Preservation Matters Fall 2015 - Blue Grass Trust for Historic

Transcription

Message from our President:
Greetings from Market Street
BGT 2012 - 2013
Board of Directors
Linda Carroll, President
Tom Meng, Vice President
Jessica Case, Secretary
Randall Miloszewski, CPA, Treasurer
Laura Crume
Andrea Gottler
Marcia Gray
John Hackworth
Joseph Hillenmeyer
Barbara Hinkle
Bill Johnston
Mike Meuser
Andrew Moore
Tom Moore
Pamela Perlman
Maureen Peters
Fran Taylor
Phillip Tibbs, MD
Barbara Tilghman
Advisory Board
Barbara Hulette, Chair
Clyde Carpenter
Richard DeCamp
Ann Garden
Gay Darsie Glenn
John Hackworth
Nancy Iliff
Susan Jackson Keig
Zee Faulkner Kurfees
Gloria Martin
Mike Meuser
Joyce Ockerman
Foster Pettit
W. Gay Reading
Sharon Reed
Daniel Rowland
James Thomas
Vivian Weil
2
s Ashland Park approaches the final
public hearing set for January 22,
2013, it is important to look at the
request of a few neighbors who want their
property carved out of the H-1 overlay. A significant number of the property owners who
want to be removed from the overlay are absentee owners who have rental property on
the boundaries of the neighborhood. The
boundaries, or edges, fall along the east side
of High Street and along the north and south
sides of Fontaine. On the surface, their request to be removed from the H-1 may seem
logical since it is clearly an edge and potentially ripe for future commercial development.
But that is precisely the issue. H-1 is a longterm proposition.
A
City officials carefully applied logic when they
established this proposed boundary for the
Ashland Park Historic District. It follows the
National Register designation from 1986 as
part of the Ashland Park Historic District. It
also follows some of the original farm boundaries established by statesman, Henry Clay, and
further evidence of its boundaries and development can be seen on the 1934 Sanborn fire insurance maps which accurately depict location
and size of property within these boundaries.
Basically, the chosen area is the historically
accurate boundary for Ashland Park.
Some people want out of the H-1 and they
cite private property rights, costs and spread
certain false information about what the historic preservation overlay means. But this is
not the issue. The Urban County Council, in
its everlasting wisdom, has already stated that
H-1 overlays are important to Lexington, as
long as specific criteria are met. The Council’s
role in this instance is not to decide whether
H-1 is a good concept. That was decided years
ago. Council should be reviewing the application to ensure that it has met the criteria that
Council decided upon some years ago. We believe this standard has been met and exceeded
for Ashland Park.
The neighborhood’s 5th District Council
Member, Bill Farmer, at the October 25,
2012, Planning Commission meeting, asked
Linda Carroll,
Blue Grass Trust Board President
for removal of his own rental property at 311
South Hanover (almost the intersection of
High and South Hanover). Yet, at the November 10, 2012, neighborhood meeting, he advised those present of his intention to support
the designation in its entirety and exactly as it
has been approved by the Board of Architectural Review and the Planning Commission
(also confirming his statement in his November 9 newsletter).
So with the District Council Member on
board, we’ve cleared one more hurdle and
everyone should conclude the inclusion of all
property within the proposed district is a good
thing? Yes! If the edge section of High Street/
South Hanover/Fontaine is included in the
overlay, it does not preclude the opportunity for
commercial development of that area in the future. But if it is carved out of the H-1 overlay,
what will it look like? It could result in unrestricted demolition, gaping holes, or grotesque
or inappropriate design which would hurt the
neighborhood. It could even become surface
parking to accommodate some perceived need
by the commercial development on the south
side. If it remains in the H-1, demolition is still
a possibility; but redevelopment will be of a size
and scale to balance the neighborhood without
mimicking the history of what exists in this
pristine part of Lexington.
Preservation Matters | Winter/Spring 2013 | www.bluegrasstrust.org
Some have questioned
the merit of including
Hanover Towers in the
historic district boundary. The bigger question
should be: what happens if Hanover Towers
isn’t in the boundary?
Just like High Street/
South Hanover/
Fontaine, the neighborhood becomes exposed to unprotected
change. If Hanover
Towers is excluded you
can see the property
continue as a wellmaintained moderate
high-rise. But without
H-1 protection, it
might slip into disrepair
and ultimately find itself a blight on the
neighborhood. Or, a developer might acquire the entire unprotected corner from
South Ashland to South Hanover and construct one or more wholly incompatible
structures. What could these structures look
like? Who knows, as there will be absolutely
no limits on their size or appearance. They
could completely overshadow this prominent corner – and there would be nothing
one could do to stop the development.
For 57 years, pockets of preservation have
developed to protect what we now all regard
as a valuable part of Lexington. I’d venture
to say that all but a few of Fayette County’s
14 historic districts have come about as a
reaction to demolition or inappropriate
development.
• Gratz Park witnessed the demolition of
the Thomas Hart House at the south west
corner of Second and Mill Streets with
planned demolition of the Hunt-Morgan
House to follow. The neighborhood took
action in 1955 and created the first historic
district in 1958. (The parking lot that replaced the Thomas Hart House, remains a
rather unattractive parking lot to this day,
some 57 years later.)
• South Hill was established after the demolition of all the historic property now known
as the Rupp Arena surface parking lot.
(1972, 1976)
inappropriate house – for
the neighborhood – built
to replace its predecessor. It doesn’t take long
for this type of activity to
forever alter the historical
value and historic integrity
of a neighborhood.
Councilmember Bill
Farmer has come full circle and has said glowing
things about this neighborhood; "You've got an
Olmsted designed neighborhood. If that's not
what it takes to get H-1
overlay in Lexington,
we've got a real problem,"
he said.
• Western Suburb lost almost an entire block
to parking for garbage trucks at the corner of
West Short and Old Georgetown. (1975)
• Northside saw demolition after demolition
of important structures for the expansion of
Transylvania University or other commercial growth. A dark period for preservation,
the demolition often took place in the middle
of the night to avoid any public demonstration to preserve or protect property. (1986)
The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation supports this overlay as approved by
the Board of Architectural Review and the
Planning Commission. The Ashland Park
H-1 boundary should be adopted in its
entirety and with a resounding unanimous
vote from the Council. This is an opportunity for the new Council to stand up for
preservation and affirm its 55 years of
support for historic districts.
• Seven Parks was established as a reaction
to the growing threat of vinyl box additions to accommodate large numbers of
students. (1997)
• Aylesford, the largest historic district, felt
the same pressure as Seven Parks and
formed a historic district. (1998)
• The residents of South Ashland admit that
the planned bed and breakfast at the northeast corner of Richmond Road and South
Ashland led to their H-1 application. (1989)
But, the proposed expansion of Ashland Park
is the first time in the history of preservation
in our community when a neighborhood
gets in front of demolition, development, or
incongruous changes to property. Protecting
this gem before it has sustained real damage
is critical. There have been several older
neighborhoods in Lexington where homes in
favorable locations have been purchased, then
demolished only to have a new architecturally
3
BGT & PNC Bank Help Rescue House
543 West Third Street, Home of Thomas Satterwhite Noble
BGT deTour Sites
2013
Free and open to the public, the
BGT's deTours are held the first
Wednesday each month at 5:30 p.m.
and provide unique tours of historic
places folks might not normally get to
visit. After each deTour, we adjourn
to a nearby restaurant or pub for an
AfterHour of socializing.
F
aith Harders, a long time BGT member
and former member of our Board of Directors,
has for many years resided at 539 West Third
Street. Faith has carefully tended to the historic
house at this location and it is a must-see stop
on any walking tour of this area. Unfortunately,
Faith has been forced to endure the slow deterioration of the structure located to the immediate
omas
Satterwhite
Noble
(1835 – 1907),
a renowned
local painter,
portraitist
January 2, 2013, 5:30 p.m.:
BGT Upstairs/Downstairs deTour of
the Thomas & King Building, formerly
the Ades Dry Good Building,
249 East Main Street; followed by
an Afterhour at Portofino Restaurant.
Architects H. L. Rowe and Arthur
Giannini designed the Ades Dry Good
Co. Building ca. 1907. It was listed
on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1988. at same year, Omni
Architects designed an adaptive reuse
of the building (also known as the
omas & King Building) to accommodate apartments, storefront offices
and a restaurant. e Ades Dry Good
Co. Building/omas & King Building stands at 249 East Main Street,
across Main from
Quality Street.
February 6, 2013, 5:30 p.m.:
BGT deTour of the Oldham House,
245 South Limestone; followed by an
Afterhour at Joe Bologna’s.
BGT deTours will be celebrating
African American History month in
February with a tour of the historic
Oldham House at 245 S. Limestone.
e house was built in 1835 for
Samuel and Daphney Oldham, the
first free African Americans to build a
home in Lexington. e property was
once listed on the Blue Grass Trust’s
“Eleven in eir Eleventh Hour,”
before being restored by owner
Coleman Callaway III.
4
west of her residence. Thankfully, due to the
combined efforts of Faith, the BGT and PNC
Bank, help is on the way.
Faith’s house and the house at 543 West Third
Street once were each part of a single family
structure constructed about 1835 on 200 acres
of property. This property had formerly belonged to Colonel John Todd. Todd, a great
uncle of Mary Todd Lincoln, was killed
in 1782 during the Battle of Blue Licks. (This
famous battle is often referred to as the final
significant battle of the Revolutionary War
in the West, even though it was a devastating
defeat for the future Kentuckians.) The
house with its 200 acres was the boyhood
home of Thomas Satterwhite Noble (1835 –
1907), a renowned local painter, portraitist, and
in 1869, the first director of the Art Academy
of Cincinnati. (This academy is still functioning
today. It is located in Cincinnati’s Over-the-
Rhine neighborhood, and promotes itself as
one of the smallest four-year art colleges in the
country.) His pupils included Kentucky watercolorist, Paul Sawyier, and Mount Rushmore sculptor, Gutzon Borglum.
According to research done by historian and
author, James Birchfield, who previously lived
in Harders’ house, the property subsequently
passed into the hands of the John George
Yellman and Sophia Kastle Yellman family
in 1860. Mr. Yellman died in 1876. Sophia
then began subdividing the surrounding
acreage. One might conjecture that she was
lonely, since she worked hard to ensure that as
many of her children as possible lived very close
by. She created Blackburn Ave., and built several
houses there and on West Third, including a luxurious one for herself across the street from the
old family home - aka the Thomas Noble House.
(Her house is no longer standing.)
When it came time for her to find a place for her
daughters (possibly seated on the steps in the
below picture), she made her decision. She had
been renting out the old family house, part or all
of which was then rented to Kitty Morgan
Forsyth, the sister of the late General John
Morgan, and who was the widow of another
Confederate General. Now that Sophia’s
daughters were ready to have their own place,
she decided to make use of that old family
house. No one really knows for sure if the girls
liked or hated each other, or just didn’t care.
