Houston Chronicle"There would be stories of high-minded visionaries battling frock-coated rogues; of anguished Sam Houston burning Abe Lincoln's call to lead resistance in the new Confederate state of Texas; of John Connally recovering from wounds suffered at President Kennedy's assassination.
Lastly, there would be fire - the story of a shadowy figure pitching a Molotov cocktail onto the mansion's verandah early on a Sunday morning in June 2008, then vanishing into the night-cloaked oaks.
Today, the 155-year-old house, the oldest continuously occupied governor's mansion west of the Mississippi, is beginning a new chapter. Through an arduous restoration costing $25 million in state and private funds, the column-fronted Greek Revival beauty is rising from the ashes.
A new roof was installed in April; most exterior work finished two weeks ago. Now, in a frenzied onslaught, carpenters, plasterers and other artisans are repairing the 10,700-square-foot interior. The house should be ready for occupancy by Gov. Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, in June.
"It's architecturally wonderful," said Dealey Herndon, 64, who has overseen restoration for the State Preservation Board, the site's manager. Herndon's previous projects have included the 1990s-era, $190 million restoration and extension of the state Capitol, but the current job has been the "most complicated square foot by square foot."
Situated on a slight hill overlooking the Capitol, the mansion, designed and erected by master builder Abner Cook, was among the town's most opulent when it opened in 1856.
The residence "stands with the Capitol and the Alamo as a handful of buildings that says 'Texas' to most Texans," said Rice University architectural historian Stephen Fox. "It's one of the most imposing buildings in Texas."
'A point of pride'
Elizabeth Butman, architectural project review coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission, called the mansion a "grandiose example" of Cook's work. Both a National Historic Landmark and a State Archeological Landmark, the showplace was built as Austin grew, in a single decade, from a hamlet of about 600 to a government center of more than 3,000.
"It is an exceptional building, a beautiful building … a point of pride for the community and the state," Butman declared.
he residence, facing Colorado Street just southwest of the Capitol, was vacant on June 8, 2008, undergoing a $10 million repair and upgrade. At the time, only one state trooper was on duty and only 13 of 20 security cameras was functioning.
Security video showed a man - his face not visible - toss a firebomb at the house and flee. Despite a $50,000 posted reward, the arsonist remains at large.
Flames charred the mansion's columns and were sucked inside, where they blossomed into an inferno beneath the roof. Firefighters battled the four-alarm fire for hours.
Butman described the sight that remained as a "bleak."
Herndon, a longtime admirer of the mansion who had written a guidebook for it, was so distraught that she couldn't bring herself to view the debris.
Within months, though, she had been offered - and accepted - the task of supervising the mansion's restoration.
"The Capitol was an old building," Herndon said, "but it was a big pure building. Every inch of the Governor's Mansion was painfully damaged."
The roof was gone, and damage was especially heavy around the second-floor ceiling. The interior was water-soaked, leading to the eruption of mold and warping of pine floorboards.
Cleanup took awhile
The first order of business was cleaning out debris. Metal bands were placed around the building's waterlogged columns to prevent splitting. Tests were performed to assess the stability of the brick walls, made locally from Colorado River clay.
Fireplaces in each room were reconstructed, including one on the first floor in which Houston, who occupied the mansion on the eve of the Civil War, burned Lincoln's letter. Houston, a slave holder who opposed secession, was forced from office by Confederate sympathizers but rejected the Union offer to take up arms against his adopted state.
21st-century upgrades
At times, Herndon and her colleagues fell into a bit of luck.
Despite the intense heat to which they had been subjected, the walls - four bricks thick at the base - were sound.
The balusters and handrails of the mansion's grand stairway had been been wrapped for protection during the original maintenance project, and escaped major damage. Although the front verandah's distinctive railing largely was destroyed, enough survived that it could be replicated.
Aside from restoring the mansion to its 1856 state, the current work will undo ill-advised changes made in the past and upgrade it for use as a 21st-century home. For the first time, stairways and the elevator will be fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Contemporary communications systems are going in, as is a geothermal-sourced heat pump to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling.
Herndon, who seemingly knows all her workers by their first names, said she plans to hang up her hard hat when the Perrys move in.
"I plan to spend time with my family," she said. "I'll feel a little funny when it's finished. But I'm a person who, when she gets finished, can say 'Done,' and move on."