Governors Residence showcases state pride

By Jomay Steen, Journal staff | Saturday, January 19, 2008

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PIERRE — When first lady Jean Rounds recently was asked to compare the $2.8 million Governors Residence to the old mansion, now located in Rapid Valley, she didn’t hesitate to answer.

“There’s no comparison,” she said.

Drive up the private lane to the circular drive at 119 N. Washington Ave., and the differences in size, building materials and design are obvious. A portico extends over the driveway at the front door of the 42-room house so guests can enter the residence protected from the elements. The 14,300-square-foot house features exterior stonework by Morris, Inc., of Fort Pierre. Windowed double doors open into a home that showcases South Dakota design, materials and craftsmanship. Henry Carlson Contractors of Sioux Falls took on the 18-month building project, completing it in June 2005.

Rounds believed that the people of the state deserved a residence that would promote pride, which she saw during the construction of the house.

“You could see in the construction crews how proud they were of their work,” she said.

In the stone-tiled foyer and throughout the public areas, the walls are painted the color of toasted wheat. Above the entrance, the second-story ceiling has been cut away, allowing an immense crystal chandelier to sparkle and glow in the winter’s light of an upstairs window and beneath recessed lighting.

Donated by Sioux Falls Surgical Center, Rounds said that it is one of the only pieces of furnishings that her husband had any interest in selecting.

“Mike pored over magazines for the perfect chandelier,” his wife said.

According to Deputy Commis sioner for the Bureau of Administration Steve Stoneback, the governor wanted people to look up as they walked through the doorway to see this classically beautiful fixture.

“He wanted it to be a focal point as you came in,” Stoneback said.

Within the foyer are the various entrances to the private living quarters, reception areas and dining room, as well as a curved maple staircase with matching curved maple wood banister, one of three staircases.

Next to the living-quarters door is a door leading to the residential elevator. While Rounds does not allow photographs or video recordings of the private quarters, she does offer a glimpse of her office and that of the residence manager, Linda Fridley.

Fridley does the daily managing of the public side of the house, which includes cleaning, cooking for public receptions and bringing in extra help to serve at state occasions.

“Jean does all the day-to-day cooking for her family and her husband. She’s very much the woman of the house,” Fridley said of the governor’s side of the home.

“This is a wonderful living space,” Rounds said of the private quarters.

It includes a roomy kitchen, living room, private dining room and breakfast nook with five bedrooms, four full bathrooms and half-baths on each floor. Windows capture the afternoon sunlight and doors lead out onto their own private patio.

Keeping track of all of the visitors on this side of the house is an affectionate orange-colored housecat named Squirt. “We have to keep the doors shut or he’ll get out,” Rounds said.

“I love the way the architect took advantage of the site,” she added when gazing out the multiple windows.

An upstairs sitting room off of the hallway leading to two guest bedrooms — one includes a wheelchair-accessible bathroom and doorways – offers a quiet gathering place with a fireplace and view of the front lawn.

“It’s our favorite spot to meet with guests before dinner or for coffee,” said Rounds.

Back in the downstairs foyer and to the right is the receiving area and reception room, its hardwood floors made of black walnut. The room includes a grand piano, a gift of Gov. Sigurd Anderson’s (1951-1955) family, a setting of chairs and one side of the double-sided fireplace. Other entrances lead to the public restrooms, kitchen and state dining area.

Stoneback said that South Dakota architect Brad Mollet designed the kitchen and state dining room to be built on a concrete apron rather than over a basement so that the flooring would be level and tables would not shake when wait staff approached to serve the meals.

One of the largest rooms in the house, the state dining room’s focal point is the double-sided fireplace that soars 33 feet up to the vaulted ceiling.

The fireplace is fashioned from tons of blast rock contributed by Ruth Ziolkowski from Crazy Horse Memorial, the lifework of the late sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The mantelpiece and hearth were cut from one huge stone, Stoneback said. Rounds pointed out that the stone mantelpiece is held in place by a row of drill bits forged into the fireplace’s stone surface.

“If you look at the sides, you’ll see these green markings. … When Korczak was alive, he used to use these green markings when drilling and blasting,” Rounds said.

“It’s pretty special,” Rounds said of the dining room and its view.

Further down the hallway off of the dining room is the new kitchen.

For all of its conveniences, Fridley sometimes misses the old mansion and its cramped kitchen.

The new kitchen contains a stainless steel commercial stove, dishwasher, countertop meat slicer, three sinks, double conventional ovens and a convection oven, a warming oven, 16-foot work table, refrigerator, walk-in cooler, walk-in freezer and counter space. It was designed for maximum work space and efficiency.

“It has cut down on the workload,” Fridley agreed.

The roomy kitchen easily accommodates up to 10 kitchen staff when serving scores of people at state luncheons, banquets or dinners. Prior to the new house, Fridley said the residence’s cook had to rely on a network of people and their ovens to cook the multiple beef roasts or turkeys in kitchens throughout Pierre. The cooked food was then dropped off at the house prior to serving it, she said.

Cleanup after the meals also was a slow process.

“We did all the dishes by hand,” Fridley said.

The kitchen had no dishwasher and only one sink, where Fridley and staff would scrub away after events. “We would stand there forever,” she said.

Since arriving at the new home, Fridley has witnessed the ease of preparing for official state dinners or even the large public receptions. She works from her ground-floor office.

“It’s a godsend, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t attached to the other house,” she said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.