Five states in the United States don't have residential governor's mansions — California, Arizona, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. Governors in those states usually choose private residences near the seat of government in their state.
More about the governor's mansions:
- The oldest governor's mansion in the U.S. is the one in Richmond, Virginia. It also is the oldest building continually used as an executive residence in the United States, having been built in 1813, four years before the modern White House, which was rebuilt in 1817 after a massive fire.
- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proved that governors can still have to commute — when he was in office, he commuted from Los Angeles to Sacramento every day, which sounds bad until you learn how he did it: by private jet.
- There are actually more governor's mansions in the U.S. than there are states. There are about 55 buildings in the U.S. designated as governor's mansions, but not all of them are used as residences.