But in 1893 Sophia made the decision to split
the house in two by removing the center section. She then attached a two-story wing to the
front of each of the remaining sections, and
moved each of the daughters into one of the resulting “new” houses. Thus was born 543 and 539
West Third Street. Sophia died not long after on
January 3, 1896, at the age of 69.
Fast forward 112 years. In January, 2008,
Virginia Scott, the owner of 543 West Third
Street, passed away. Since the time of her death,
the house fell into disrepair and became a blight
on the neighborhood. Faith Harders brought
this matter to the BGT’s attention. We learned
that PNC Bank held a mortgage on the property which had gone into default, causing PNC
to initiate foreclosure proceedings. It was at this
time that PNC learned that Ms. Scott had no
heirs and no one had stepped up to claim ownership of the property. The BGT contacted
Harry Richart, Regional President of PNC
Bank, and made a proposal that Mr. Richart
carefully considered and ultimately accepted.
good cleaning, and made the property “presentable”. The BGT has imposed restrictive
covenants on the property insuring that any future owner will preserve the property in full
recognition of its significant historic heritage.
During the last weekend in October, we held
an open house for prospective buyers of the
property and of the miscellaneous furnishings
left in it. Almost everything was sold or discarded. The turnout was especially satisfying
given the coolness and dreariness of the weather;
and a lot of interest was expressed by potential
purchasers of the property.
On December 14, 2012, the BGT sold the
property to a well-respected downtown developer, Don Wathen, who plans to renovate the
house into a quality upscale single-family home.
This has been a classic win-win-win-win for
PNC, the BGT, Faith Harders and the 500
block of West Third Street, and the new owner.
Many thanks are extended to Faith Harders for
her perseverance, to Harry Richart and PNC
Bank for giving the BGT an opportunity to put
its mission of preserving the built and natural
environment of the Central Kentucky region
into practice, and to BGT Board Vice-President, Tom Meng for putting all of the pieces together. Watch this remnant of Lexington’s
history come back to life. We will continue to
report on the progress at 543 West Third Street
as matters transpire.
For a small fee to cover expenses, PNC assigned the
Scott loan and mortgage to
the BGT. Then the BGT,
through the dedicated work
of board member and attorney Tom Meng, proceeded to
prosecute the foreclosure action to its ultimate conclusion; he was able to “buy-in”
the property at the Fayette
County Master Commissioner’s auction. Thus, the
BGT became the proud
owner of 543 West Third
Street. We removed and
disposed of all personal
property located within the
house, gave the house a
2013 Calendar
of Events
March
March, 6, 5:30 p.m. deTour
Visit us at www.bluegrasstrust.org, or
on Facebook for details.
March 7, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Gala Preview Party for the
BGT's Antiques & Garden Show
Kentucky Horse Park's Alltech Arena
$125 p/p, Reservations
(859)253-0362
and on-line @
www.bluegrasstrust.org
March 8, 9, 10, 2013
BGT's Antiques & Garden Show
Friday & Saturday,
10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, 11:00 am to 5:00 p.m.
Kentucky Horse Park's Alltech Arena,
$15 Run-of-Show Ticket;
$10 Daily Show Ticket
Available at the Door,
or Reserve @ (859)253-0362
and on-line @
April
April 3 @ 5:30 p.m. deTour
Visit us at www.bluegrasstrust.org, or
on Facebook for details.
May
May 1 @ 5:30 p.m. deTour
Latrobe's Pope Villa and Latrobe
Birthday Celebration
5
“Our Towns: Partnering Regionally,
Preserving Locally”: Focus of the 2012
State Historic Preservation Conference
Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington
Welcome to the
Newest Members of
the Blue Grass Trust!
(October 2012 to Present)
Ms. Rachel Alexander
Mr. Chris Campbell
Ms. Maria Clark
Dr. and Mrs. James Clyde
Mr. Zachary Davis
Mrs. Natalie Frost
Mr. Jeffrey Fugate
and Ms. Melody Flowers
Ms. Kara Hoover
and Mr. Jeremy Crampton
Mr. Clyde Lawton III
Mr. Travis Lutz
In late September, several western Kentucky
towns opened their doors for the 14th biennial State Historic Preservation Conference,
titled Our Towns: Partnering Regionally,
Preserving Locally. Co-sponsored by the
Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC) and
Preservation Kentucky (PK), the
2012 Conference was the first
held outside a metropolitan
area (the 2010 Conference
was held in Frankfort and
the 2008 Conference in
Bardstown). Informative sessions were held
primarily in the historic
town of Princeton, with
excursions and historic
tours in Dawson Springs,
Eddyville, and Kuttawa.
The two-day event was open to
anyone interested in historic preservation. Blue Grass Trust President Linda Carroll
and BGT Historic Preservation Specialist
Jason Sloan participated in the educational
conference. The wide-ranging topics included
Is Your Community Artsy?; Kentucky Cultural
Districts and TakeItArtside!; Preservation and
Rehabilitation: How to Create a Meaningful
Public Education Event; How to Survey and
List Properties in the National Register of Historic Places; Help is Available for Your Rehab:
Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits; many of
which the BGT attended.
Ms. Erin Lykins
Ms. Christine Mainous
Ms. Kay Mangum
Mr. George Meng and
Ms. Jo Ellen Hayden
Ms. Jennie Mills
Mr. Phillip Sammons
and Ms. Bonnie Senft
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Saunier
Mr. Colin Wheeler
6
The conference began on September 20. The
opening plenary was held in the beautifully restored main courtroom of the Caldwell County
Courthouse, with welcoming statements from
State Historic Preservation Officer Lindy
Casebier, PK Executive Director Rachel
Kennedy, and Princeton Mayor Gale Cherry.
Featured speaker was Kentucky Supreme
Court Justice Bill Cunningham, author of multiple regional books including On Bended
Knees: e Night Rider Story and Castle: e
Story of a Kentucky Prison. He spoke wisely,
passionately, and with a touch of humor of the
courtroom’s restoration. His recount told of the
creativity, discovery, and dedication involved in
rehabbing the historic courtroom, a tale many
preservationists know.
On September 21, the BGT was present for
The Basics of Revolving Funds, led by Ethiel
Garlington, Director of Field Preservation
Services at Knox Heritage in Tennessee; Greg Sekula, Director of
Indiana Landmarks’ Southern Regional Office; and
Joe Pierson, President of
the Kentucky Trust for
Historic Preservation.
The session was particularly helpful, as the
Blue Grass Trust recently purchased and
saved 543 West Third
Street in Lexington, venturing into its own revolving
fund (you can read about 543
West Third St. on pages 4 and 5).
President Linda Carroll was a presenter at the
session Controlling and Accommodating
Change in Your Community Through Section
106. As a consulting party on multiple projects
involving federal monies, including the Eastern
State redevelopment for Blue Grass Community and Technical College, LexTran’s use of
the historic Greyhound Station on Loudon
Avenue, and the I-75 Corridor Connector, the
Blue Grass Trust was asked to join the Kentucky Heritage Council Staff to explain Section
106 and its importance to preserving places
that matter. Section 106 refers to Section 106
of the National Historic Preservation Act,
which calls for consultation with interested
parties when federal money is used on a project
that may adversely affect historic properties.
Western Kentucky provided an acute background for the conference, highlighting the
importance, challenge, and good sense in
preserving small towns and rural areas throughout Kentucky. Justice Cunningham put it best
as he described the larger picture in restoring
the Caldwell Courthouses’ main courtroom:
“A community uninterested in preservation is a
community that is not proud of its past.”
The Life and Purpose of a Bus Depot
T
ime and weather can take a toll on
buildings, but there is a fine line
between damage caused by the elements
and owner neglect.
The Transit Authority of Lexington (LexTran) property at 101 West Loudon Avenue, was deemed eligible for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places by the
Kentucky Heritage Council in June 2011.
The State Historic Preservation Officer,
Lindy Casebier, determined its eligibility
under Criterion A, its association with
events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
Mr. Casebier goes on to say the building
contributes to the rise of bus travel in
Lexington in the 1920’s when constructed.
Constructed in 1928 by the Consolidated
Coach Corporation, the building was used
for both the maintenance of the fleet and
administrative offices. Eventually,
Consolidated Coach Corporation became
affiliated with the Greyhound Corporation
and became
the Southeastern
Greyhound
Lines and
relocated
to another
facility. They
operated
successfully
in Lexington
through the
1950’s.
Probably
around the 1950’s the property was acquired
by the Kitchen Planning Center, a modest
cabinet line built within the vast interior
and used in many of the homes popping
up as IBM entered the Lexington scene
with jobs and families.
The Transit Authority purchased the
property in 1972 for $90,000 and by 2001
made some renovation to allow for its use.
Then director of planning and operations,
Mike Pence, spent time with the Blue Grass
Trust and described the bus
barn as sound in 2001. Pence
described his ability to manage
60 to 70 buses within the
space, thus avoiding any warm
up or cool down for the fleet.
Things have changed over the
past ten years and perhaps
most significant is the ergonomics of fleet repair. Workers no
longer roll under a bus to conduct
repairs; instead they need the height to
raise the buses above them and allow repairs to take place from a comfortable
standing position. This building no longer
meets that ergonomic need.
The masonry and steel structure is described
by current LexTran officials as having only
a 50 year life when constructed. They further
describe nonexistent seismic requirements,
poor mechanical, plumbing and electric systems and moisture intrusion. Thus, LexTran
officials announced plans last year to demolish the bulk of the building and allow them
to expand at
the current
site.
The Blue
Grass Trust,
the Kentucky
Heritage
Council and
others met
with the
Federal Transportation Authority some
time ago to
discuss the fate of the building. The Heritage Council’s determination of National
Register eligibility created a problem for
LexTran’s planned demolition of much of
the building. It seems likely now that the
LexTran fleet will relocate and the building
and site could be sold. The BGT understands
that the Federal Transportation Authority
(FTA) must entertain three bids for the property before a sale can be considered. Certainly,
it is the goal of the FTA to obtain the most
money for its property. Demolition remains a
great fear because this five acre site might appear to have more value if cleared.
The Blue Grass Trust, the Kentucky Heritage
Council and several nearby residents also took
a tour of the facility. At the least, it can be
hard for some prospective buyers to see beyond the debris to find the obvious good
bones in the building. The pictures attached
to this story show the amazing vast space,
long-hidden clerestory windows, the waiting
room and the upstairs ballroom. Yet, we are
left to wonder why old building plans, pallets
and broken furniture never made their way to
a dumpster.
