Tag: deTour

If the walls of Lexington’s Oldham House Could Talk

The Oldham House – Lexington, Ky.

The names Samuel and Daphney Oldham don’t ring out among the most famous in Lexington’s storied history. Like many in Lexington’s early years, their stories began in Virginia. But they, and their ca. 1835 home at 245 South Limestone Street (then 95 South Limestone, or South Mulberry), represent a unique part of our community’s African-American heritage.

Listing from Lexington City Directory, ca. 1864

Samuel A. Oldham was an enterprising barber and business owner when he and his wife built their home on what was then Lexington’s southern edge. But at the start of the 1826, Oldham was enslaved. During the course of the year, he would purchase his own freedom. In 1830, he transacted for the freedom of his wife and sons. The freed black family thereafter built the two-story, five-bay common bond brick house.

In 1839, the Oldhams sold the home to William R. Bradford. Though they lived there only a short time, their ownership was marked as the first time a freed slave at owned a home in Lexington. In 2008, their South Limestone home was the inspiration for a one-woman act portraying Daphney Oldham. In In This Place, Daphney told her story of being born into slavery but dying as a free woman of color. The show was a collaborative effort between LexArts and director Ain Gordon; thanks be to God, Ain has published the entire performance on Vimeo:


Ain Gordon’s IN THIS PLACE… from Ain Gordon on Vimeo.

1890 Sanborn Map of then
95 S. Limestone/Mulberry

Like the Oldham’s, Bradford owned 245 S. Limestone for only a few years. It was purchased in 1845 by Juretta Shepherd,a widow, who five years later would marry Dr. Joseph G. Chinn. Attorneys kept the couple’s finances separate and it appears that Dr. Chinn, who would serve as a councilman and mayor of Lexington, never had an ownership interest in the property. Mrs. Chinn died in 1872 and the property was sold as the result of a lawsuit brought in 1877.

The property would transfer hands many times over the following century-plus. Over the years, it would be utilized as “a single family home, an antique store, apartments, and eventually a rooming house.”

The house became quite dilapidated.

Oldham House, ca. 1965
Photo: BGT/KDL

As you can see from the ca. 1965 photo above, the old house was beginning to show signs of her age and lack of maintenance. It was listed on the Blue Grass Trust’s most endangered properties list in 2000. In 2004, the owner sought a permit to raze both the Oldham House and an adjoining structure; the Board of Architectural Review denied the request. The building was one of the most blighted structures on South Limestone; in fact, Hayward Wilkirson was quoted in a 2006 Herald-Leader article as describing South Limestone as a “gap-tooth grin” in the Historic South Hill Neighborhood. Of course, Wilkirson was referring to the Oldham House in the article entitled “Historic home needs loving owner.”

Oldham House, ca. 2007
Photo: Gilpin Masonry

A new owner was found: local builder Coleman Callaway III bought the property in early 2006 for $175,000. At that time, squatters had been the building’s most recent occupants; they had started fires to keep warm. There were holes in the roof and hardwood floors were no longer connected to floor joists or the foundation. As you can see from the photo at right, the condition of the property was nothing less than poor.

In December 2006, the home’s savior entered into a fight with the architecture review board (BOAR) over a sloped-roof addition Coleman had added to the rear of the structure. BOAR found the addition was 4 1/2 feet too wide and the sloped-roof was not in keeping with the architectural style. Seven months later, the planning commission overruled the BOAR.

An op-ed in the Feb. 4, 2007, Herald-Leader summed up the situation quite well in: “Lexington’s desire and ability to connect with the past is fantastic and, in many ways unique among growing, forward thinking cities. But our love for history and tradition should not blind us from the reality of the modern day.”

Additional photos of the deTour of the Oldham House can be viewed on flickr.

Sources: ancestry.com; BGT; LBAR; local.lexpublib.org; Merlene Davis (H-L); Rootsweb


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Learn more details about this exciting group on Facebook! You can also see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Federal Courthouse is of “classic architecture, according to the Greek motif”

Lexington’s Federal Building, ca. 1934. Photo: Nat’l Archives.

Since it opened in 1934, the Barr Street façade of Lexington’s Federal Building remains unchanged. Its four stories of steel, brick, and limestone construction are a classic example of federal construction in the 1930s (Neo-Classical), evincing the strength of a government and nation fighting off the consequences of the Great Depression. But even this powerful building shows signs of the era’s economics: the central eastern façade (less visible) has a less-costly brick exterior surface. In 1957, an annex was added to the federal building to better accommodate post office operations.

