What to know about Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion where an arsonist set fire

The stately mansion along the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg where Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were staying early Sunday morning when a fire broke out is far more than a house.

The 29,000-square-foot governor’s residence is also a public space where events are often hosted, complete with gardens, an extensive art collection, and even honey-producing beehives. Shapiro also frequently uses the residence to host meetings with lawmakers, including budget negotiations that are set to commence soon.

State police are investigating the blaze that broke out in part of the residence Sunday morning as an act of arson and attempted murder. Officials said the fire caused “a significant amount of damage” to the state-owned home and that a 38-year-old Harrisburg resident, Cody A. Balmer, was taken into custody.

The governor and his family were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.

Many details were unknown as of Sunday afternoon, including the extent of the damage. Police allege Balmer got onto the property by climbing a fence and “forcibly entered” the residence while Shapiro’s state police detail “knew there had been a breach” of the property’s perimeter and were looking for the intruder.

The property is gated and under constant surveillance by Shapiro’s police detail.

Here’s what to know about the Pennsylvania governor’s residence, including its history, maintenance, and what it’s like inside.

The current governor’s residence is a two-and-half-story mansion located at 2035 N. Front St. in Harrisburg that was completed in 1968. It was designed in a neo-Georgian style by Philadelphia architect George M. Ewing, whose other projects include municipal buildings and schools.

Before the construction of the current residence, governors lived in other homes, including the first official governor’s residence that was on South Second Street in Harrisburg and was purchased in 1858, according to state records.

The current mansion has been home to eight governors and their families, according to the state, though they have used the private portion of the residence to varying degrees. Former Gov. Tom Wolf, who preceded Shapiro, chose to live in his home in York County and commute to Harrisburg, though he and the former first lady used the governor’s residence for public events and meetings.

Shapiro and his family have lived in the governor’s residence part time, electing to split time between Harrisburg and their home in Abington Township, Montgomery County.

The residence is surrounded by iron gates and is staffed all hours of the day by state police, who are responsible for security at the three-and-a-half-acre site.

State police have long staffed a post at the governor’s residence, according to a 2014 PennLive article about life inside the mansion. Security cameras monitoring the premises 24/7 have been installed for years.

Matt Casey, the son of former Gov. Bob Casey Sr., once remarked that state troopers were ubiquitous, saying the detail’s office was next to the private living space.

“Any time you came in after school, maybe from a Friday night out at a basketball or football game, you don’t see your parents. You see state troopers,” Casey said at the time.

There are eight bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, and nine half bathrooms throughout the 26,000 square feet of furnished living area, according to Dauphin County property records. There is also a 3,000-square-foot finished basement.

The residence is set up in an “L” shape with only certain portions used as private living space. Much of the mansion is used for public events — including its event spaces and outdoor gardens — and there are an estimated 14,000 visitors to the residence per year, according to the state.

Part of what is accessible to the public is the home’s extensive art collection, which includes permanent works as well as temporary exhibits. For example, there are currently two featured exhibits: one about the commonwealth’s New Deal-era murals at post offices, and another with photos by a Pittsburgh photographer that are on loan from the Carnegie Museum of Art.​

At the start of his term in 2023, Shapiro spent nearly $100,000 in public funds to make changes to the mansion, according to Lancaster Newspapers, which obtained receipts for the upgrades through a public records request.

The changes included new furniture, televisions, appliances, and plumbing fixtures. A spokesperson for the governor said at the time that the updates were necessary because no one had lived in the private residence for nearly a decade, given Wolf resided at his York home.

Additional upgrades to the furnishings and art on the public side of the residence were underway last year, according to Spotlight PA, but far fewer details were available about the extent of the changes. That’s because the work was being bankrolled by Team Pennsylvania, a private nonprofit group that does not disclose its donors.

The governor’s residence has undergone a variety of updates and renovations over the years, both out of necessity and the desire of the occupants.

For example, the residence needed an extensive restoration job done in 1972, just a few years after the house was constructed, because Hurricane Agnes caused extensive damage. At the time, former Gov. Milton Shapp and his family had to be evacuated because the mansion flooded, taking on some 5 feet of water, according to state records.

There have been other lengthy projects to upgrade the site, including a decadelong effort to update the courtyards, which was completed in 2022 while Wolf was in office. The improvements, including removing a cobblestone driveway, were in part aimed at making the space more accessible to visitors.

Other past governors made the private side their own. According to PennLive, former Gov. Tom Ridge had a tree house installed for his kids, while ex-Gov. Tom Corbett had additional televisions put in.

The residence is maintained by the state Department of General Services, which oversees much of the administrative functions of the state government.

As of late 2023, there were 17 employees staffing the residence, including an executive director, housekeepers, and chefs, a Shapiro spokesperson told the Lancaster newspaper.