At a reported 64,000 square feet on two
floors, the building offers many options. It
is a jewel in this emerging neighborhood. It
is a potential anchor for the North Limestone-Loudon corridor. Help us spread
the word about the property and help the
FTA get a fair price while also doing what
is right and good for the neighborhood. The
Blue Grass Trust approached the current
LexTran management to offer to apply certain restrictive covenants on the property.
We have offered the same to the Kentucky
Heritage Council as it continues its discussion with the FTA officials over the applicability of the National Historic Preservation
Act’s Section 106. But, a new owner could
apply for National Register status and
benefit greatly from the state and historic
tax credits and achieve a highest and best
use for the property and the neighborhood.
The Blue Grass Trust hopes to help the
neighborhood find a buyer with a good
broom, some imagination and an eye toward making a difference in an emerging
area of Lexington.
7
Preservation Matters is
a tri-annual newsletter
published by the
Blue Grass Trust for
Historic Preservation
for its membership.
Preservation Matters
Newsletter Committee:
Linda Carroll, Bill Johnston,
John Rhorer, Peter Brackney,
Jason Sloan
BGT Fall Gallery Hops
at Hunt-Morgan House
Thanks to the quality and diversity of
our featured artists and our location,
the BGT’s Hunt-Morgan House is a
popular spot with art lovers for Gallery
Hop, presented in conjunction with
LexArts. New sculptures by Deborah
Westerfield brought in 450 guests
during the September 21 Hop.
Painter Eric Johnson also had a
strong turnout for his show at the
Hunt-Morgan House on November
16 which included Rona Roberts
signing her book Sweet, Sweet
Sorghum and a sorghum tasting!
Editor: Sheila Omer Ferrell
Graphic Designer:
Miki Wright, Egg Design
www.scrambledegg.com
859.338.2432
Volume 34/Issue 1, Winter/Spring 2013
Contributing Writers:
Peter Brackney, Linda Carroll,
Sheila Ferrell, Bill Johnston, John Rhorer,
Jason Sloan, Lendy Brown
Photographers:
Patrick Morgan
(Cover, Antiques & Garden Show)
Lee P. Thomas
(Linda Carroll, Foster & Brenda Pettit)
Assorted Photos:
Anne E. Wright, Jason Sloan,
Sheila Ferrell, Tom Eblen,
Peter Brackney, Bill Johnston,
Ashley Paul, Heather Lamplough
8
Update on Ashland Park
I
n our Spring and Fall issues of Preservation Matters, we discussed historic districts in general and also focused on the
current efforts to designate the western
half of Ashland Park as Lexington’s fifteenth
historic district. This article provides an update on those efforts.
As we previously reported, on August 13,
2012, the Board of Architectural Review
(“BOAR”) approved the application to designate the properties bounded by Fontaine,
High, South Ashland, Richmond Road and
Desha in Ashland Park as a historic district.
The application then moved to the Planning
Commission which conducted its public
hearing on October 25, 2012.
The Council chambers were packed for this
hearing and all eleven members of the Planning Commission were in attendance. Following the hearing, which lasted approximately three hours, the Planning Commission voted 7 to 4 to approve the application
and forward it to the Lexington Fayette
Urban County Council for its consideration.
The Council will conduct its public hearing
on the application on January 22, 2013. By
that time, Lexington will have four new
council members and it is likely that this
will be their first opportunity to participate
in such a hearing. In accordance with the
Zoning Ordinance, it will require eight
votes to overturn the recommendation of
the Planning Commission.
It was interesting to note that at both the
BOAR and Planning Commission hearings, there was absolutely no effort made to
contradict the findings of the Historic
Preservation Office that this area of Ashland Park meets five of the nine criteria
that properties must meet in order to qualify as a historic district. The Zoning Ordinance requires that an area or landmark
only meet one of the nine criteria. Again
the Ashland Park area meets five of those
criteria. Having achieved National Register
status 25 years ago, this area’s historic “bona
fides” have already been established and
cannot be seriously challenged.
So, the challenges to granting Ashland
Park’s application for historic district status
are primarily philosophical challenges to the
concept of historic districts in general. Most
of the arguments in opposition to the designation ran along the following lines: (i) the
government should not be telling a private
property owner what he/she can and cannot
do with his/her property; (ii) the cost of
complying with the historic district regulations is too great; or (iii) each property owner
within the Ashland Park district has always
and will always appropriately manage and
maintain his/her property, and therefore, the
protections provided by the historic overlay
are unnecessary, better known as “the cows
will stay in the barn, so why keep the barn
door closed” argument.
These may all be rational arguments against
the implementation of a historic district
regimen. But, the fact is that Lexington has
had historic districts for more than fifty
years and by adopting the concept of historic
districts as a part of our local laws, the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council has
already decided that: (i) the overall community benefits of historic districts outweigh
their minimal intrusion on private property
rights; (ii) the costs of complying with the
regulations are not excessive; and (iii) the
regulations are necessary in order to ensure
that the property owners within historic
districts properly manage their properties,
or “why don’t we just keep the barn door
closed so the cows cannot get out”.
In summary, Lexington has historic districts
and they have been successful. The Zoning
Ordinance establishes the criteria that must
be met in order to become a historic district.
No one disputes the fact that Ashland Park
meets five of those criteria. Ashland Park
should become Lexington’s fifteenth historic district and we hope that the Urban
County Council will confirm that fact.
Everyone is encouraged to come to the
hearing on January 22, 2013 and/or write
to the Council to voice your support.
9
The Blue Grass Trust
Heritage Society
The Heritage Society is a special
group of individuals who made
a commitment to the future of the
Blue Grass Trust for Historic
Preservation by naming the Trust
as a beneficiary in their wills or
whose estates include gifts, revocable or irrevocable, to the Trust. All
too often such gifts go unrecognized because they come at the
end of the donors’ lives. The
Heritage Society was created to
honor these individuals for their
generosity and support. Their patronage enables the Trust to continue its mission of education,
service and advocacy. Please consider including the BGT in your
estate planning and join the
growing number of those whose
legacies benefit the Trust. For
more information please call us
at (859)253-0362.
Dr. and Mrs. Gayle V. Alexander
Ms. Jane Hamilton Blachly
Mrs. Hazel Bush
Ms. Rose Jewell Collier
Mr. and Mrs. Richard DeCamp
Dr. and Mrs. Elvis Donaldson, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph G. Floyd
Mr. and Mrs. John Hackworth
Ms. Liz Harper
Mrs. Gail Hendrickson Hart
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hulette
Ms. Norma Jean Gibson
Mr. Charles Jones
Mr. and Mrs. William Johnston
Mrs. Zee Faulkner Kurfees
Mr. James McKeighen
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Milward
Mr. Tom Moore
Dr. and Mrs. William N. Offutt IV
Mr. and Mrs. H. Foster Pettit
Mr. W. Gay Reading
Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Rowland
Mr. Jeff Ritzler
Mr. David Stuart
Prof. and Mrs. John R. Thelin
Ms. Joyce Vanlandingham
Mr. and Mrs. Arlyn Wagner
Mr. E.M. "Jack" Webster
Ms. Vivian M. Weil
Mr. and Mrs. William T. Young, Jr.
10
A Birthday Party Celebrating 200 Years
By Lendy Firestone Brown, Guest Columnist
T
he two palomino work horses, guided
by George Washington, clopped down
Highway 460 at a brisk trot. They held to
the road straight and true, not shying or spooking from the cars and eighteen-wheelers
tobacco barn full of carriages, buggies and
wagons. Approximately 20 vehicles were in
shiny parade condition, glistening with bright
paint colors, clean sparkling chrome, and
smooth polished wood. He had a matching
team of horses grazing in the
nearby field, and these gentle giants were ready and available to
pull the conveyance of our choice.
We chose a wagon that would
seat 10 to 12 and invited friends
along for the ride.
My husband Darrell, alias George
Washington, drove the team.
Young George was dressed in a
three cornered hat and a vintage
long grey farm jacket. Darrell
used to drive the work horses on
his grandfather’s Oklahoma farm,
so I guess taking the reins was
that honked and flew by. The year was 1984,
and the wagon was loaded with merry
partiers going to the Johnston Inn, a historic
1784 red brick stagecoach stop and tavern,
and now the home of Dave and Susie Parrish.
Our invitation read, “Come celebrate our
home’s 200 year old birthday! Dress in what
your ancestors would have worn!” We lived
only two miles from the inn, so we felt a
horse and buggy would naturally fit into the
party’s historical theme.
As we plodded down the highway there was
no reaction from the passengers or drivers in
the passing lane. There were no quizzical
looks, no surprised faces, no noses pressed to
the car windows as they sped by the wagon
loaded with costumed crazies. What were
they thinking? Bourbon County Indians, bygone farm fashion, three cornered hats, white
curly wigs, or possibly Henry Clay traveling
down the Georgetown-Paris Road?
We had researched and found an incredible
collection of restored carriages on the other
side of Bourbon County. We met with the
proud owner and were surprised to find his
like riding a bicycle, you never forget. The
passengers showed confidence in his driving
skills, for we all clamored into the wagon and
were ready to party. Riding shotgun was the
Colonial dandy, dressed in black velvet knickers with a long gold brocaded duster. The two
sat high in the driver’s bench and ye-hawed
EVENT SPONSORS:
down the highway. It took us well over an hour
from farm gate to farm gate, and our plastic
totes, once filled with wine or bourbon, were
soon empty. We realized how difficult wagon
travel must have been without pavement and
what time and distance meant in those days.
Our driver abstained from drinking and kept
both hands on the reins. No wagon DUI for
George Washington.
The National Historic Register sign greeted
us at the driveway entrance, marking the 1784
stagecoach stop from Maysville to Lexington.
Darrell gave a hand signal to turn left up the
Johnston Inn driveway, and the horses bent into
their harness and pulled us up the sloping hill.
Earlier guests greeted our wooden limousine with whoops and hollers. Darrell
handed the reins to the parking attendant
and said, “Would you kindly park these
horses. We will be back in a few hours.” The
horses stomped and sneezed as if they were
part of the joke. However, the owner had followed us down the road, and took the team
back home. The birthday party festivities and
celebration had begun. The waitresses, waiters,
car parkers, babysitters, along with guests
were all in costumes. Some of our friends
were unrecognizable, especially those dressed
as apes. There were many guests whose heritage and history were certainly in question.
Part of the Inn’s past history tells the story of
three sisters, Annie, Latisha and Sarah, residents of the Inn, locked in the house attic
during an 1800 cholera epidemic. It was rumored that they were at the party and had a
particularly spirited time. They were dressed
as ghosts.
The menu was appropriate to the era: a
carvery of beef roast, country green beans,
scalloped potatoes, garden salad, loaves of
bread, baked apple cake and berry crumble.
Maker’s Mark and Grey Goose were good
substitutes for moonshine. As the fiddle
played, the large hoop skirts ballooned
around the dance floor, the Indians stomped,
the monkeys hopped and little children ran
amongst the dancers.