Lexington’s Federal Building, ca. 2013
Grand Lobby of the Federal Building – Lexington, Ky.

Flanking the building’s Barr Street frontage are two projecting pavilions which operate as the building’s primary entrances. Each admits visitors into small anterooms off the central, grand lobby. Originally, the grand lobby operated as the main post office with sorting facilities in adjacent rooms and in the basement. Today, the post office is long gone though vestiges remain in the extensively decorated room comleted with “bronze grills, marble pilasters, and a terrazzo floor.”

The eastern anteroom/lobby features “an elliptical staircase with original wrought iron balusters and a wood handrail” while the lobby has “walls of St. Genevieve Golden Vein marble.”

Courtroom A in the Federal Building, as viewed from the Bench

On the second floor is the main Courtroom A which remains as it would have appeared when the building opened in 1934, though with the addition of advanced technology necessary for today’s legal system. As described in the National Register application, it is “the most significant space of the upper floors.” The room features a “marble wainscoting, and original acoustical tile walls,” as well as original “Gothic design hanging chandeliers [having] fleur-de-lis and quatrefoil designs” hang from the coffered wood beamed ceiling.”

Ward Lockward’s
Daniel Boone’s Arrival in Kentucky

At the rear of the courtroom, opposite the judge’s bench, is a 1938 mural by Ward Lockwood entitled Daniel Boone’s Arrival in Kentucky. Commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts of the Works Progress Administration, it recalls Boone’s first crossing into Kentucky on a hunting and trapping expedition in the 1760s. Boone would, of course, return to this “promised land” calling “heaven … a Kentucky of a place.” (As legend would have it…)

Behind the bench is a portrait of Judge Cochran who was the first judge to preside in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Appointed in 1901 after the old District of Kentucky was split, Cochran would serve until his death in 1934. Flanking the walls of the courtroom are additional portraits of former and senior status judges from the District.

Grandeur of Courtroom A, as seen from the Jury Box

Building A Landmark.

North Limestone from Pleasant Green to Barr, ca. 1921
Source: Asa Chinn Collection/KDL

During the roaring twenties, Washington and Lexington leaders debated the ideal spot for a new federal courthouse in the city. City leaders opposed the federal governments proposal to erect the courthouse on Short Street at the head of Esplanade, and being owners of the property were quite persuasive.

Instead, the northeast corner of Barr and Limestone was selected in the spring of 1930 for the erection of a new federal courthouse and post office, as well as offices for other federal agencies. As a sign of the times, this included offices for the prohibition enforcement agency. The building would be located on a plot running “from Limestone east on Barr to St. Peter’s school, and north on Limestone from Barr to Pleasant Stone Street, or what is known as Sayre College alley.”

A title abstracter, J.W. Jones, was employed by the government and found “no serious defects in the titles to any property which affronts approximately 263 feet on north Limestone street and 213 feet on Barr street.” Though clearing title seemed effortless, property acquisition would not be.

In December 1930, Sawyer Smith – the U.S. District Attorney – instituted condemnation proceedings against those property owners who didn’t voluntarily sell their land. The total land value was appraised at $184,648.50; final judgment in the condemnation suit was entered in early March, 1931. On April 2, 1931, a blanket deed was filed in the Fayette County Clerk’s Office identifying the U.S.A. as owner of the land.

During the heat of late summer and early autumn, 1931, “an adequate force of workmen and equipment” from the Thurman Wrecking & Supply Co. worked to dismantle the old structures on the site of the proposed federal courthouse. But the proposal was not yet complete.
Old Federal Building at Main and Walnut

On November 6, 1931, the architect’s drawing of the “New Lexington Postoffice” was published on page one of the Lexington Leader. It was the “first official announcement of plans and specifications today.” Facing Barr street, the 170′ x 125′ structure would be “of classic architecture, according to the Greek motif.” Over the next year, the Churchill and Gillig architectural firm worked to finalize plans for the new federal building. As is often the case, it came down to the last minute. The Lexington Leader writes on March 1, 1932, “Nine draftsmen worked all night Monday  … and completed plans for Lexington’s $761,000 federal building.” Plans were then taken for a “final check by Brinton B. Davis [of Louisville], consulting architect on the project, prior to final review and approval by Louis A. Simon, Superintendent of the Architectural Division of the Treasury Department. 

