Photos: Governors Mansion Inn
The Knapp House, constructed in 1855 at 130 E. Gilman St., was home to Madison’s elite and to 17 Wisconsin governors beginning in the 1880s before the executive residence was established in Maple Bluff in 1949. After a nearly one-year, $2 million restoration project, the Knapp House, which overlooks Lake Mendota in Madison’s Mansion Hill neighborhood, is now an 8-room hotel and café. The house was purchased in 2017 by Bob Klebba and David Waugh, owners of the Mendota Lake House B& B, 704 E. Gorham St.. The 4,832-square-foot building, constructed of sandstone quarried in the town of Westport, was purchased by UW-Madison in 1950 and was most recently used for graduate student housing as the Knapp Graduate Center.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
David Waugh, left, and Bob Klebba purchased an 1855 home in Madison's Mansion Hill District that has been home to 17 governors. After spending $2 million to buy the home in 2017 and make restorations and significant upgrades, the 4,832-square-foot mansion has been transformed into the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe, an eight-room hotel at 130 E. Gilman St. The hotel's reception room, shown here, will double as an art gallery.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
This image of what is now the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe is from the 1880s. In 1883, Wisconsin Gov. Jeremiah Rusk purchased the home and in 1885 sold it to the state for use as the Executive Residence. Rusk and 16 other governors lived in the house until 1950, when a home in Maple Bluff was designated the Executive Residence.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
Sandstone block was quarried from the town of Westport on the opposite side of Lake Mendota to build what is now the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
The second level of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe includes a series of passages and stairways.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
David Waugh walks beside the grand staircase of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe with the reception room and gallery on the right.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
Bob Klebba navigates the original grand staircase that was constructed in 1855 in a home overlooking Lake Mendota. Klebba and his partner, David Waugh, have converted the home into the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe and began receiving guests Aug. 1.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
When Walter Kohler Sr., whose father founded the Kohler Co. in Sheboygan County, was elected governor, he remodeled the bathrooms of the Executive Residence. The original tile and an enamel-coated cast-iron tub remain in the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe. Bob Klebba, the hotel's co-owner, shows off a sink with three faucet heads. Two provided hot and cold water drawn from a cistern while a third provided drinking water. Â
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
A look down the center of the grand staircase of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe, 130 E. Gilman St.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
David Waugh shows off the Kohler Room on the second level of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe. The 1855 home has eight guest rooms named after those who lived in the house over the decades.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
The eight guest rooms of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe include a mix of Victorian and contemporary furnishings.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
Bob Klebba, left, and David Waugh, give a tour of their Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe that opened Aug. 1 after a $1.6 million renovation.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
This stereoscope image by Andreas Larsen Dahl is from 1879, just six years before the house at 130 E. Gilman St. was sold to the state for use as the Executive Residence.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
David Waugh walks down the main staircase of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe, an 8-room hotel.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
What is now the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe has been home to governors and Madison's elite, including Ole Bull, a world-renowned Norwegian violinist who lived in the home for 10 years beginning in 1870 when the 60-year-old married the 20-year-old daughter of the home's owner.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
This plaque on the boulevard at 130 E. Gilman St. tells the story of a home constructed in 1855 and 1856 that in 1885 became the Executive Residence and home to 17 governors until 1950.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
Bob Klebba shows off a mahogany table in the parlor of the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe.
Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe
The Italianate sandstone house at 130 East Gilman St., seen here in a 1938 painting by Winifred Ford, was built in 1855 by Julius T. White.
Governors Mansion Inn & Cafe
When Ole Bull lived in te sandstone home at 130 E. Gilman St., it included a billiard hall behind the house. This image is from 1874 and shows Bull and others playing croquet on the lawn of the home.
The house on East Gilman Street, constructed in 1855, was home to 17 governors. But after a $1.6 million restoration, it's now the Governor's Mansion Inn & Cafe, an eight-room hotel.
The Landmarks Commission unanimously voted to recommend to the Plan Commission that the buildings have "very significant" historic value, surprising the fraternity.