Johnston Inn had two nights of celebration.
I do not know how our hosts had the energy.
But, the Parrish’s contribution to Bourbon
County and other areas was always remarkable. Susie started the Bargain Bungalow for
Second Hand Clothes, with proceeds benefiting nursing scholarships in Bourbon County,
an example of just one of her many charitable
efforts. Dave was a kind respected man with a
gentle honest personality. He had received
many local awards and always participated in
the county’s causes. He had been awarded the
WWII Silver Star and had been inducted
into the Aviation Hall of Fame, additional
evidence of his character.
The Pamela Perlman
Law Office
The Blue Grass Trust & host
Atomic Café went to the dogs for
our first-ever “Paws 4 Preservation”
event September 19.
Thanks to our sponsors
Kirkpatrick & Co.,
The Pamela Perlman Law Office,
& Sheabel Veterinary Services
and our two-legged and fourpawed friends for making the
evening a howling success!
Susie and Dave’s married children and grandchildren now reside in their own homes. Dave
passed away a few months ago and Sue is comfortable living in town. But, she worries about
her historic country home. The structure is well
cared for, the fences painted and the grass
mowed. But, the gate is closed, there are no
cheery lights on at night, no cars in the
driveway, and the American flag blows as a
lone beacon on a tall pole in the front yard.
The gravestones in the cemetery, at the side of
the house, peek over the surrounding stone
wall. Some of the engraving can still be read
and the dates noted. Annie, Latisha and Sarah
remain. They came to the party. Johnston Inn
waits for the next chapter, but not to worry.
The three sisters are standing guard.
Two BGT properties will soon celebrate their 200th year, The Pope Villa in 2013,
and The Hunt-Morgan House in 2014.
11
Tsunami Overtakes Birch Nest
A
t the BGT, like most of our members, we view Central Kentucky’s
historical buildings as living works of public art that have evolved over time. This
evolution reflects the efforts, successes,
failures, decisions, and the sometimes unusual ideas of the buildings’ owners and
residents, who - often unintentionally act as artistic creators of the object we get
to view in the present. There is no better
example of this than Birch Nest.
It all started in the very early 1840’s when
a 1½ story log cabin (2-rooms down, 1
room up) was built on the Frankfort Pike –
which we now refer to as Old Frankfort
Pike. (Today the site of that log cabin is on
the southeast corner of the Alexandria and
Old Frankfort
Pike roundabout,
at 2400 Old
Frankfort Pike.)
While the 1840’s
was a little past
the log cabin’s
heyday, the location was some
four miles out of
Lexington’s thriving center. Maybe
it was intended as
a summer getaway. It had to be
quite peaceful out
there, up on its
small rise overlooking the main
road from Lexington to Kentucky’s capital in
Frankfort. It was
also located quite
close to the Wolf
Run Creek that ran nearby and empties
out where McConnell Springs Park is
now located.
By 1861, David and Sarah Runyon were
listed as the owners when the property was
sold to J. B. and Ellen Payne. In 1874, the
Payne’s sold it to Fannie Van Meter who -
12
6-years later - sold it to Susan Wallace
Cromwell Sherley, in October of 1880.
Apparently, not all of the Van Meters
thought this was a good idea, since Fannie’s children sued Ms. Sherley over the
sale. The lawsuit was settled almost 18
months later on April 20, 1882, in favor
of Ms. Sherley. By this time, the little log
cabin had been expanded with a six-room
addition to its east. The whole dwelling
was covered with vertical board and batten
siding and, then or later, a Carpenters’
Gothic style trim was added in keeping
with a style that was popular at the time.
Later on, during the 20th century, that
façade was covered with horizontal clapboard. (This house, referred to as the Runyon
Place is mentioned on page 130 of Clay
Lancaster’s Antebellum
Houses of the Bluegrass. As
the new owner, Ms. Sherley renamed the house,
Sherley’s Crest.)
(Several accounts say that
Captain Zachary Madison
Sherley, Susan’s husband,
was the 1880 purchaser of
Runyon House, but that he
never actually lived there.
That he didn’t live there is
not surprising, since he died
of stomach cancer at the age
of 68 in 1879. This is according to Ancestry.com,
and is also stated in an article about his life in the
book, History of the Ohio
Falls Cities and Their
Counties by L.A. Williams
& Co. published in 1882.
In this account, Captain
Sherley was eulogized as a
remarkable man known for his incredible
common sense, integrity, community good
works, and who not only was a riverboat
captain, but who also was an owner of several successful transportation companies.)
As mentioned above, his (now rich) widow,
the aforementioned Susan W. Sherley (the
Captain’s third wife and 20 years his junior), purchased the Runyon place in 1880
after the Captain’s passing and moved
there with their 23-year-old son, Douglass.
Douglass lived until 1917 to the ripe-old
age of only 60, predating his Mother’s
death in 1928 – at 98 years of age – by 11
years. Douglass’s niece, Sarah Meglone of
Paris, Kentucky, was quoted by the Lexington Herald-Leader in an article about the
house in 1977 as saying about Douglass,
“He didn’t do anything.”; implying him to
be a rich dreamer who pretended to be an
author. He certainly had enough money to
where he didn’t really need to work. But he
did graduate from Centre College, and studied law at the University of Virginia. While
he may have not had a great career, he was
accomplished enough to be covered in
Wikipedia, unlike many of us. In Wikipedia,
he is noted as a Louisvillian, who was an
author, journalist for the Courier Journal,
and poet. While some of his works focus
dreamily on a fantasy Victorian lady with
whom he never quite connects, all of his
books are still available on Amazon.com,
and six are free downloads to the Amazon
Kindle. According to Wikipedia, his works
received little attention until he toured the
US in 1893
for a couple
of years with
James Whitcomb Riley.
This association “helped
Sherley gain
acceptance in
the western
literary community, and
as part of
Riley’s show,
he performed with
other major talents
including Samuel
Clemens.” (aka
Mark Twain).
In addition to writing, he must have
been interested in
architecture, because
Douglass ended up
contracting an architect to design a very unique house in Bar
Harbor, Maine. (His Father, the Captain,
was said to have traveled there on business.
Perhaps the family had long owned property there.) Its construction was completed
in 1897. Called Birch Nest, it was a 2½
story tall, steep-roofed, lodge-like structure
built of bark-covered logs and round boulders all of which were said to have been
specifically selected by Douglass himself.
It was featured as one of several interesting
cottages in the May, 1907 edition of American Homes and Gardens which describes
the structure in fair detail. Like many second houses, traveling back and forth and
maintaining it from a distance must have
become tiresome; because in 1912, Sherley
“naturally” decided to move the whole
house to Lexington. (He apparently really
liked the house.) In November 1912, the
publication, Building Age, printed a brief
article about the house being dismantled
in Bar Harbor, ferried across the harbor,
transported by railcar, hauled by muledrawn wagons, and attached to the east
side of Sherley’s Crest in Lexington; supposedly erected exactly as it was in Bar
Harbor. The effort was said to have taken
some $20,000 (or around $500,000 in
today’s dollars) and employed the same architects originally used in Bar Harbor. The
result was a eclectic, rambling, 10,000
square foot house with about 20 rooms that
defied most rules of architectural planning,
but would capture the imagination of generations to come. Sherley’s Crest was thereafter known as Birch Nest. An article by
Bettye Lee Mastin in the March 5, 1977
issue of the Lexington Herald-Leader described it this way: “The lodge has nooks
and crannies, balconies and short flights of
steps leading to nonsensical seeming passages. Sections of birch logs form balustrades
and columns.” (A picture in the April 17
edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader
show the numbers 1897 and 1912 integrated in Birch Nest’s east-facing stone
chimney, signifying the two dates of Birch
Nest’s creation.)
After Douglass’ death, Susan in 1918
deeded the house to her niece Eva Cromwell
for $1, with the provision that Susan could
stay there for the rest of her life. Eva kept
it until 1939, at which time she sold it to
the Rose family for $15,000. The Roses
and their heirs lived there,
ending up with Alex Rose
and his wife, Marjorie,
and at least
one son, also named Alex.
According to the son,
the Rose family operated
Birch Nest “as a horse
farm and racing stable
whose gold and brown
racing silks were familiar
at Keeneland, Churchill
Downs and other tracks.
At that time Birch Nest
consisted of about 100
acres and backed up to
Calumet Farm.” The Rose family kept
it until selling it to Mr. and Mrs. James
Stambaugh in November, 1959. The
Stambaughs owned it for almost 18 years
until 1977 when they decided to sell it.
For those who remember, the 70’s were
difficult economically. Possibly to help
promote the sale of the house and to
support a worthy cause - specifically
the Neighborly Organization of Women’s
intercity kindergartens, the Stambaughs
agreed to let the house be used as Lexington’s first Decorators’ Showcase. This
is where decorators each select, furnish and
decorate a room to showcase their talents
to the public as a fund raiser. The show ran
from April 22 until May 8, 1977. It was
very well attended, and everyone marveled
at this “House That Goes On and On and
On” as described in the March 5, 1977
Lexington Herald-Leader article. Having
the showcase must have worked for the
Stambaughs, since the house and 15 acres
sold to Phillip and Candace Hurley in June,
1977. Two years later, the property was sold
to William and Ruth Gentry.
The last owners to use Birch Nest as a residence moved into it in 1984 and lived there,
raising their family, for 23 years through
2007. By that time, the surrounding industrial parks had pretty much overtaken everything but the last 2½ acres. When out in the
rear yard, enjoying the wonderful Lexington
weather in their private swimming pool, it
was hard to pretend that they weren’t really
just 20 or so feet away from the nearby
Frito-Lay warehouse, with its trucks coming
and going; because they were. Within six
months of the house being sold (and now
vacant), most of the plumbing, wiring,
HVAC, door hardware, doors, and anything
else of interest that could be readily removed,
was carted away. While the last residentowners had hoped the property would be
preserved, that hope was now no longer a
(continued on page 14)
13
probability. The building stood open for
another 4½ years until its final demise
this past November.
Birch Nest was caught up by being included
in the Urban Services Area and with being a
small parcel on the extreme western edge of
its large, light-industrial zoned surroundings
to the east. More and more Birch Nest became isolated to the point where few could
imagine it remaining. One can imagine it
being consumed by a Tsunami of development. When that hit, Birch Nest never
really had a chance.
In early 2011, concerned about its fate, the
BGT tried to interest potential buyers in
the property - to no avail. The owners did
allow the building to remain standing until
the building was razed pending a sale. That
sale occurred this past November 2, 2012
and the new owners are constructing a
building in keeping with the property’s industrial zoning.
