Christmas Dinner at the Georgia Governor's Mansion... Welcome to the 70th Tablescape Thursday!

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? What do we call today, this day before Christmas eve? Is this Christmas eve, eve? (If you are reading this on Thursday, it is officially, Christmas Eve.) As I write this, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my family for the holiday. I've been grocery shopping and cooking...and thinking about you, the readers of BNOTP. You have so enriched my life this past year...thank you for that!

For this Tablescape Thursday, I'm excited to share some wonderful pics sent to me by Katherine, a dear reader of BNOTP. Katherine lives right here in my home state of Georgia and she recently had the pleasure of touring the Georgia Governor's Mansion. Ummm, I wonder if the home where the Governor lives in other states, is also called, the "Governor's Mansion." That sounds so much like a "southern" kind of thing, to me.

For this Tablescape Thursday we are going into the dining room of the Georgia Governor's Mansion.


Here's a bit of information about the home...it's from the official website for the Georgia Governor's Mansion...

This official residence opened in 1968. Lester Maddox was the first Governor to reside here. His administration was followed by Jimmy Carter, George Busbee, Joe Frank Harris, Zell Miller, and Roy Barnes. Governor Sonny Perdue is the seventh administration to occupy this Executive Mansion.

There are a total of 30 Doric columns made from 24 feet high California Redwoods surrounding the porch. They have been hollowed out and treated on the inside to disguise the flat roof’s water drainage system. The house has 30 rooms and is approximately 24,000 square feet in size. The architect was A. Thomas Bradbury.

The 18 acres of broad sloping lawns and gardens once belonged to former Atlanta Mayor Robert Maddox who owned a large English Tudor home on this site. When Mr. Maddox sold the property to the state, the home was demolished, and this Executive Residence was built on the same site.

All of the furnishings in the Mansion are considered to be of museum quality and make up one of the finest federal period (1780 – 1820) collections in the United States. These furnishings were acquired by a 70 member Fine Arts Committee while the Mansion was being constructed. It is a permanent collection and belongs to the State of Georgia. It does not change from one administration to the next.


Let's go in, shall we?


Here's the way the room normally looks...pretty "stately," I'd say.


Information from the official website:

This room is used regularly for dinners, luncheons, and breakfasts. We can seat 18 people at the table, and 50 people with four round tables at the corners of the room.

The table is mahogany and is called an Accordion Table. It was made by John Seymour in Boston (Circa 1810). It is 14 feet long and can be cut down to seat four people.

The chairs are Curly Maple English reproductions of the Federal Greek Revival style. They are exact replicas of the 19th Century chairs that are in the Telfair Academy in Savannah.

The candelabras and the Epergne on the table came from the battleship “Georgia” and were made at the turn of the century. They are Gorham Silver.

The cut glass covered compote is Waterford and is etched with the Georgia State Seal. Rich’s Department Store gave this piece to the Mansion for the 250th Anniversary of the State of Georgia (1733-1983).

The majority of the fabrics in the mansion are by Scalamandre – all of the fabrics in the State Dining Room are by Scalamandre.


Now, ready to see it at Christmas time?! :-)



Katherine told me the most interesting tidbit of information about the dining room furniture. It turns out the furniture came from the antique shop of Jim Williams...the Jim Williams depicted in the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. How interesting is that?! I wonder if it was donated or if it was purchased for the Governor's Mansion?


Place cards...


So elegant! The tree looks magical in the background!


Sorry the pic wouldn't enlarge for some reason...


Cute decorations for the backs of the chairs...


Gingerbread house with a fireplace, "tiled" floor and peppermint fence...


Love the way they've decorated the stemware...


The fireplace looks very different here than it did in the first pic, doesn't it?


Katherine also shared some pics she took of the "family" dining area that is located just off the kitchen. She said the smell of cookies baking was soooo wonderful as you passed through this area for the tour.

Look at that beautiful tree!


A lovely centerpiece...reminds me of Kathysue's with all the fresh fruits and the beautiful greens and soft muted colors. This would be such a peaceful, relaxing place to dine, wouldn't it? Notice the iced tea spoon...love that it's on the table! ;-)


I think I like this room even more than the formal dining room. :-)

Katherine, thank you so much for sharing these wonderful pics! This has inspired me to take the tour myself sometime. If you'd like additional information or would like to see more pics of the rooms in the Georgia Governor's Mansion, click HERE for the official website.



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