The Stitt family is paving the way for future first families in Oklahoma to have a new place to call home. Governor Kevin Stitt and First Lady Sarah Stitt have spearheaded the initiative to build a new five-bedroom home on the Governor’s Mansion grounds.
The current Governor’s Mansion was dedicated in October 1928. It’s 14,000-square-foot interior was divided into 19 rooms, including a library, parlor, dining room, grand ballroom, kitchen, sunroom, and five bedrooms. Today, the residence has 12 rooms and is currently being renovated.
Over the years, each governor has renovated or added something special to the mansion grounds as part of their gift back to the state.
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“First families give a gift to the state typically, for example, the governor and Mrs. Keating raised the money for the Phillips pavilion, other first families have done projects at the mansion grounds,” said Bob Ross, a volunteer for the First Family Residence
The governor and First Lady Stitt have raised $5 million in private donations to build an entirely new, private home on the grounds for future first families.
“When you’re governor, you are living in a fishbowl so we want the first family to be comfortable when they’re in their home. This is the Stitt’s gift back to the state,” said Ross.
While the current Governor’s Mansion holds more than 100 years of history, during Governor Mary Fallin’s term, she began noticing the home was not ADA compliant.
“The bathrooms are very small, the bedrooms are small, they’re all upstairs and it’s just not set up for a modern family to live and be comfortable in. For example, the Stitts, they have six children, they could not fit in the current historic residence, so they thought it would be a really good idea to build a residence for families that will last 100 years,” said Ross.
Bob Ross is a volunteer for the First Family Residence and helped the Stitts raise $5 million for this new project.
“The project is being fully funded by private donations, the donors are all Oklahomans and they represent all different political spectrums,” said Ross. “The donors really want what’s great for Oklahoma and we want to be able to shine. Building this building on the campus, historic mansion next to the pavilion and all of the other amenities out there will be yet another building for our first family to enjoy and also to showcase just how great a state Oklahoma is,” said Ross. “We think this is gonna be real positive for future first families in Oklahoma.”
The historic mansion and pavilion will continue to serve as a spot for tours and events, but this new space will serve as a private home. While the Stitt family won’t have the chance to live there themselves, they’re hoping future families will enjoy the home for years to come.
“They will not have the chance to live there but this is really their gift to give back to the state so that future families that are part of the governor’s family can really enjoy a modern ADA accessible, comfortable home,” said Ross.
The construction on the new home is expected to be complete by next November, just in time for the new first family to move in. The $5 million in private donations raised will go towards construction, furnishings and landscaping. The final plans will have to be approved by the Capitol Preservation Commission.