Lexington has lost a most interesting
piece of its heritage. Rather than a case
of Demolition by Neglect, it was really
a specific decision by our Urban County
Government to sacrifice that building
and grounds for another use. Once it was
zoned industrial and removed from agriculture zoning, its fate was sealed. If the
Urban Services Area is ever expanded
across Alexandria to the west, one can
count on other pieces of our heritage
being eliminated. This encroachment,
while important to our economy, also
reduces the size of one of the most scenic
byways in the Bluegrass, if not in the
whole country. This is also important to
our economy.
Credits include:
e Fayette County PVA website; Alex Rose;
Google Books; University of Kentucky Post
Card Collection; Fayette County Clerk’s Property Records; Lexington Public Library;
LFUCG Website;
e Fayette Alliance Website; Bing.com; and
Andrea Sims.
14
Get Out of
Your Car &
Walk About!
You can’t really see the greatness of architecturally significant structures and historic
properties from your car - you fly right by
them. But when you get out of your car and
set out on a walk - oh my! The details you
will see! Here are a few photos of wonderful
buildings we enjoyed on a recent walk about.
Jessamine Courthouse
Central Christian Church
UK’s Maxwell Place
Sayre School
Fayette County Courthouse
Scott County Courthouse
Transylvania’s Haupt Humanities
e Maria Dudley House
15
Preserving Boyle County for Generations to Come:
The Boyle Landmark Trust
Last autumn, our collective attention turned
to Boyle County. Within one week, this
small central Kentucky county hosted both
2,000 Civil War reenactors and thousands
more visitors for the Battle of Perryville’s
sesquicentennial celebration as well as the
hundreds of political and media luminaries
assembled for the Vice-Presidential Debate.
The national attention received in October
2012 is not new for either Boyle County
or its seat of government, Danville. The
area’s history, for Kentuckians, is richer still.
Danville was the home to Kentucky’s first
courthouse, the first U.S. post office west of
the Alleghenies, and the ten Constitutional
conventions which culminated in Kentucky
becoming the fifteenth state (or fourth
commonwealth) in the Union. The Virginia legislature established Danville five
years before
Kentucky
achieved
statehood.
Lexington’s
Transylvania
University
originated
in Danville.
Centre College was chartered in 1819.
had been won
in a hand of
cards by Dr.
Ephraim
McDowell
years before.
Perryville’s Merchant’s Row was the first
major project for the BLT. These beautiful
structures stand at the heart of a historic
crossroads and were recently revitalized once
again through the Main Street Perryville
Program. But without the earlier work of the
BLT, historic Perryville might not have survived the twentieth century.
More recently, the BLT has continued its
decades long restoration of the Willis Russell House. Long owned by various local
organizations committed to its preservation, the BLT has informed the public
about this historic property.
16
Under Hulette’s leadership, the BLT has
continued its efforts. Earlier this year, the
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet placed
a historic roadside marker in front of the
Willis Russell House, located at 204 East
Walnut Street. Not surprisingly, the funds
for this historical marker were raised and
secured through the efforts of the Boyle
Landmark Trust.
Russell had been a slave owned by Lieutenant
Robert Edward Craddock who had served in
the Revolutionary War. Craddock’s will, probated in 1837, emancipated his slaves and
provided some of them, including Russell,
with land. Willis Russell received a ca. 1794
log house in the town of Danville as well at
509 acres on the waters near the Rolling
Fork River. It was in his home where Mr.
Russell opened Danville’s first school for
African American children.
Without a doubt, the history of
Boyle County is rich.
And so, in 1971, the Boyle
Landmark Trust (“BLT”) was
organized “to put back into use
historical structures so that they
may better serve our community and illuminate their important educational, social and
cultural function.” BLT was organized by
Cecil Dulin Wallace whose wife, Lily, would
lead BLT for over a quarter century. The
original “landmark” was Mrs. Wallace’s family home - the Cambus-Kenneth House -
Barbara Hulette, the President of the Boyle
Landmark Trust in an interview with WUKYFM. Hulette, of course, is no stranger to The
Blue Grass Trust; she was very involved in this
organization prior to her move to Danville
several years ago. Since, she has shown her
dedication to historic preservation beyond
Fayette County in Boyle County and elsewhere. For these efforts, Hulette received
the 2012 John Wesley Hunt Award from
the BGT.
“People here in Danville had seen this log
structure, didn’t even know what it was, had
no idea what it was about, the history of it.
They hadn’t been in it. It’s just been kind of
lying dormant for a number of years,” said
The work of Mrs. Wallace, and of those of
the Boyle Landmark Trust who have and
will continue to follow her path, continues
to preserve “Boyle County for generations
to come.”
Thanks to our 2012-2013 Annual Fund Drive Donors!
Mr. and Mrs. David Adkisson
Dr. V. Gayle Alexander
Mr. Clifton Anderson
Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Arensberg
Dr. Richard W. Arnold
Dr. and Mrs. James W. Baker
Ms. Rogers Barde
Mr. and Mrs. V. Nelson Barnes
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Bean
Ms. Edith Bingham
Blue & Co., LLC
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bourne
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Boyd
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Boyd
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Brackney
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brackney
Mr. and Mrs. George S. Brooks III
Ms. Gretchen Brown
Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Brown
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Bruckheimer
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Bullard
Mrs. Hazel T. Bush
Mr. Roger Campbell
Mr. and Mrs. Rutheford B. Campbell
Mr. Clyde Carpenter
Ms. Linda Carroll and Mr. John Morgan
Ms. Jessica Case
Ms. Eleanor Todd Chenault
Dr. and Mrs. Mark Cheney
Mr. Joe Childers and Ms. Denise Smith
Ms. Amy Clark and Mr. Daniel J. Gargola
Ms. Isabel McHenry Clay
Ms. Barbara G. Clifton
Coleman Smith, Inc.
Ms. Anne Combs
Mr. and Mrs. John Conatser
Mrs. Paul F. Coney
Ms. Faye Cooper
Dr. and Mrs. Emmett Costich
Drs. Julia and Timothy Costich
Mr. Bruce Cotton
Mr. Lynn Cravens and Ms. Connie Jo Miller
Crutcher Family Foundation, c/o Dorothy Cordray
Ms. Margaret Crellin
Mrs. J. W. Davis , Jr.
Ms. Patricia H. Dawahare
Ms. Anna Lane Dearinger
Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. DeCamp
Ms. Laura Day DelCotto,
DelCotto Law Group PLLC
Mr. Jim Dickinson and Mr. Timothy Combs
Dr. and Mrs. Elvis Donaldson
Mr. and Mrs. David Dowell
Ms. Ann Todd Dupree
Dr. M. W. Eastland
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Eblen
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Effgen
Mr. Mike Egan
Mr. David Elbon
Mr. Chris Ertel
Mrs. Wm. E. Ezzell
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Feasby
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Ferrell
Mr. and Mrs. William Fortune
Dr. Martha Foster
Mr. and Mrs. Jon M. Franklin
Ms. Marilyn Franklin
Mr. Edward Gage
Mrs. John Wells Garden
Dr. and Mrs. James Gay
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Getty
Mr. Martin Ginocchio
Mr. Ambrose W. Givens, Sr.
Mrs. Linda Gorton
Ms. Andrea Gottler
Mr. Roy E. Griggs
Mr. and Mrs. John Hackworth
Ms. Liz Harper
Ms. Phyllis Hasbrouck
Mr. Price Headley, Jr.
Ms. Louise Adams Headley
Mr. Lanny Heavener and Ms. Donna Potter
Mr. Robert Hillenmeyerr
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hinkle
Mr. Paul Evans Holbrook, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Hoopes
Ms. Alyce B. Hoskins, Hilary Boone Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. W. James Host
Ms. Ann T. Houlihan
Ms. Betty Hubbard
Ms. Barbara Hulette
Mr. David Humes
Mr. Alex T. Hunt, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. William C. Iliff
Mr. and Mrs. Don Jacobs
Ms. Margaret Jacobs,
Tate Hill Jacobs Architects, Inc.
Mrs. Elizabeth D. Jett
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Johnston
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Judy
Mr. Bill Justice
Ms. Betsey Warner Karns
Mr. Ben Kaufmann and Ms. Janet Zusman
Mr. and Mrs. D.B. Kazee
Keeneland Foundation
Mr. Albert Kelley and Ms. Carolyn Howard
Ms. Laura Keller
Mr. and Mrs. Dana Kelly
Mr. Randy Kemper
Kentucky American Water
Ms. Zee Faulkner Kurfees
Mr. Timothy Kuryla
Ms. Elaine Landry
Mr. Philip Latham
Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Leveridge
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lindquist
Ms. Deborah Long, Dudley's on Short
Dr. and Mrs. Charles Martin
Ms. Marcia Gray and Mr. Bill Lussky
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Masterman
Mr. and Mrs. Doug Matthews
Ms. Lynda Matusek
Mr. and Mrs. John Mau
Ms. Joan P. Mayer
Mr. and Mrs. William McAlpin
Mr. and Mrs. Burl McCoy
Mr. James McKeighen
Mr. Victor Attard and Mr. Richard McKenzie
Ms. Win Meeker
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Meng
Mr. George Meng and Ms. Jo Ellen Hayden
Ms. Elise G. Meyer
Mr. and Mrs. John Miller
Mr. and Mrs. Randall Miloszewski
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Mize
Mr. and Mrs. William Montague
Mr. and Mrs. Andy Moore
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Moore
Ms. Jean Robinson Moore
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Morgan
Ms. Linda Carroll and Mr. John Morgan
Morgan Worldwide Consultants, Inc.
Ms. Carol Myers
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Naylor
Mr. and Mrs. John R. Neal
Mr. C. Wesley Newkirk
Dr. Jacqueline Noonan
Dr. William and Jane Allen Offutt
Ms. Sandra Oppegard
Mr. Tom Padgett, Padgett Construction
Ms. Ridgely Park
Mr. and Mrs. L. Edwin Paulson, Jr.
Ms. Bernice Pederson
Ms. Pamela Perlman
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Perlman
Ms. Nancy L. Perry
Ms. Tina Peter
Ms. Maureen A. Peters and Mr. Joseph M. Turley
Mr. and Mrs. H. Foster Pettit
Ms. Linda Blackford and Mr. Van Meter Pettit
Mr. Charles C. Pittenger
Mr. Graham Pohl and Ms. Jane Fields
Dr. and Mrs. George Privett
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Queen
Mr. and Mrs. Reese Reinhold
Mr. and Mrs. John Rhorer
Ms. Carolyn Ridley
Mr. and Mrs. George Dale Robinson
Mr. James D. Rouse
Ms. Diana M. Ross
Mr. Chester E. Salisbury
Mr. and Mrs. John Sartini
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schara
Ms. Cathy Scaife
The Rev. and Mrs. Bob Sessum
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Shropshire
Mr. David R. Simmons
Ms. Anne Sither
Mr. and Mrs. Jason Sloan
Ms. Rebecca Spencer
Spray Foundation, c/o James Kenan
Mr. and Mrs. John Stempel
Ms. Kay Rucker Strohl
Ms. Debbie Sutherland and Mr. Richard Comley
Ms. Nancy Graves Talbott
Mr. and Mrs. Darren Taylor
Ms. Alice Prewitt Taylor
Ms. Fran Taylor and Mr. Tom Cheek
Ms. Julia Teuschler
Mr. and Mrs. Dale Thoma
Mr. and Mrs. James Thomas
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Thomas
Mr. Franklin Thompson
Dr. and Mrs. Phillip Tibbs
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Tilghman
Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Turner
Dr. and Mrs. Woodford S. Van Meter
Ms. Joyce Vanlandingham
Ms. Diane C. Wachs
Mr. Brandon Warren
Mr. Lowry Watkins, Jr.
