Library

The Library remains as unchanged from 1856 as any room in the Governor’s Mansion. The room has been primarily used as a library and as a room for informal entertaining by the Governors and their families. Over the years, the room has been called the “Library,” the “Reading Room” (Governor Pease referred to it as his reading room when he first moved into the house), the “Southeast Drawing Room” and the “Green Room” because it has been decorated in various shades of green.

When Governor Coke Stevenson moved in, the south door was bricked up (the South Entry remained closed until the 1979-1982 restoration-renovation) to allow for a bathroom facility for Mrs. Stevenson, who was disabled by cancer and died in the green room just five months after her husband took office.

The Library fireplace mantel has retained its original simplicity through the years and was used as a model for the other mantels in the Mansion during the 1980’s restoration. The chandelier is the only one in the house that hangs in its original location, and it may have been in the house as early as 1856.