Built in 1908 by Colorado Pioneer Walter Cheeseman, purchased by Colorado leader Claude Boettcher in 1923 and used by some of the state’s governors since 1960, the Colorado Governor’s Residence, also known as “Colorado’s Home” is an incredibly beautiful historic landmark. For the fourth year, professional design teams consisting of members of the American Society of Interior Designers Colorado Chapter (ASID) converged on the residence to decorate six rooms for the holidays.

To showcase their work, the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund is offering the public free tours of the mansion Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 8-11 and Dec. 15-18 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The residence fund wants to present the public with an opportunity to visit “Colorado’s Home” and celebrate the global holiday traditions of Colorado’s Sister Cities. This year’s theme? “Colorado’s Kith and Kin” (Friends & Relatives).

What is a Sister City, you might ask? According to Sister Cities International:

A sister city, county, or state relationship is a broad-based, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A sister city, county, or state relationship is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed official from both communities sign off on an agreement.

A city may have any number of sister cities, with community involvement ranging from a half dozen to hundreds of volunteers. In addition to volunteers, sister city organizations           may include representatives from nonprofits, municipal governments, the private sector, and other civic organizations.

Sister city relationships offer the flexibility to form connections between communities that are mutually beneficial and which address issues that are most relevant for partners.

An interesting fact about the official home of Colorado’s governor and first lady (though the state’s chief executive – including the current one – often does not live there), is that its upkeep is not funded by any state budget line item. The Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund was Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter’s idea, and she set up the fund to keep the historic mansion looking nice. The fund accepts private donations, rents out the mansion for private events and hosts fundraising events such as ‘Brews & Bites’ and ‘Boot & Brushes’, to provide for preservation and to match funds for preservation & historic grants.

For the last eight years, the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund has featured a commemorative collectible holiday ornament, created by Whitney Design’s, Inc. of Denver. Each ornament is inspired by an architectural or design feature in the mansion.

This year’s ornament, “View from the Library,” highlights the Governor’s Mansion Millennium Tree. Now over 25 feet tall, the tree was planted from a seedling of a 65-foot-tall Blue Spruce that grew in Pike National Forest. In 2000, the tree was transported in a nine-vehicle caravan led by then U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell along the Santa Fe Trail and then along I-70 to the U.S. Capitol where it was lighted on the west lawn for the 2000 holiday season. The 24-karat gold ornament can be purchased for only $30 at the Governor’s Residence (during the times above), at the Molly Brown Gift Shop at 1340 Pennsylvania St. or at https://www.coloradohome.org. The entire ornament collection of eight is available online for only $224.

This year, six extravagantly decorated rooms in the mansion celebrate commonalities and differences with Colorado Sister Cities: Boulder’s sister city, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, by Designer Trish Bonney; Pueblo’s sister city, Maribor, Slovania, by Leslie Kazmierczak of Level10 Interiors; Denver’s sister city, Takayama, Japan, by Erica Dean of Aspen Redesign; Grand Junction’s sister city, El Espino, El Salvador, by Annie Huston and Stephanie Tardio of Birdsall & Company; Colorado Springs’s sister city, Olympia, Greece, by Designers Pam Smith and Colleen Heldt; Beaver Creek’s sister city, Lech, Austria, by ASID President Carol Moore Mink of Carol Moore Interior Design Inc. and ASID Communications Director David J. Rote of David J. Rote Interiors LLC.