Huntsman family to move into mansion

The state of Utah won't be putting an ad in the classifieds anytime soon for a "remodeled 32 rm., 6 bdrm, lux. home, fncd. yard, grt midtown loc."

Ending speculation that the Governor's Mansion would not be inhabited during his administration, Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr. says he will move his family, including six children, into the stately residence on South Temple next month.

"There's a distinct sense of history that goes with it that our kids are anticipating with great interest," Huntsman said Thursday. "It's a home that represents the people of this great state. My family and I will do our best to respect that which is entrusted to us."

Gov. Olene Walker and her husband, Myron, are of course the mansion's current residents. However, the state's last chief executive who still had children living at home, former Gov. Mike Leavitt, chose to stay in the family's own east bench home after being forced out of the mansion by a 1993 fire.

At the time, the Leavitts said the decision enabled their children to lead more normal lives, staying closer to their friends and activities. Huntsman said shortly after his election that he and his wife, Mary Kay, were considering how moving to the mansion would affect their children.

But now the Huntsmans and their children have decided to live for the next four years — or longer, should the governor-elect win a second term — in the historic house, located on South Temple not far from the Huntsmans' home in Federal Heights.

"I wanted to make sure the kids were comfortable," Huntsman said, noting that the family initially was leaning against the move. But now, he said, the children, who range in age from 5 to 19, are excited.

Yes, there are only six bedrooms in the 32-room mansion, but Huntsman said his children already share bedrooms in their family home. There are plenty of bathrooms, though — 10, plus three kitchens, three dining rooms and eight fireplaces.

This won't be the first time the Huntsmans have lived in an official residence. When Huntsman served as the U.S. ambassador to Singapore under the first President Bush, the family lived upstairs at the embassy.

"For our older kids, that was an enormously important growing experience," Huntsman said. "They learned a great deal during that period." The lessons they learned, such as how to greet official visitors to the embassy, may come in handy at the mansion.