974, during her
father, Linwood Holdon, Jr.'s. tenure as governor.
“We kind of treated the place as a big play yard,”
Holton told the Washington Times recently. ("Back
to the Executive Mansion," Washington Times,
December 12, 2005). Her brother, Woody, would roller skate
through a tunnel that connected the mansion with the Capitol,
and Dwight, another sibling, played in a tree house built
in an oak on the grounds.
Holton is not the first child of a governor to also become
first lady in the Commonwealth. That honor goes to Martha
Jefferson Randolph – daughter of Thomas Jefferson,
Virginia’s second governor. She was married to Governor
Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. (1819 - 1822). Martha Randolph
lived with her father in Williamsburg when Jefferson was
governor. Holton, however, is the first to live in the
same residence twice.
The Executive Mansion has an illustrious history. Completed
in 1813, it is the oldest continuously occupied governor’s
house in the nation. Plans for the new residence began
when Governor John Tyler, Sr. (1808 -1811) requested that
the General Assembly appropriate funds for a new governor’s
house. According to William Seale in "Virginia’s
Executive Mansion," Tyler felt his current dwelling
“was intolerable for a private family.” Lack
of privacy seemed to be his major concern. In a speech
to legislators, he explained that there was “not
a foot of ground that is not exposed to three streets,
besides a cluster of dirty tenements immediately in front
of the house with their windows opening into the enclosure.”
The legislators agreed and allocated funds for the project.
Admired by students of architectural history, the Federal-style
building has housed an array of first families, couples,
widowers and bachelors over its 193-year history.
The first residents, Governor James Barbour (1812 –
1814) and his wife Lucy, were well-known for their hospitality.
Food and drink were available constantly, including a
silver bowl with a whisky punch cooled with ice. Legislators
could stop by anytime to refresh themselves. Things were
quite different when Winston Churchill, while researching
his book, "History of the English-Speaking Peoples,"
visited the Executive Mansion during the dry Prohibition
years. Gov. Harry F. Byrd, Sr. (1926 – 1930) discovered
that Churchill drank a quart of brandy a day. According
to Seale, Byrd shared the predicament with a local newspaperman
and asked if he could find and deliver a quart of French
brandy every day during the Englishman’s visit.
Apparently, the journalist had speakeasy contacts and
did.
Known at various times as Virginia’s “state
house” or “government house,” the Executive
Mansion has an unusual status as a quasi-public building.
It was often remodeled every four years or less by each
new occupant due to the Virginia Constitution’s
one-term limitation for governor. Such changes reflected
the lifestyles of new residents or the technology of the
age. Gov. Littleton Tazewell (1834 – 1836) and his
wife were night owls. Tazewell often stayed up past 2
a.m. reading or playing chess. He needed better artificial
light for these activities and replaced the home’s
oil lamps with its first chandelier. Governor William
"Extra Billy" Smith (1846 – 1849) installed
the mansion’s first indoor toilet and bathing facilities,
state-of-the-art innovations at the time.
A child’s error resulted in one of the Executive
Mansion’s most extensive overhauls. In 1926, Governor
Elbert Lee Trinkle's five-year-old son, Billy, lit a sparkler
that accidentally ignited a Christmas tree. Mrs. Trinkle
braved the smoke and flames to rescue her 15-year-old
son Lee, asleep in an upstairs bedroom. The resulting
fire destroyed the rear of the house. Trinkle, who stayed
in his wife’s hospital room after the fire, left
office less than a month later. But, he made arrangements
with incoming Governor Byrd to rebuild the destroyed portion.
A recent major renovation took place during Governor James
Gilmore, III's tenure (1998 - 2002). Home- repair-expert
Bob Vila, of “This Old House” fame,
filmed the months-long project for a 13-part series on
his newer TV show, “Home Again.”
According to a Washington Post article (“Governor’s
Mansion Is Good as New,” Nov. 19, 1999), the
$7.5 million renovation included putting in new cable
hookups and phone lines for high-speed Internet access,
as well as restoring paint to original colors.
Now that the inauguration hoopla has died down, Kaine,
Holton and their three children are settling into the
cream-colored mansion. “Thinking about what it will
be like to have my children here, it was – I think
‘surreal’ is the word,” Holton told
the Washington Times about a visit to the mansion
after her husband’s election. Surreal or not, perhaps
her return proves you can go home, again.
February 13, 2006
Nice & Curious
|
Last Modified:
Friday, June 27, 2008
|
