The new addition to the Carriage House includes a 317-foot-square-foot office/meeting space and a new patio.
Mia Hilkowitz | Indiana Capital Chronicle
Gov. Eric Holcomb now has a new place to meet with important business leaders, international visitors and senior staff after a $300,000 addition was built onto the Carriage House adjacent to his official residence.
The cost could have been higher.
Originally, Residence Director Marianne Molony said the plan was to add an entertaining deck to the residence itself but higher-than-expected costs caused the change.
The project, which added approximately 317 square feet to the estate’s Carriage House, started in the fall of 2023 and finished in January 2024.
The addition is dubbed Room 46, since it’s near 46th street, and is considered an extension of the governor’s study. That’s why no photos were permitted inside the new space during a recent tour.
Hoosier Hospitality
Molony said Holcomb wanted to use the area to meet with business leaders when Indiana hosts economic development and company visits.
“We have tried, with limited funding, to sort of raise the game here and make it a special type of visit,” she said.
When business delegates visit Indiana, Molony said they often spend most of the day in meetings, looking at building sites and flying in helicopters. She believes the “charming and cozy” Carriage House offers a more welcoming environment.
“This is sometimes the closest thing they’re getting to just coming into someone’s home and experiencing Hoosier hospitality, which is really one of our best selling points,” she said.
Molony added the extra meeting room allows Holcomb to hold back-to-back meetings in both buildings, especially when he is interviewing candidates for the same position.
“He uses that new room a lot,” Molony said. “I think we all wish we would have done it years ago.”
The new addition has a separate entrance, making the Carriage House still available for other use.
The Carriage House has three bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a living room, two bathrooms and a basement to host short-term guests. In 2006, then-Gov. Mitch Daniel’s daughter lived there while attending college.
In addition to the Carriage House, the Governor’s Residence, at 4750 N. Meridian Street, has 18 rooms and nine bathrooms, including a formal living room, formal and informal dining room, three kitchens, an event space, a large patio and a small study.
Project plans and approval
Molony said the Governor’s Residence Commission, which oversees the estate, voted to approve the renovation in May 2023. The commission requested up to $600,000 from the Governor’s Public Building Foundation to fund the project.
The commission itself cannot solicit donations; it requests funds from the foundation. The foundation collected private donations to finance the addition.
The commission initially planned to build an outdoor entertaining deck and stairway down to the yard on the west side of the Governor’s Residence. However, the main house falls under the jurisdiction of the Meridian Street Preservation Commission, which sets specific rules for renovations including requiring developers to match brick and slate. Molony said abiding by these requirements increased the original project’s cost and construction time.
“Even though it’s private funds, at some point you have to say ‘this is not a good use of funding,’” Molony said.
So, Molony said the commission decided to move the expansion to the Carriage House, which is about 300 feet southwest of the main residence and not under the Meridian Street Preservation Commission’s jurisdiction.
“It ended up being essentially the same space,” Molony said. “Just less expensive and quicker.”
The Governor’s Residence Commission selected the Weddle Brothers Construction Company for the project and broke ground in September 2023.
Since the state purchased the six-and-a-half-acre estate on North Meridian Street in 1973, the residence has been home to eight Indiana governors: Otis Bowen, Robert Orr, Evan Bayh, Frank O’Bannon, Joseph Kernan, Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence and Holcomb.
The residence has undergone numerous renovations — financed by both state and private funds — often costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The state spent approximately $185,000 on heating, electric and hardwood renovations ahead of Holcomb’s move to the estate in 2017. Another privately funded project to improve the Daniels’ family’s private living quarters and mechanical systems in 2005 cost around $1.2 million.
Molony said the state pays to address structural issues including roofing, wiring and plumbing. Discretionary renovations — such as purchasing new art and furniture — are funded by private contributions.
By Mia Hilkowitz – The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
