Original Governor's Mansion

The Original Governor's Mansion is a brick Queen Anne house at 304 North Ewing Street, a few blocks east of Last Chance Gulch, that served as the home of Montana's governors and their families from 1913 to 1959. Today it is a historic house museum run by the Montana Historical Society, and its guided tours are free.

The house was built in 1888 for William Chessman, a Helena businessman, at the height of the city's mining and banking boom, together with a two-storey brick carriage house. The State of Montana bought the property in 1913 to house its governors, and over nearly five decades nine governors lived here before a new residence was built in 1959. The three-storey house has around 20 rooms (the Historical Society says 21) and several fireplaces, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Tours lead through the formal rooms and family spaces and tell the story of the first families who lived here, and of the house itself.

The mansion has just come through a restoration. It closed to tours on 1 November 2025 while contractors repaired the exterior of the house and carriage house, including the upper balustrade, the main-level deck and the front porch, paid for through the state's Long-Range Building Program. Tours reopened on 19 September 2026, and the current schedule, which runs until 1 June 2027, is limited: guided tours on Saturdays only, at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., with other times on request if staff are available.

Tours take up to 20 people, are first come, first served and need no reservation. Commercial groups of up to 24 must book ahead, and those tours cost $100. If you cannot make a Saturday, the Historical Society offers a short video tour and a virtual tour online.

Pair the mansion with the Montana Heritage Center and the State Capitol, under a mile to the east, and with a walk along Last Chance Gulch and Reeder's Alley. Arrive a little before the tour time, since a full group means waiting for the next one. Questions about tours go to the Historical Society's education office (406-444-2412).