HELENA — Since 1959, a building at the corner of Carson Street and Broadway in Helena has served as the state-owned home for Montana’s governors and their families – but it’s currently sitting empty. Now, state leaders are asking the public to weigh in on what the building’s future should be.
On Thursday, the Montana Department of Administration’s General Services Division held an open house at the Executive Residence, located at 2 Carson Street, southeast of the State Capitol. They’re planning another on Saturday.
“We hope that people will get a better sense of the property and understand what the limitations are, which would then inform decisions for its future use, to find the best and most practical use for the property,” said GSD administrator Steve Baiamonte, who’s also DOA’s director of security.
(Watch the video for a look inside the Executive Residence.)
The house was built as a replacement for Montana’s historic Governor’s Mansion, near downtown Helena. In all, 12 governors have used it as a home or for state purposes.
Shaped much like a ship and sometimes referred to as a “ship of state,” it is 12,000 square feet, with six bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a ballroom and a three-car garage. But it also has aging fixtures, electrical systems out of compliance with code, a need for asbestos abatement and other issues that would have to be addressed before it could be put back to use.
“As it sits right now as a structure, it needs some major renovation, along the lines of things like roofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC – some major system components have to be replaced in this structure,” Baiamonte said.
Over the years, some parts of the residence got updates through private funding, but DOA says there’s been a lot of deferred maintenance that hasn’t happened over the years.
“Obviously governors don't want to spend taxpayer dollars on their own house, right – that logically makes sense,” DOA director Misty Ann Giles told the Capitol Complex Advisory Council during a meeting last month.
Gov. Greg Gianforte and First Lady Susan Gianforte moved out in 2021, with remodeling initially expected to start that year and wrap up by the end of 2022. However, that didn’t happen. While the 2019 Legislature appropriated about $1.9 million for the work and the 2021 Legislature added another $440,000, DOA leaders said prices rose and they couldn’t get a bid to do the work within that budget.
“The decision was made at the time to hit pause, and figure out a new path forward,” Giles told the advisory council.
In 2024, the Gianfortes announced they were buying and moving into the Samuel T. Hauser Mansion, a historic home on Helena’s west side, with the plan of donating it to the state after his term as governor ends.
However, there’s still no answer on what’s next for the Carson Street property. The advisory council gave DOA approval to seek additional public input. The department sent postcards to residents within a quarter-mile of the building, telling them about the open houses and providing a link to an online survey, open until Dec. 19.
The survey asks people’s preference between three options for the residence: remodeling it for other state use, like meeting space; selling it off; or demolishing it and turning the area into green space. However, leaders say they’re open to all ideas people may have.
“We want to do something with it; we want to do the right thing,” said Baiamonte. “So we'd like to land on a decision and then move forward.”
If you’d like to see the residence for yourself, the next open house will be Saturday, Dec. 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. You can find more information here.