Ms. Betty Webb
Mr. William Wittman and Ms. Jane Anderson
Ms. Miriam Woolfolk
Dr. and Mrs. H. P. Wyatt
Ms. Isabel Yates
Mr. Brad Yelvington and Mr. J. R. Zerkowski
Donor-list at press time.
17
The Endangered List:
Eleven in Their Eleventh Hour
A
s Central Kentucky’s leading
preservation advocate, the Blue
Grass Trust is focused on preserving and
protecting the Bluegrass’ historic resources.
In 1999, the BGT initiated the “Eleven in
Their Eleventh Hour” list in an effort to
bring awareness to endangered historic
properties. The criterion used for selecting
the properties includes historic significance,
proximity to proposed or current development, lack of protection from demolition,
condition of structure, or architectural significance, with the goal of finding long-term
solutions for listed properties.
Over the past year, Central Kentucky has
lost a couple of historically significant
houses, including the one-of-a-kind Birch
Nest at 2400 Old Frankfort Pike, compiled
from three houses over decades, including
a house shipped from Maine in 1912 to
complete the structure. Birch Nest, surrounded by industrial development, was lost
in its 100th year and is eulogized in this issue
of Preservation Matters. Also lost was 522
East Main, a large Victorian house just
outside the South Ashland/Central Avenue Historic District; H-1 Zoning is a
major tool in preserving the historic integrity of Lexington.
The Bluegrass has also seen a couple of
major success stories in 2012: 543 West
Third Street in Fayette County and the Buford-Duke House in Scott County. The first,
543 West Third, was saved by a
partnership between the BGT and
PNC Bank; the other, the BufordDuke House, had once been listed
on the “Eleven in Their Eleventh
Hour.” Located just off I-75 in
Scott County, the Buford-Duke
House was listed on the first-ever
“Eleven” endangered list in 1999;
it was listed again in 2000. The
house was the boyhood home of
Civil War General Basil W. Duke,
brother-in-law and second-incommand to General John Hunt
Morgan. Over the past few years
the house has been stabilized, including a new roof, repointing and
repair of all exterior brickwork,
new chimneys, and a steel beam to
support the house.
Old Fayette County Courthouse
[Lexington, Fayette County]
On July 13, 2012, the Old Fayette County Courthouse was
closed to the public because of high levels of lead and mold
issues that were discovered; asbestos was also detected. Lack
of funding for maintenance and a suitable plan for adaptive
reuse are reasons for concern, although the public has been
reassured that the building will not be demolished
The 2013 “Eleven in their Eleventh Hour”
list includes not only historically important
houses, but properties that highlight larger
issues that threaten the Bluegrass’ historic
resources. Endangered properties on this
year’s list are threatened primarily by demolition by neglect and proposed development.
Two, the Willis Green House in Boyle
County and 412 W. Third Street in Fayette
County, appeared on the 2009 list. Others,
such as the Ligon House and Mathews
House and Garden (658 and 660 South
Limestone, respectively) are located on the
University of Kentucky’s campus. The Blue
Grass Trust has been working to save these
historically important houses that are threatened by a proposed expansion of the College
of Law.
In all cases, the BGT has, at minimum, notified owners or involved parties. Most cases,
such as those concerning UK or historic resources in the I-75 Connector Corridor, have
been the subject of much BGT support and
involvement. The Trust, founded to save the
historic Hunt-Morgan House, is dedicated
to finding positive outcomes for these listed
properties. Our principal purpose in identifying these properties is to work to find solutions to preserve, protect, and/or restore.
Greyhound Station on Loudon Avenue
Located on the corner of Loudon Avenue and Limestone
Street, the historic Greyhound Station was purchased by
LexTran with the intent of demolition to make room for
a new facility. Because Federal funds were being used
and the building was deemed eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places, LexTran was subject to Section 106 consultation. As a consulting partner, the BGT
stressed the historical and architectural importance of the
structure. LexTran ultimately decided to sell the building but without protective covenants or easements,
the Greyhound Building is still threatened.
18
Good Shepherd Church in Frankfort
[Frankfort, Franklin County]
Willis Green House, [Danville, Boyle County]
Little progress has been made since the Willis Green House
was first listed on the Blue Grass Trust’s Eleven Endangered
in 2009. e house, also known as Waveland, is named for
early Kentucky settler Willis Green and was in the Green
family for over 130 years. Willis Green was a signer on the
Kentucky Constitution and an original trustee of Transylvania; his son, John Green, studied under Henry Clay and was
aide-de-camp to Governor Isaac Shelby. e house is architecturally significant as one of the last standing Georgian structures in Kentucky.
Built in 1850, the Good Shepherd Church building underwent
a desacralization ceremony in February 2011 and was scheduled to become part of the Frankfort city museum. In August
of this year, the city backed out due to budget restraints. e
church is now looking for a buyer to purchase the church and
two other properties: a 1920 school building and an empty lot
that was the spot of their gymnasium.
151 Constitution Street
For nearly 10 years, 151 Constitution has deteriorated even though it is located in an H-1 district. e
Blue Grass Trust has been working for over a year to
get the home into better hands. Even though there are
holes in the roof the BGT is confident that the house
can, once again, contribute to the Constitution Historic District.
First Baptist Church on West
Main Street [Lexington, Fayette
County]
658 South Limestone (Ligon House) &
660 South Limestone (Mathews House & Garden)
These two houses, erected in the early 1900s, are threatened by the expansion of
University of Kentucky College of Law Building. e Blue Grass Trust, the Kentucky
Heritage Council, and many concerned citizens have reached out to UK to preserve
these buildings. (More about these buildings on page 21.)
Kentucky Palisades and Historic Resources
in the I-75 Connector Corridor
[ Jessamine and Madison Counties]
e Blue Grass Trust is a consulting partner in the Section 106 consultation process
regarding the proposed I-75 connector to run through Jessamine and Madison counties. Section 106 consultation is undertaken when federal funds are used for a project
that may have an adverse effect on historic properties that qualify for listing on
the National Register of Historic Places. There is particular concern about the project’s effects on the Kentucky Palisades. Visit www.I75connector.com to stay updated
and contribute to the project research.
Just across from Rupp Arena, the
First Baptist Church on W. Main
Street in Lexington has lacked a
congregation to fill the space for over
15 years. Lack of funding for proper
maintenance is obvious in this
Gothic style church, which could
qualify for up to 20% in state historic preservation tax credits (30%
if the structure became commercial).
601 Boonesboro Avenue
Located in Bell Court, 601 Boonesboro Ave. has had the same owner for
45 years (since 1967). A neighbor recently commented that she had not
seen anyone in the house for over 20
years. is house, like 412 W. ird
and 445 W. Second, is in an H-1 district. Missing siding and holes in the
roof can clearly be seen.
412 West Third Street and 445 West Second Street [Lexington, Fayette County]
412 W. ird and 445 W. Second Street epitomize “demolition by neglect.” Both houses
are located in historic overlay zones (locally known as H-1 overlays) designed to provide
protection and stability for structures. Unfortunately, an absentee landlord out of Chicago
owns these houses. After an article in the Lexington Herald-Leader and conversations with the BGT, 412 W. ird was cleaned up inside and out, but no repairs were
made; little movement has occurred at 445 W. Second and its scheduled auction at the
Master Commissioner’s sale on October 8,2012 was cancelled.
19
A Guide to the Fine Points
of Mortar Repointing
T
he Blue Grass Trust recently came
upon a repair project on a property
outside a historic zoning overlay. The
property owner inserted caulk in all the
brick joints on the house. Those of us
who live in one of Lexington’s 14 historic
districts would have received sound
advice from the local Office of
Historic Preservation on the
proper mix to use for this type
of repair. We recognized this as
a serious error for the building
and contacted the Kentucky
Heritage Council for a comment
on this method and got the following from Craig Potts, Site
Protection Program Manager.
such as disintegrating mortar, cracks in
mortar joints, loose bricks, damp walls,
or damaged plasterwork.
Mortars for repointing should be softer
or more permeable than the masonry units
Caulking historic brick is problematic for a number of reasons.
Caulk joints are inmproper and costly.
On a very basic level, it’s a waste
of time and money because it doesn’t do
and no harder or more impermeable than
the job it’s supposed to do while becoming
the historic mortar to prevent damage to
a problem itself. Softer historic brick and
the masonry units.
their lime-based mortars flex and breathe
as part of their basic functionality. The maRemove deteriorated mortar by carefully
terials work in harmony, providing a stable
hand-raking the joints to avoid damaging
system. Ironically, caulk doesn’t flex very
the masonry.
well, at least not with masonry surfaces,
due to poor adhesion and the way material
Duplicate old mortar in strength, composiand moisture needs to pass through them.
tion, color, and texture.
Cracks quickly develop between the masonry units and the caulk as a result, meanDuplicate old mortar joints in width and
ing the caulk must then be removed and
in joint profile.
the wall properly re-pointed. This doubles
the cost of repair. Beyond that, the finished
Repair stucco by removing the damaged
product looks haphazard and unprofesmaterial and patching with new stucco that
sional and detracts from the integrity of
duplicates the old in strength, composition,
the building. The Secretary of the Interior’s
color, and texture.
Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties clearly recommend against
Use mud plaster as a surface coating over
using synthetic caulk in brick walls for
unfired, unstabilized adobe because the
obvious reasons.
mud plaster will bond to the adobe.
The Secretary of the Interior’s
Standard states:
Repair masonry walls and other masonry
features by repointing the mortar joints
where there is evidence of deterioration
20
Cut damaged concrete back to remove
the source of deterioration (often corrosion on metal reinforcement bars). The
new patch must be applied carefully so it
will bond satisfactorily with, and match,
the historic concrete. Replacement stones
tooled to match original.
Repair masonry features by patching, piecing-in, or consolidating the masonry using
recognized preservation methods. Repair
may also include the limited replacement
in kind – or with compatible substitute
materia – of those extensively deteriorated
or missing parts of masonry features when
there are surviving prototypes such as
terra-cotta brackets or stone balusters.
