GOVERNMENT HOUSE TRUST

Chair: Ellington Churchill, Jr., Secretary of General Services
[photo, Government House, Annapolis, Maryland] Nonvoting members appointed by Governor: three vacancies

Ex officio: vacancy, designee of Governor; Joy R. Walker, designee of Senate President; vacancy, House Speaker; Elizabeth A. Hughes, Director, Maryland Historical Trust.

Ex officio (nonvoting): Elaine Rice Bachmann, State Archivist; Philip M. Soergel, Ph.D., Chair, History Department, University of Maryland, College Park; Regina M. Faden, Ph.D., Executive Director, Historic St. Mary's City Commission; Christopher Bedford, Director, Baltimore Museum of Art; Julia Marciari-Alexander, Director, Walters Art Museum; Sarah J. Hall, Director, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts; Mark B. Letzer, President, Maryland Center for History & Culture; Peggy W. Morey, Executive Director, Historical Society of Talbot County; vacancy, Director of Horticulture, William Paca Gardens.

Government House, Annapolis, Maryland, 1998. Photo by James Hefelfinger (Hefelfinger Collection, MSA SC 1885-761-8, Maryland State Archives).

[photo, Entrance Hall, Government House, Annapolis, Maryland]

Secretary: Elaine Rice Bachmann, State Archivist

c/o State Archives, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 260-6401; fax: (410) 974-3895
e-mail: elaine.bachmann@maryland.gov
web: www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/homepage/html/govhouse.html

Entrance Hall, Government House, Annapolis, Maryland, 2009. Photo courtesy of Commission on Artistic Property.

In 1980, the Government House Trust was authorized by the General Assembly (Chapter 267, Acts of 1980). Reorganized as the Governor's Mansion Trust in 1988, it resumed its earlier name in 1995 (Chapter 494, Acts of 1988; Chapter 130, Acts of 1995).

Government House is the official residence of the Governor of Maryland, and has served as such since 1870. Before its construction, Maryland colonial and State governors, from 1753 to 1869, had resided in the Edmund Jennings House, formerly on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy. The Jennings House and property were sold by the State in 1869 to the U.S. Naval Academy, and that original house later was demolished in 1901. The building presently known as Government House was erected in 1870, and designed originally by Maryland architect, R. Snowden Andrews (1830-1903). It was remodeled in 1936 by architect Clyde N. Friz.

[photo, Government House, Annapolis, Maryland] The Government House Trust supervises and directs the renovation, design, and furnishing of the seven State rooms of Government House, the official residence of the Governor. The State rooms include the center hall, the conservatory, the private reception room, the State dining room, the State drawing room, the State parlor, and the State reception room. The Trust also is responsible for landscaping the grounds of Government House; conserving and restoring objects in the State rooms; and maintaining the State rooms. An inventory of furnishings in Government House is kept by the Department of General Services. Many of the furnishings, and fine and decorative arts in Government House are part of the State-owned art collection overseen by the Commission on Artistic Property of the State Archives.

Government House, Annapolis, Maryland, September 2010. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

On behalf of the State, the Trust may accept gifts and loans of property for use in the State rooms of Government House. No changes in the internal design or furnishings of any State room of Government House are allowed unless approved by the Trust. In performing its duties and responsibilities, the Trust consults with and seeks the advice of the Commission on Artistic Property, and the Board of Trustees and Council of the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

The Trust consists of seventeen members. Five voting members include the Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the Secretary of General Services, and the Director of the Maryland Historical Trust, or their designees. Nine advisory ex officio nonvoting members also serve on the Trust with three nonvoting public members appointed by the Governor. The Secretary of General Services serves as chair (Code State Government Article, secs. 9-601 through 9-606).

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