Land Board approves Hauser Mansion as future governor’s residence

Helena’s 29-room Hauser Mansion moved a major step closer to becoming Montana’s next governor’s residence after the Montana Land Board unanimously approved Gov. Greg Gianforte and First Lady Susan Gianforte’s offer to donate the historic home to the state. The decision puts a public price tag and public purpose question at the center of one of the city’s most prominent west-side properties.

The board’s vote came from the state’s five highest elected officials: the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction. Gianforte abstained from the discussion and the vote. State Auditor James Brown called it a consequential decision, saying the state had an opportunity to acquire a beautiful historic property that fits the importance of the office.

The house at 720 Madison Avenue sits in Helena’s historic Mansion District and has deep ties to Montana’s political history. Historic Montana and the Montana Historical Society describe it as a 29-room residence built in 1885 for Samuel T. Hauser, the same year President Grover Cleveland appointed him territorial governor. The home later passed to former Gov. and First Lady Tim and Betty Babcock before the Gianfortes bought it in 2024 for $4 million.

The state’s case for moving the governor’s residence has centered on cost as much as symbolism. The Montana Department of Administration says the current Executive Residence at 2 Carson Street began operating as the governor’s residence in 1959 and has housed 10 governors. State materials say it has no ADA access and no ADA-compliant restroom on the lower level, and that its bathrooms and kitchen area have damage that needs upgrades.

Department of Administration analysis says the Carson Street property could take about $5 million and years of work to make ready. Improvements to the Hauser Mansion would cost roughly $3 million less, according to the same analysis. A state appraiser estimated the Hauser property’s use value at about $5 million, underscoring how the donation would shift the debate from acquisition cost to renovation, security and long-term upkeep.

For Helena and Lewis and Clark County, the question now is whether the state gets a working executive residence in a place that reflects Montana’s history, or whether residents end up underwriting another round of repairs to house the governor downtown. Montana has done this before: the Original Governor’s Mansion at 304 North Ewing served Montana’s First Families from 1913 to 1959, before the state moved the office to Carson Street.