South Carolina's Governor's Mansion was originally built in 1855 as a residence for officers of the Arsenal Military Academy (sister school to the Citadel). Influenced by British Colonial plantations, this Federalist style building became the Governor's Mansion in 1868 and has served in that capacity ever since. For a brief period, in the late 1800's, the state leased the building to a private family who used it as a boarding house. The mansion is the only building to have survived, in tact, Sherman's burning of Columbia during the Civil War. Over the years, the building has undergone several renovations, and the property has been enlarged to its present 9 acres size. Included on the complex is the Lace House ( built in 1854, it became the Mansion's official guest house in the 1960's) and the Caldwell-Boylston House (built in 1830, it was purchased by the state in 1978 and is now used by the Governor's Mansion staff and as the Welcome Center for the complex). The public rooms of the Mansion itself contain silver, China, furniture, paintings, and documents depicting South Carolina's history. In 1970, the Governor's Mansion complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
...with the requisite fountains.
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