Governor’s Mansion rental should attract pretty penny, if it already hasn’t

FOR RENT: Nevada Governor's Mansion. Barely lived in. Twenty-three rooms. Historically significant. Extra blankets available because of recent chill in the air. Great for parties, weekend getaways or political fantasy camp vacations. Daily, weekly, monthly rates available. Inquire at 600 N. Mountain St., Carson City.

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Here's a fiscally responsible use for the Governor's Mansion.

Rent it.

Surely it's an idea that will intrigue the newly formed Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission.

Drop the pretense and just rent out the mansion to the highest bidder. Use the income to help chip away at the state's $913 million budget deficit. Make it available for catered cotillions, small conventions and gatherings of casino bosses and industry lobbyists. (Granted, it's been a gathering place for casino bosses and lobbyists for decades, but this way it would generate revenue.)

I realize this is a break with a quaint Nevada tradition, which holds that the state's chief executive is statutorily required to hang his hat at the handsome house with its Classical Revival styling and its Jeffersonian and Georgian motifs. Previous governors surely were inspired as they strolled amid the building's fluted Ionic columns and greeted breathtaking Nevada mornings from the second-story porch.

Even those who didn't live there full time paid taxpayers a little respect by keeping up appearances on Mountain Street.

But all that's been relegated to the tintype of the past, thanks to the recent news that Gov. Jim Gibbons moved out of the mansion and into the family's Reno home, leaving first lady Dawn Gibbons rambling around the big house as word of their impending divorce broke.

Since the governor filed the dissolution paperwork, we've learned that the first lady's attorney, Cal Dunlap, has requested that she remain in the mansion. It might violate the Nevada Revised Statutes, but Dunlap appears to believe it's the least the governor can do.

With due respect to the former prosecutor, the first lady has to leave, and soon. Her honorary role and relationship with the mansion is in the process of ending. Dawn has to go before sunrise, so to speak.

Meanwhile, the governor has proved he doesn't think much of the mansion, either. He didn't bother to inform the public of his decision. Inquiring reporters did that for him.

In an unintentionally humorous aside that ought to gall the residents of Carson City, Carson City District Judge Bill Maddox on Thursday transferred the Gibbons divorce case to Washoe County after agreeing Reno was the location of their permanent residence.

The good news is, that leaves the mansion available.

And from the look of the daily rates other historic mansions attract, it would fetch some serious coin.

Take the Torre Dei Cavalieri on the island of Malta, for instance. The former home of the Knights of Malta features just five bedrooms and three bathrooms. It's 2,100 euros a night in the high season.

Then there's the Silver Lake mansion in Leesburg, Fla. Built in 1932, it goes for $3,000 a night and $10,000 a week.

A personal favorite is the 14,000-square-foot Parisian Palace in Las Vegas offered by the Carefree Lifestyle company of Miami Beach. A Francophile's dream, the palace rents for about $10,000 a night.

Carefree sales executive Stephan Shapiro is playfully intrigued by the concept of being able to rent the Nevada Governor's Mansion. His company will gladly provide a full range of five-star, VIP services, he says.

"If it were rentable, I'd be able to rent it," Shapiro says, acknowledging the legal logistics. "If it's rentable, we can make it happen. We have a select clientele. I like the idea of renting a historic landmark."

Me, too. It makes far more sense than essentially letting it sit empty except for the occasional gubernatorial meet-and-greet.

Besides, historians might reasonably argue that Nevada never placed great importance on the Governor's Mansion. We gained statehood in 1864, but didn't get around to completing the mansion until 1909. I'm guessing that's because so many governors have been so comfortable in the pockets of their benefactors that they felt no need to interrupt their slumber.

So come on, you Silver State captains of industry. Open those check books, casino moguls. Break out the gold bars, mining barons. The line forms on Mountain Street, banking tycoons and billionaire developers.

Surely you'll all pay big bucks to rent out the Nevada Governor's Mansion.

That, of course, assumes you don't already own it.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.