Mr. Brown Builds a Dream House

The Victorian mansion that has been used by California Governors over the past 60 years looks something like a three-tiered wedding cake. But most of its tenants have had complaints. One of them. Governor Culbert Olson (1939-1943), fell through the crumbling front steps. The latest, Pat Brown, is awakened at dawn each day by trucks that rumble past the house and shake it to its ancient foundations. Brown is also slightly apprehensive about the coil of rope he must keep near his bed by order of state fire officials who say the mansion is a charming firetrap.

After 20 years of haggling, the California legislature two years ago appropriated funds for a new gubernatorial mansion. But last week the haggle started all over again when it turned out that the cost of the new residence is now figured at $875,000--precisely $400,000 more than the original estimate.

The first figures had greatly underestimated the mansion's needs--additions have swollen the planned area from 13,000 to 22,000 sq. ft.--and the cost of foundation and landscaping. Brown hotly denied that his wife's suggestions (extra bedrooms, a larger kitchen) had caused the inflation. "She made a few changes." said Brown, "but not $400,000 worth." Brown will ask the legislature for the extra money, but he still has a good many nights to spend with his rope. Said the Governor wearily: "We've tried to be good soldiers about this."

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