It was previously the official residence of the governor of British Guiana before the colony gained independence and became Guyana.

The original structure was built in 1823 on a small piece of land belonging to the first Anglican Bishop to British Guiana, William Piercy Austin.

It was then purchased by the British government in 1853, and described as "a two-storey timber structure with a double stairway facing Carmichael Street, which stood on two-metre (eight feet)-high brick pillars".

[3] A repainting of the State House in 2015 became highly politicized as the residing president, David A. Granger, changed the color from white to green.

[4] The decision was seen as infringing on the authority of the National Trust of Guyana, which was founded in 1972 to preserve places of historical interest.