Apply new or non-historic surface treatments such as water-repellent coatings to
masonry only after repointing and only if
masonry repairs have failed to arrest water
penetration problems.
We have not published these photos or
written this article in order to embarrass
anyone. Rather, our purpose is to publicize
the fact that our local Office of Historic
Preservation and the Board of Architectural
Review (“BOAR”) provide a very valuable
service to those who own properties within
historic districts. There is a great misconception that the Office of Historic Preservation and the BOAR look for ways to
hinder renovation or make it more expensive. In fact, just the opposite is true. They
are professionals who know what they are
doing and property owners both inside and
outside historic districts would be wise to
consult with them in advance of any renovation project.
Example of proper brick joint repair work.
Hidden Gems
C
larence Wentworth Mathews was
the University of Kentucky’s first
Dean of the College of Agriculture, assuming that post in the late 1800’s. The
University (then State College) constructed
the Agricultural Building in 1907 and renamed it for Dean Mathews to honor his
years of service to the University. The Mathews Building still stands and now houses the
University’s Office of Public Relations.
What is probably a more historic structure
associated with Dean Mathews is the three
story house that he built in 1900 at the
corner of Washington Avenue and South
Limestone, which was then at the very
edge of campus. At one time completely
isolated from the hustle and bustle of downtown Lexington and
even the campus itself,
the Mathews house
and a companion
craftsman-styled house
built by Professor
Moses Ligon in the
1920’s, (each presently
owned by the UniverLigon House
sity) now stand in the
shadows of the University of Kentucky
College of Law, and therein lies the problem.
Approximately five years ago, the College of
Law announced with great fanfare its plans
to build a brand new law building and campus near the fire station on Scott Street. Apparently, sufficient funding for the new law
building has not materialized and the College of Law quietly abandoned its plans and
began thinking about renovating the current
law building (a rather non-descript, soulless
concrete structure that has been cobbled together through two previous renovations).
The plan includes demolishing the Mathews
and Ligon houses, together with the oncebeautiful “native species woodland undergrowth facility”, i.e., Mathews Garden, at the
northeast corner of Washington Avenue that
Dean Mathews initiated and which until a
few years ago, had been cared for by the Biology Department at the University.
UK’s Ligon and Mathews Houses
Upon learning of the University’s plans to
wipe out two beautiful and perfectly utilitarian 100-year-old houses and garden and
a significant part of its own history, the
Blue Grass Trust wrote to President
Capilouto and College of Law Dean
David Brennan and asked them to reconsider those plans. Given the widespread
complaints that have been raised over the
past several years regarding the University’s
expansion into the once-quaint neighborhoods surrounding the campus and the
adverse consequences resulting therefrom,
it is surprising that the University would so
cavalierly disregard and destroy a part of its
own history.
Bob Wiseman, Vice
President of Facilities Management
at the University,
responded to the
Blue Grass Trust’s
inquiries by explaining that renovating the current
College of Law
Building would
save “tens of millions of dollars” and confirmed that the expansion “will require demolition of the
houses and a likely relocation of the undergrowth forest facility”. While asserting that
the University “appreciates our historic assets”, Wiseman affirmed that it would not
be able to “permanently protect these
homes that once bordered a University
but are now within the central campus itself ”. A full copy of Mr. Wiseman’s letter,
together with the Blue Grass Trust’s letter
and other materials and photographs relating to the Mathews House can be found on
the Blue Grass Trust’s website at www.bluegrasstrust.org.
Dean Brennan then sent an email to all
alumni of the College of Law in which he
seemed to acknowledge that the renovation
plans for the College of Law Building
would require expansion into the “nearby
area”, but he went on to say that no final
decision with regard to renovating the law
Mathews House
building had been made and that the
College of Law would continue to explore various options.
Upon learning of the University’s plans,
Lindy Casebier, acting Director of the
Kentucky Heritage Council, wrote to Mr.
Wiseman expressing the Council’s surprise
and dismay at the University’s consideration of demolishing the Mathews House
and Garden. Mr. Casebier went on to advise Mr. Wiseman that if federal funds
were used to expand the law building and
destroy the National Register-eligible
houses, the University would be required
to comply with provisions of the National
Historic Preservation Act as well as with
the Kentucky State Antiquities Act.
Since late August, there has been no further
word from the University as to these matters. We trust that the University will be
transparent in its actions and give careful
consideration to the concerns which have
been raised by the Blue Grass Trust, the
LFUCG Historic Preservation Commission, the Kentucky Heritage Council, the
Lexington Herald-Leader, and numerous
private citizens of Lexington.
In the meantime, our readers are encouraged to visit the campus, preferably on
foot, and get a closer look at these wonderful houses and garden. Then read the book,
660, e Story of a House in a Garden and the
Family that Loves It written by Ruth Mathews, daughter of Dean Mathews, and herself
a revered English teacher in the Fayette
Public School System. We think that you
will come to the same understanding that
the Blue Grass Trust has come to, i.e.,
that these historic houses and garden
must be preserved.
21
BGT DeAccessioned Furniture Auction at Hunt-Morgan House: January 22 at 11:00 a.m.
Auction conducted by Filson Graham of Bluegrass Auction & Appraisal
S
pring cleaning comes early this year as
the Blue Grass Trust updates the HuntMorgan House Museum collection through the
deaccession and auction of an array of furniture
items. On January 22, 2013 at 11:00 am, the BGT
will hold an auction of deaccessioned items, with
all proceeds going to benefit ongoing and upcoming projects at the Hunt-Morgan House, located at 201 North Mill Street. Prior to the 11:00
a.m. deaccession furniture auction on Tuesday, January 22 at the Hunt-Morgan House, there will be
an open house on Monday, January 21 from
12:00 to 4:00 pm for the public to preview the
auction items. Filson Graham of Bluegrass
22
Auction and Appraisal will be conducting
the auction.
Deaccession is the removal of pieces from a museum’s inventory. The BGT’s process involved an
evaluation of museum pieces that were not of the
interpreted Federal time period or narrative of the
Hunt-Morgan House Museum. The evaluation
was overseen by the Hunt-Morgan House Committee and carried out by the BGT staff who analyzed each potential piece based on the Museum’s
narrative and accession records; no pieces related to
the Hunt or Morgan families or the history of the
museum were considered for removal. A final vote
by the Blue Grass Trust board of directors, based
on the committee’s recommendations, determined
the items to be deaccessioned and auctioned to
benefit the Hunt-Morgan House’s endowment.
Pictured here are some of the deaccessioned auction items. (Visit us at www.bluegrass trust.org to
view the full auction listing.)They mostly consist of
pieces that were initially purchased to fill spaces or
were removed from the house as the Museum developed. They include two dressers, a china hutch,
numerous sets of chairs, a Victorian-era bed, gas
lamps, multiple mantels, and other furniture others. Auction terms: cash or credit card.
Kentucky Revealed: Treasures from The Speed Art Museum featured at
BGT's Antiques & Garden Show, Alltech Arena's Exhibition Hall, March 8, 9, 10, 2013
Pictured here are just a few of the magnificent Kentucky treasures from The Speed Art Museum that will be on display during the Blue Grass Trust's Antiques
& Garden Show at the Kentucky Horse Park's Alltech Arena Exhibit Hall. Expert guides from The Speed Museum in Louisville will be at the exhibit throughout the show.
American, Lexington, Kentucky, or surrounding area, Sideboard, 1800–15
Cherry, walnut, probably eastern hophornbeam, probably American holly,
other woods, bone, celluloid.
39 1/4 x 25 3/4 x 67 1/4 in. (99.7 x 65.4 x 170.8 cm.)
e Speed Art Museum, museum purchase, by exchange, 2012.1
Photo by Bill Roughen
Estate inventories from early nineteenth-century Kentucky show that sideboards were among the
most expensive pieces of furniture one could own. This sideboard’s complex profile, richly figured
veneers, precise inlays, and the exceptional quality of its craftsmanship place it among the most
ambitious Kentucky sideboards to have survived from the early nineteenth century. It was made
between about 1800 and 1815, probably in Lexington or its surrounding area. Though this sideboard’s form and inlay were influenced by Baltimore cabinetmaking practices, the decoration on
its legs exhibits a distinctive bellflower and line pattern. Similar decoration has only been found on
a few other Kentucky pieces, all of which most likely came from the same maker or shop.
Made under the direction of Asa Blanchard (American, about 1770–1838), Lexington, Kentucky
Works probably assembled by Thomas McMurray, American, Lexington, Kentucky
Tall Clock, about 1808
Cherry, poplar, other woods
100 x 19 x 11 in. (254 x 48.3 x 27.9 cm.)
e Speed Art Museum, from the Noe Collection, Gift of Bob and Norma Noe, Lancaster, Kentucky, 2008.11
Photo by Bill Roughen
This well documented clock bears the signature of Asa Blanchard. Arriving in Lexington from Virginia before 1807, Blanchard eventually
operated one of the state’s most prolific silversmithing shops. Along with tablewares, Blanchard also sold clocks, watches, jewelry, and other
goods. The clock was also signed by Thomas McMurray who may have assembled the works. The clock case’s rectangular columns
and extensive bands of inlay are unusual for a Kentucky-made case.
Matthew Harris Jouett (American, 1788–1827)
Portrait of Asa Blanchard, about 1817–20
Oil on canvas
27 x 21 5/8 in. (68.6 x 54.9 cm.) 36 x 30 5/8 x 3 3/8 in.
(91.4 x 77.8 x 8.6 cm.) (frame)
e Speed Art Museum, gift of Rowland D. and Eleanor Bingham Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Owsley Brown II,
Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, and John S. Speed, 2000.4.1
Photo by Kenneth Hayden
Between the end of the 1700s and the first decades of the 1800s, settler upon settler poured into Kentucky.
Silversmith Asa Blanchard was one of the newcomers, arriving from Virginia to set up shop in Lexington
before 1807. He soon built a prosperous business, producing spoons, ladles, teapots, and other forms in a
simplified, classical style. The large quantities of surviving silver that bears Blanchard’s mark suggests that,
along with several known apprentices, he also employed journeymen to work at the benches in his shop. His
business successes as both a silversmith and a merchant allowed him to indulge in relative luxuries such as
this portrait, commissioned from the prominent Kentucky artist Matthew Harris Jouett.
John James Audubon
(American, 1785–1851)
Portrait of James Berthoud,
about 1819
Black chalk and carbon pencil on paper
10 x 7 7/8 in. (25.4 x 20 cm.)
e Speed Art Museum, museum purchase,
1935.35.1
Photo by M.S. Rezny
John James Audubon
(American, 1785–1851)
Portrait of Mrs. James Berthoud,
about 1819
Black chalk heightened with white on paper
10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm.)
e Speed Art Museum, museum purchase,
1935.35.2
Photo by M.S. Rezny
Years before the publication of his famous four-volume e Birds of America, Audubon attempted to run general stores in rural Kentucky from 1808 to 1819, and
spent hours sketching wildlife in the region. After an early business failure, he took refuge with the Berthoud family in Shippingport, Kentucky, near Louisville.
