Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas Tour of Georgia's Governor's Mansion

The Georgia Governor's Mansion is the official home of Georgia's 82nd Governor, Nathan Deal, and his wife Sandra.  The Mansion, a three floor, 30 room Greek Revival style home was built in 1967 and stands on approximately 18 acres.  The Mansion is located  on historic West Paces Ferry Road  in northeast Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia Governor's Mansion
391 West Paces Ferry Road. NW
Atlanta, Georgia

The house covers 24,000 square feet and has a total of 30 Doric columns around the porches.  The columns are all made from California redwoods and each are 24 feet high.


Governor Nathan Deal's Fraternity Brothers were invited to the Mansion for a special Christmas tour of the Mansion last weekend.  My husband and Governor Deal were Fraternity Brothers, along with many others,  back at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.  

It is always such a pleasure to see all of these old friends get together, and it was especially exciting for all to be together to tour this beautiful Mansion during the Christmas season.

These rocking chairs were made as a special gift to Governor Deal and Mrs. Deal from one of my husband's  fellow Fraternity Brothers.


The rocking chairs sit on the front porch of the Mansion.  Mrs. Sandra Deal describes the Mansion now as a "Southern" Greek Revival Mansion.  She also said she and the Governor plan to take these rocking chairs with them when they eventually move from the Mansion.  What a wonderful, thoughtful gift.


On each side of the rocking chairs were these huge "Toys for Tots" drop-off boxes.


A lovely Christmas wreath on the front door of the Mansion.


The mansion has three levels:  The ballroom is located on the lower level and is used for formal dinners, and is a good meeting area for large groups. The lower level has a capacity of 175.  The main floor is considered the State Floor and the majority of rooms on this level are used for official entertaining.

Below is the beautiful view you see as you come in the front door.  The theme in each room is designed with Christmas music in mind.  This front foyer is called:  "I am Dreaming of a White Christmas."






Off to the right of the foyer is the Main Dining Room with a "Jingle Bells" theme.


I was using my point and shoot camera for this tour, and unfortunately my photos did not turn our very sharp.  But, hopefully you can still get a feel for the beauty of all the rooms.




Mrs. Deal told us there is a total of 32 Christmas trees decorated for the Mansion this year.  All of the trees were donated.  Some of the trees came from Georgia and some from North Carolina.  She also told us her prayer group helped decorate some of the trees.




Below is the grand staircase in the foyer of the Mansion.


The State sitting room in the below photo is located to the left of the entrance hall and the dining room.  All of the furnishings in the house are considered to be museum quality and make up one of the finest Federal period collections in the United States.  They are a permanent collection and belong to the state of Georgia.  I especially like the color and design of the curtains in this room.  The chandeliers are from Waterford.


There were so many pretty decorations to inspire all of us.




In the below photo is the Family Dining Room.  In the background you can get a glimpse of the Governor's Mansion kitchen with the cook working away, probably preparing dinner for the evening.


In the below photo you can see the keepsake monogrammed tray given to Mrs. Deal from the Fraternity Brothers and their wives.






Governor's Mansion Kitchen




The centerpiece of the entrance to the Governor's Mansion is a Georgia marble fountain with three large flagpoles.


Concluding the tour as we walked outside, we could see the beautiful fountain and just to the left of the fountain was this huge brightly lit Christmas tree....a perfect way to end the tour of the Georgia Governor's Mansion.


Thanks for coming along on this tour of the beautiful Georgia Governor's Mansion.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas with many blessing.

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