Such an event, they said, could be catastrophic.

Eight months into the renovation, a new sprinkler system had not yet been installed and the words proved prophetic as fire left the once-elegant mansion charred and collapsed.

Asked whether the sprinkler system should have been one of the first projects tackled, given the fire concerns cited last year, Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer said: “We’re not interested in looking back and playing the guessing game of what could have been done.

“It’s unfortunate that fire sprinklers have never been part of the governor’s mansion because there’s always a risk of fire and it’s devastating to see that fire has impacted so much of the mansion,” she said.

State officials have not yet assessed the full impact of the damage from Sunday’s fire as they wait for state and federal law enforcement agencies to conclude their arson investigation.

But they seem committed to rebuilding the 152-year-old historic landmark that has been home to Texas governors from Sam Houston to George W. Bush.

“This house means a lot to the Perrys, it means a lot to all of the governors and their families who came before them and it means an awful lot to all Texans,” said Piferrer.

In addition to a sprinkler system, the project, first estimated at $10 million, was to include new plumbing, lead paint abatement, window and shutter restoration and was set to be completed by next spring.

Already, contractors had completed plumbing upgrades on the mansion grounds, and installed an air conditioning system in an adjacent carriage house. Those projects were unharmed by the fire.

Inside, all furniture and relics had been removed, paint and wallpaper had been stripped from the interior walls and experts had begun efforts to preserve the home’s ornate crown molding. Massive plumbing repairs inside the house had not been completed.

Before the fire, the state had spent about $1.8 million on the project, including $9,900 a month for the Perrys to rent another home.

Now, the renovation will become a rebuilding.

“Certainly the governor, like all Texans, really wants to see the mansion restored to its original luster, but there’s going to be a long process here,” said Perry spokesman Robert Black.

With no state money set aside for such disaster contingencies, Perry’s office has indicated they’ll explore all their options, including seeking money from the Legislature and private sources.

“There are probably a whole host of avenues that can be taken,” Piferrer said.

Michael Holleran, an expert in historic preservation, said enough of the landmark remains to restore it.

Holleran said the first priority of the restoration should be to repair breaches in the roof or enclosure to prevent wind and rain damage. Drying out the water and dampness also must be done quickly, he said.

He called the majestic mansion a “treasure of Texas.”

“If you’re able to picture what a little frontier town Austin was, you really can see in that building the ambition of this state, the demand to do something that was as good as any place in the world, and just to wield Texas into greatness,” said Holleran, director of the historic preservation graduate program at the University of Texas school of architecture.

“That’s the message to a state over a century and a half. It’s just a tragedy that this happened that the restoration was not completed and fires safety measures were not finished. But we need to pick up and do it.”