Perhaps following the death of his friend in the summer of 1819, Audubon drew this portrait of James Berthoud, as well as the companion portrait of Mrs.
Berthoud. According to family tradition, Berthoud was actually the Marquis de Saint-Pierre, an aristocrat who adopted the name of a servant when he fled
23
France in 1794 to escape the revolution.
Join Us For The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation’s Antiques
and Garden Show March 8, 9, & 10, 2013, Gala Preview Party
March 7 at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena
The Blue Grass Trust's Antiques & Garden
Show, celebrating 28 years, is sure to awaken
your senses and your style. Returning for a
second year to our ideal and oh so convenient location at the Kentucky Horse Park's
Alltech Indoor Arena, this year's show dates
are March 8, 9, and 10th, with the Gala
Preview Party kicking things off in high
style on Thursday evening, March 7, 2013.
Highlights of the 2013 show include our
80+ exhibitors of antiques, gardens, designer
showcases, collectibles, art, rugs, silver, jewelry and more! Back by popular demand will
be our Vintage Car Show on the Arena
floor throughout the show.
We have three wonderfully impressive
keynote lectures in store for you this year,
beginning Friday, March 8 at 11:30 am with
a luncheon lecture by Canal House cook-
24
book's Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa
Hamilton, ($60 p/p). New this year is a fun
and informative event we are calling "Cocktails & Conversation" at 4:00 p.m. Friday,
March 8, featuring Hall of Fame interior
designer from New York City, Laura Bohn,
being chatted up by Dale Fisher, of Jon
Carloftis Fine Gardens ($40 p/p). On Saturday, March 9, our luncheon lecture at 12
noon will feature renowned garden designer
Jon Carloftis ($60 p/p). Reservations are required for these three seated, ticketed
keynote events, and include food and drink.
We have an equally fine array of complimentary speakers lined up for this spring's show
in Martha Birchfield (Friday, March 8),
Joseph Hillenmeyer (Saturday, March 9),
Taylor Thistlewaite (Saturday, March 9),
Mack Cox (Sunday March 10), and James D.
Birchfield (Sunday, March 10).
Thanks to their stellar involvement as honorary chairs in 2012, we are pleased to welcome H. Foster and Brenda Pettit back this
year as our 2013 Honorary Chairs. The Pettit's will help us kick off our Gala Preview
Party on Thursday, March 7, from 7:00 to
10:00 p.m. This sumptuous evening will feature an astounding array of appetizers and
cocktails by Catering by Donna.
Reservations for the Gala Preview Party are
$125 per person. Run-of-show tickets are
$15 per person, and Daily Show tickets are
just $10. All tickets include free parking at
the Kentucky Horse Park's Alltech Arena,
located on Iron Works Parkway in Lexington, Kentucky, just off I-75 and I-64. You
may reserve your tickets by calling the BGT
at (859)253-0362 or on our website at
Keynote Lecturers at 2013 Antiques and Garden Show
CHRISTOPHER HIRSHEIMER is a home
cook, writer, award-winning photographer, and
cofounder of Canal House, whose facets include
a publishing venture, culinary and design studio,
and an annual series of three seasonal cookbooks
titled Canal House Cooking. Before starting Canal
House in 2007 in Lambertville, New Jersey, Hirsheimer was one of the founders of Saveur, where
she was executive editor. She cowrote the awardwinning Saveur Cooks series and e San Francisco
Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market Cookbook (Chronicle,
2006), and her photographs have appeared in more
than fifty cookbooks by such notables as Colman
Andrews, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, Julia
Child, Jacques Pépin, David Tanis, and Alice Waters; and in numerous magazines, including Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, InStyle, and Town & Country.
MELISSA HAMILTON is a home cook, writer,
painter, food stylist, and cofounder of Canal House.
She previously worked at Saveur as test kitchen director, and was its food editor for many years.
Hamilton also worked at Martha Stewart Living
and Cook’s Illustrated, and was cofounder and the
first executive chef of Hamilton’s Grill Room in
Lambertville, New Jersey. She has developed and
tested recipes and styled food for both magazines
and cookbooks, including those by acclaimed chefs
and cookbook authors Colman Andrews, Lidia
Bastianich, John Besh, Jonathan Waxman, David
Tanis, and Alice Waters.
Christopher and Melissa currently collaborate on
Canal House Cooking, for which they do all the
writing, recipes, photography, design, and production. They also write a column for Bon Appétit, “The
Seasonal Cooks.” To see more of what these two
women are up to, visit their website,
thecanalhouse.com.
Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton
Luncheon Lecture Friday March 8 at 11:30 a.m.
Reservations required, $60 per person
JON CARLOFTIS
Kentucky native, Jon Carloftis, award-winning
garden designer, garden writer, television guest,
author, and lecturer, is a great American gardener.
His career in gardening began in 1988, far from
home in New York City where he became one of
America’s pioneers and leading authorities in
rooftop/small space gardening. Jon grew up on the banks of the Rockcastle River
in South Central Kentucky, in the foothills of
the Appalachian Mountains. It was there he
began a love affair with nature. He attended the
University of Kentucky, graduating in 1986 with a
B.A. degree in communications. Jon is the owner
of the Rockcastle River Trading Company, a popular home and garden store located on his family’s
property in Livingston, Kentucky. The beautiful
gardens, designed by Jon, that surround the
Carloftis home and store have been featured in
BMW Magazine, Country Home, Garden & Gun,
Outdoor Rooms, and Southern Living.
LAURA BOHN, a graduate of Pratt Institute,
has long played an active role in the design
community. She is the co-founder of The Designers Collaborative, a support group for
top designers, as well as being a member of
both the ASID and Decorators Club. Laura
also serves as a visiting critic at local design
schools and has taught at Fashion Institute
of Technology, Parsons School of Design, and
Pratt Institute. Laura has received two Roscoe
awards for her fabric and wallpaper designs and
has been inducted into the "Interior Design
Hall of Fame“ 1998.
Laura Bohn’s Cocktails & Conversation
Lecture (with Dale Fisher)
Friday, March 8 at 4:00 p.m.,
Reservations required, $40 per person
In 1988 Jon moved to New York City to start his
business, Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens. His first
clients were noted art collectors Barbara and Eugene Schwartz. Word of mouth became his advertising vehicle, and demand for his services grew. In
1993 Jon moved to picturesque Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, his current residence. His home
and gardens have appeared in Country Gardens,
Country Living, Garden Design, Martha Stewart
Living, and Metropolitan Home.
Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens provides a variety of
garden services and products dedicated to beautiful and functional outdoor living. Jon Carloftis
Fine Gardens strives to produce and use only sustainable, earth-friendly products.
Jon Carloftis Luncheon Lecture Saturday,
March 9 @ 12 noon, Reservations required,
$60 per person
The Blue Grass Trust for Historic
Preservation is honored to have
H. Foster and Brenda Pettit as co-chairs
of the 2013 Antiques & Garden Show.
25
The BGT’s 2012
Antiques & Garden Show
was a beautiful success at
the Kentucky Horse Park.
26
27
BGT Staff:
Sheila Omer Ferrell, Executive Director
Jason Sloan, Historic Preservation Specialist
Part-Time Staff:
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit #850
Lexington, KY
The Blue Grass Trust
for Historic Preservation
253 Market Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Becky Eblen, Preservation Associate
Anne E. Wright, Preservation Assistant
Heather Lamplough, Intern, UK Historic
Preservation Graduate Assistant
Ashley Paul, Intern, Transylvania University
Phone: 859.253.0362
Fax: 859.259.9210
Celebrating
C
elebrating 28 years.
years
a .
MARCH
MAR
CH | 8 | 9 | 10 | 2
2013
0
013
MARCH
MAR
C | 8 | 9 | 10 | 2
CH
2013
013
3
HOURS Fri & S
HOURS
Sat
at 10 Ã - 6 ÖÃ, Sun
Sun 11 Ã - 5 ÖÃ
TICKETSS $10 Daily
TICKET
Daily,
y,, $15 Run-of-Show
Run-of-Show | FFree
ree parking
MARCH
MAR
CH | 7 | G
Gala
ala Pr
Preview
evi
v ew Party
Party
Honorary
Honorar
ry Chairs,͘&
,͘&ŽƐƚĞƌΘƌĞŶĚĂWĞƫƚ
ŽƐƚĞƌΘƌĞŶĚĂWĞƫƚ | 7 - 10 ÖÃ | $125 per per
person
son
Lexington,
Le
xington, K
Kentucky
entuck
ky | Th
The
eK
Kentucky
entucky H
Horse
orse Pa
Park
ark | A
Alltech
lltech Arena
Arena
..................................................................................................................
Save
Sa
ve th
the
e da
date.
te. TThe
he Blue Grass
Grass Trust’s
Trust’s gorgeous
gorgeous three
three day
day show.
show. IItt is a br
breath
eath of spring air
air,
r,,
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ccatered
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entucky Treasures
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PROCEEDS
PR
OCEEDS BENEFIT
Jon Carloftis
dŚĞůƵĞ'ƌĂƐƐdƌƵƐƚĨŽƌ,ŝƐƚŽƌŝĐWƌĞƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶ
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dŚĞůĞĂĚŝŶŐƉƌĞƐĞƌ
ƌǀĂƟŽŶĂĚǀŽĐĂƚĞŝŶĞŶƚƌĂů<
<ĞĞŶƚƵĐŬǇ
859.253.0362 | w
w w.bluegrasstrust.org
Kentucky Revealed: Treasures from The Speed Art Museum featured at
The Blue Grass Trust Antiques and Garden Show, March 8 – 10, 2013
For those visiting the 2013 Blue Grass Trust Antiques and
Garden Show, Louisville’s Speed Art Museum is honored
to present Kentucky Revealed: Treasures from The Speed Art
Museum. Drawing on the state’s largest and most comprehensive collection of Kentucky art and antiques, Kentucky Revealed
will feature work by the state’s most significant early artists such
as John James Audubon and Matthew Harris Jouett. Elabo-
rately inlaid furniture, including a tall clock made under the
direction of Lexington silversmith Asa Blanchard, will also be
featured alongside decorated ceramics, early schoolgirl samplers,
and other treasures. Kentucky Revealed is one of the Speed’s
many programs designed to reach art lovers throughout the
Commonwealth and beyond, even as the museum building is
closed from 2012 through 2015 for a major expansion.

Preservation Matters Fall 2015 - Blue Grass Trust for Historic

Transcription

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