Reno architect George A. Ferris designed this Classical Revival (Neoclassical) style mansion.

Until that time, Nevada's governors and their families found lodging where they could in or near Carson City, the capital.

Acting Governor Denver S. Dickerson and his family were the first residents when they occupied the mansion in July 1909.

The mansion was at the center of a legal dispute resulting from the divorce case of Governor Jim Gibbons and his now-former wife, Dawn.

Several months before filing a divorce petition in May 2008, the Governor moved out of the mansion, returning to the couple's private residence in Reno.