New York Mayor's Mansion Seeks a Missing Item (the Mayor) John Quincy Adams slept there before he was president, and Louis-Philippe of France slept there before he was king - as did, at one time or another, Charlie Chaplin and Menachem Begin; also, Fiorello H. La Guardia and eight other mayors. But not Michael R. Bloomberg. Gracie Mansion, home to the mayors of New York since movers delivered the La Guardias" own furniture in 1942, was never quite right for the billionaire mayor, who shunned it even as he shined it up, donating millions for repairs, renovations and the occasional antique. Now, after 12 years as a backdrop for V.I.P. receptions and high-powered meetings, Gracie Mansion is expecting a full-time resident. Either Bill de Blasio, the Democratic front-runner in the race to succeed Mr. Bloomberg, or Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican underdog, is expected to move in after taking the oath of office in January. "Won't it be wonderful?" said Joan K. Davidson, who was the first chairwoman of the Gracie Mansion Conservancy, the nonprofit organization created in the 1980s to restore and maintain the mansion. It's exciting, at night, when you see this surge of black limos roaring over to Gracie Mansion. There's a frisson in the air. Something big is going on over there, whereas if it's just used as a meeting hall, like a hotel, it isn't the same. If Gracie Mansion is lovely, it is also a little lonely, although Mr. Bloomberg's aides have said throughout his administration that official functions have kept the place bustling and busy. Only three guests have slept in the house during Mr. Bloomberg's three terms: Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Manuel A. Diaz, the mayor of Miami; and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. But some would-be visitors, fearing that sections of the house will no longer be on view after the next mayor moves in, have rushed to book tours. The conservancy has already taken reservations into 2014, but visitors might see no more than they saw when Rudolph W. Giuliani was mayor, when the second floor was off limits. "If you don't get here by the end of the year, that may be it," said Paul Saryian, a retired New York Police Department captain from Staten Island who arrived early for the 11 a.m. tour last Wednesday and pulled out his cellphone, showing off a snapshot of him taken with Mr. Bloomberg at a recent 9/11 tribute. "I was honored to meet him," Mr. Saryian said, "even though I didn't agree with a third term." The federal-style house, on a bluff on the East River, would be a significant change for Mr. de Blasio, who lives in a rowhouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The gentrifying renovation craze of Park Slope apparently passed the de Blasios" house by. They have embraced a shabby chic that stands apart in renovation-mad Brownstone Brooklyn: their kitchen is an unglamorous affair, with worn cabinets and aging appliances. Gracie Mansion, by contrast, has a $1.25 million kitchen that is less than a year old. And it is surrounded by the 14 acres of Carl Schurz Park. Gracie Mansion's immediate neighborhood is, to some Manhattanites, isolated - the closest subway station, at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, is more than three-quarters of a mile away - and privacy is complicated because the house has a tradition of tours on Wednesdays. But the de Blasios have given every indication that they would move in, assuming they can work out transportation to school for their son, Dante, who attends Brooklyn Technical High School. Mr. Lhota has also said that he would expect to move in if elected. He now lives in a penthouse duplex in Brooklyn Heights. By Colonial standards, Gracie Mansion is not a large house - it is no Mount Vernon or Monticello. The second floor has five rooms, including the two-room master suite, but if that seemed small, "somebody could live up in the attic," said Susan Danilow, the conservancy's executive director. It's a bit more rustic-looking than the rest of the house, but it's totally nice. The curator, Diana Carroll Toole, said the beds are antiques but had been upgraded "to be comfortable for modern users." So has the wiring, a potential concern for a household with cellphones and laptops. "Having enough outlets in an old home is a challenge," Ms. Toole said, "but we have them." The mansion was built on the foundation of an earlier Colonial house that had burned during the Revolutionary War after it was hit by a British shell.