Location: North Cummingsburg, Georgetown
Classification: Governmental
Period/ Year Built: 1823
Historical Background / Description:
State House, the official Residence of the Executive President of Guyana, is located with its main façade facing Main Street and is bordered by New Market and Carmichael Streets, Cummingsburg, Georgetown. The structure is sometimes addressed as Guyana House and was formerly known as Government House. The original structure was built in 1823, on a small piece of land belonging to the first Anglican Bishop to British Guiana, William Piercy Austin.
In 1853, the British Government bought the building which was described as a two-storey timber structure with a double stairway facing Carmichael Street which stood on 2.4 metres (8 feet) high brick pillars. It was bought to serve as the Official Residence for British Governors while in service in the British colony. Over the years the building underwent a number of extensions as more neighbouring lands were bought.
Sometime in the early 20th century, the entrance was removed from Carmichael Street to Main Street and some additional work was done to improve the aesthetics of both the building and the compound. After independence, the building was renamed State House, since it no longer housed Governors, but Heads of State. Some architectural features of the building include Demerara windows, enclosed galleries, the decorative ceiling of the dining hall, and brick columns. State House was gazetted as a National Monument in April, 2001.
