A flamboyant Victorian Italianate mansion that served as the official residence of California's governors from 1903 to 1967. Thirteen governors lived here; Ronald Reagan was the last to refuse, calling it a firetrap and declining to move his family in. The state acquired the building and opened it as a historic park, where it now serves as a remarkably well-preserved example of late-Victorian California domestic architecture at its most extravagant.
Tours run daily and last about an hour. The docents are well informed and the house contains original furnishings from multiple governors' terms — you can track the evolution of California politics through the décor. The basement kitchen, servants' quarters, and wine cellar are as interesting as the formal rooms above.