As he cooked a steak-and-eggs breakfast for a pair of guests this week, Gov. Brian Schweitzer was in a cheery mood - until it came time to find a utensil or dish in the expansive kitchen of the Governor's Mansion.

"Go ahead, try to find a coffee cup," Schweitzer said, gesturing to a long wall of cupboards. "How about silverware. Think you can find a spoon?" Pick a drawer, you've got a one-in-a-dozen shot. (Hint: It's as far as possible from the deep double sink and generous chopping block countertop where it might be most useful.)

As he learns his way around the Capitol Complex, Schweitzer also needs to learn the ins and outs of his new home - the 111,185-square-foot official governor's residence at Broadway and Carson, just southeast of the Capitol.

His must be a unique living arrangement among American governors, at least for the moment. Schweitzer's wife and three teenage children are still on the ranch in Whitefish, waiting until the school year ends to move to Helena.

Instead, Schweitzer finds himself bunking with Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, making the 11-room, seven-bath home something resembling the city's biggest bachelor pad.

"We're like the Odd Couple. I've got the upstairs, he gets the downstairs," Schweitzer laughed. "We don't want people thinking we're getting too close over here - after all, he's a Republican and I'm a Democrat, right?"

Schweitzer said he was given few instructions with the house - little more than, "Here are the keys." He's still figuring out how to use the microwave, and said that outgoing calls still show up on people's caller ID as "Marc Racicot."

Moving to Helena will be a new adventure for the Schweitzer kids - Ben, 18, Khai, 17, and Trina, 15.

"My kids have never lived in town," he said. "This is going to be a new experience for them. It takes some getting used to, just the sound of cars going by and other city noises."

Getting used to a more urban lifestyle may be simple, though, compared to determining who gets which of the home's six bedrooms.

Wherever the kids land, they'll be free to decorate their rooms as they like.

"We don't have any policies on that, because it is the executive mansion and for us to patch a few poster holes is no big deal," said Doug Olson, facilities manager for the Department of Administration's Facilities Management Bureau.

'A Proper Mansion'

The current Governor's Mansion was completed in 1959 - substantially behind schedule and over budget. The initial funds ($125,000) were appropriated in 1953, and the Legislature had to authorize additional money twice more in order to foot the eventual $347,000 bill.

The house was designed by architect Chandler C. Cohagen of Billings, who also designed the Billings City Hall and the Yellowstone County Courthouse. The front door faces east but the house is oriented to the north, with floor-to-ceiling picture windows looking out across the Helena Valley and the North Hills. The house curves to a point with a deck on the north end, designed to resemble the bow of the "ship of state."

The house was built by Mel Buck Construction on land donated by C.F. Mueller of Helena, who lived in the neighborhood.

(In a front-page editorial after his visit to check out the new mansion, legendary Hungry Horse News editor Mel Ruder, who called the house a "symbol of ridicule," opined that "Mr. Mueller with the idea of enhancing the value of his own fine home had donated the lots for the mansion. He is also civic-minded.")

At one point, delays, cost overruns and low-grade materials - the roof had blown off in a spring storm - had a House committee threatening to turn the building into the headquarters for the highway patrol.

But eventually, the home was complete. Gov. J. Hugo Aronson and his wife and teenage daughter moved in in September 1959. An open house for the public was held the next month, and several thousand Helenans made their way through.

Aronson, "The Galloping Swede," was pleased to move in from the mansion on Ewing Street, according to an account in the Missoulian: "Aronson feels that in the long run, the people of Montana will appreciate the fact that a proper mansion has been built 'instead of a house like a lot of wheat ranchers have.'"

The home was furnished and decorated by Shirley Kemp Gannon of Helena, on a $58,000 budget. The Missoulian was impressed: "The exterior architecture is ordinary but the interior is well laid out with great skill in the finest of moderate taste."

But, as furnishings were changed in piecemeal fashion over the years, in the view of many the decor didn't age well. A couple decades after it was built, the Independent Record compared the house to "a 1950s Holiday Inn," and even the architect, Cohagen, tried to disown it. "This thing was utterly changed from what I had designed," he said in a 1981 interview.

In 1981, Gov. Ted Schwinden, who said he'd prefer to move back into the Old Governor's Mansion, asked the Architecture and Engineering Division for a long-range plan for developing and maintaining the residence.

The resulting report ripped the house and, in a room-by-room review, just about everything in it - "It's unfortunate that the mansion is not the warm, inviting place that it could be," it said. "Somehow, plastic plants and commercial glass doors do not seem to reflect anything positive about Montana. In fact, very little in the entire mansion distinguishes it as the residence of Montana's governor."

In 1989, there was a proposal for the state to accept the donation of the Power-Tobin Mansion in Helena's Mansion District as a new governor's residence, but a private drive for funds to renovate the home fell well short of its goal and the idea was scrapped.

It was around that time that a number of changes were made inside the house, according to facilities manager Olson. Wall-to-wall carpet was laid, and new wall coverings, drapes and chandeliers were installed (mostly at private expense). The entire kitchen was remodeled, and a number of glass dividers were removed.

Outside, the home has been refurbished as well, with energy-efficient windows, a new roof and better insulation.

Whether the decor was bad then or is improved today is a matter of taste, but it's certainly more coordinated than it was 23 years ago. Some rooms remain sparsely furnished, but at least most of the furniture matches. Older pieces, like the original Steinway baby grand piano, are intermingled with newer items, like a grandfather clock that was a gift from the Legislative Spouses Club in 2003.

And yes, some signs of the original decorating remain.

"When you look at some of the bedrooms and the closet doors, it's inexpensive stuff," Schweitzer said. "And yeah, the bathroom fixtures are 40 years old, but get over it. The place has got hot and cold running water, and it stays warm at night."

Schweitzer's biggest quibble with the decor is the house's wall-to-wall white carpet - it may be an improvement over the loud black-and-white tiling that once covered the floor of the entertaining room downstairs, but problems might arise if red wine is served at paties.

'Montana's House'

Several different state agencies are responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the mansion. Day-to-day expenses are covered by the governor's office, while any kind of repairs or renovations are handled by the Department of Administration.

There is no additional budget in the first year of a new governor's term for moving expenses or other remodeling or redecorating. The home is fully furnished, and Schweitzer said that with the exception of a couple of pieces of furniture, most of his personal effects will stay at his Whitefish ranch.

A full-time cook/residence manager and half-time housekeeper are paid for from the Governor's Office Mansion Maintenance Program, which also funds groceries for entertaining and for the governor's use.

The proposed budget of outgoing Gov. Judy Martz asked for some $86,000 this year for that fund, a far cry from the estimated $840,000 it cost to pay 13 full-time employees and maintain Kentucky's governor's residence last year.

Schweitzer has asked for an additional $25,000 for that budget, anticipating that he'll do more hosting and entertaining in the house than Martz did. That includes visiting politicos and businessmen thinking of setting up shop in Montana, but it also includes Schweitzer's Upper East Side neighbors, whom the governor says he's eager to meet.

"It's my home, but it's really Montana's house," he said. "I expect to have lots of Montanans coming and going. It's obvious that a room this size (the cavernous first-floor state room) isn't meant for a family. It's meant to entertain, and that's part of what a governor does."

Security - including burglar alarms and camera surveillance of the exterior - is also paid for by the Department of Administration. (That doesn't include the semi-automatic rifle leaning against a wall in the master bedroom.) There's no separate landscaping budget, and the outside appearance is kept up as part of the Capitol grounds maintenance program administered by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

John Harrington can be reached at 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com.