Where North Carolina governor lives, and where lieutenant governor works

In my May 17 shoot in downtown Raleigh, I was disappointed — but not entirely surprised — when I reached the square block encompassing the Executive Mansion and official residence of the North Carolina governor and saw the multitude of photographic impediments that stood before me.

It is a gated and fully fence-in property, so all of the photos you see in this post were shot between vertical black metal posts that made up the fencing. The best clear shot I could get of the mansion, built in 1891, was the photo you see leading off this post. 

The front of the house, which you see in the above picture, faces west, and from this point I began a clockwise circling of the block, heading north, then east and south before concluding with a turn north to return to the front. 

The next best shots will be in the first few pictures below. The first two are from the same vantage point, the south side of the dwelling; the difference is simply focal range. The second pulls back a bit to include some more foreground. 

The incumbent governor, by the way, is Josh Stein, a Democrat. It was nice that just a block north of this is a home housing the official office of the lieutenant governor. The incumbent is Rachel Hunt, also a Democrat.

I didn’t let the limitations of the shoot at the Executive Mansion deter me from capturing some landscape shots, and the mansion property has very nice gardens, trees ... and tons of tall bushes on its east side. 

I’ll present my shots of the lieutenant governor’s official residence below those of the governor in this post. Both residences are within the Blount Street Historic District and easy walking distance from the State Legislative Building.

The Hawkins-Hartness House that serves as the lieutenant governor’s office was constructed as a private residence in 1881 and is not gated. The State of North Carolina acquired the property in 1969, and it has served as the lieutenant governor’s office since 1988. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

In North Carolina, governor and lieutenant governor candidates do not run as a ticket; voters cast separate ballots for each of those offices. So it is possible for incumbents in the state’s top two offices to be from different political parties, which was the case during both of previous Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s two terms.

To view a full gallery of images taken at the two locations, follow the link in this sentence.  

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR’S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE

Coming tomorrow: North Carolina Freedom Park