![[photo, Government House, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/38govh.jpg)
Ex officio: vacancy, designee of Governor; Joy R. Walker, designee of Senate President; Michael E. Busch, House Speaker; Elizabeth A. Hughes, Director, Maryland Historical Trust.
Nonvoting members appointed by Governor: not yet appointed
Ex officio nonvoting members: Timothy D. Baker, 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; Doreen Bolger, Ph.D., Director, Baltimore Museum of Art; William Johnston, designee of Director, Walters Art Museum; Rebecca Massie Lane, Director, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts; Mark B. Letzer, President, Maryland Historical Society; Joan M. Levy, Executive Director, Historical Society of Talbot County; Mollie Ridout, 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, Government House, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/govhouse/1198-1-4605.jpg)
Secretary: Timothy D. Baker, 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
Government House, Annapolis, Maryland, September 2010. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
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. Fritz.
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.
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 Historical Society.
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 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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