With deeds acquired, land cleared, and plans approved, construction could commence! 
In December 1934, the post office and other federal offices were finally moved from the old federal building at Main and Walnut) to the new building at Limestone and Barr streets.

Postal Operations and First Class Mail.

When the Post Office opened on Barr Street, the cost to send a first class letter was 3¢. The price was unchanged when many of the post office operations were relocated in 1957 to an annex on the building’s north side. As Lexington continued to grow, the Federal Building became inadequate to serve as Lexington’s main mail sorting facility.

In 1973, the Lexington post office office was relocated to Nandino Blvd and Georgetown Road and the old post office in the Federal Building became the Barr Street Station. At the time, the cost to mail a first class letter had risen to 8¢.

Security and convenience (i.e., parking) gave way to yet another change for downtown’s postal needs in April 1998 (first class letter, 32¢) when the Barr Street Station itself was closed. Downtown PO boxes were relocated to a new, modern post office on East High Street. The modern post office, however, carries a historic name: Post Rider Station hearkening to our nation’s earliest history when mail was carried over post roads by post riders on horseback and delivered to a central location in each town or community.

Above the entry to the U.S. Marshals Office for the
Eastern District of Kentucky

Though no postal service activities remain in the Federal Building, it remains an active federal building housing the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky as well as the Office of the United States Marshals for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Among other tasks, the Marshal’s Service provides security for the federal Courts. Of course, the Marshall’s of Eastern Kentucky have been made famous by the popular FX television program Justified. Fans of the show know that Raylan Givens, a Harlan County native portrayed by Timothy Olyphant, is a U.S. Marshal. A real U.S. Marshal will advise that Givens’ office space is quite spacious and a far cry from the quarters offered the U.S. Marshals at the end of the Federal Building’s grand lobby.

Additional photos of the Federal Building may be found on flickr.


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Learn more details about this exciting group on Facebook! You can also see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.


Sources: Andrew Dart; KDL (Asa Chinn); local.lexpublib.org; National Archives

An Immigrant’s Success: David Ades and the Ades-Lexington Dry Goods Building

Ades Dry Goods Building – Lexington, Ky.

At age 13, David Ades left his native Russian homeland ca. 1895. Born in Kovno in what is modern-day Lithuania, Ades arrived penniless at the port of Baltimore, Maryland but was destined to join his brother in Lexington, Kentucky. Brother Simon owned a wholesale dry goods business and employed his younger brother for $2/day and board.

Signature of David Ades

David thrived. In addition to a full work day, the young Ades attended night school taking instruction from names like Breckinridge, Hunt, Clay, and Gov. Morrow. By the spring of 1908, Simon had announced that he as leaving Lexington for Louisville; within months, it was known that David would succeed his brother in Lexington’s wholesale dry goods market.

Within a year, David Ades had relocated the family business from Short Street to the 400 block of West Main and had broken ground on a four story building at 237-239 East Main Street. Occupation began in August 1910. According to Kentucky History (1922), business growth surpassed all “sanguine expectations.”

Despite his business successes, personal tragedy struck in 1911. Sarah Fox, his wife originally of Baltimore, birthed their first child. Premature and stillborn.  This must have caused much grief and dispair, but it did not appear to shake Ades’ resolve. He and Sarah went on to have other children and he continued to grow his dry goods empire. David Ades also was quite involved in the community, with Masonry, the Odd Fellows, and the Elks. Absent from the laundry list of community accolades in Kentucky History is any mention of Ades having been a founding member of the Ohavay Zion Synagogue or his important role as a leader in Lexington’s Jewish community in the early twentieth century. He also served on the planning commission and later, as a city commissioner of Lexington.

In 1925, Ades acquired a controlling interest in the Lexington Dry Goods Building – and with it, put his name on 249 West Main Street, our subject building. By year end, Ades had consolidated his wholesale dry goods businesses under the name Ades-Lexington Dry Goods Company.

Lexington Dry Goods Building
from the Asa Chinn Collection (KDL)

The original 249 West Main Street – the Ades Dry Goods Building or the Lexington Dry Goods Building – is a 5 story, 5 bay brick commercial building in the Chicago School style. A 3 bay addition was constructed in in 1920. After David Ades died in 1965, the Ades family ultimately closed the dry goods business (1977) as it was out of fashion and converted the building to storage. In 1987, the structure was sold to be redeveloped as a mixed-use residential/ commercial structure.

Ultimately, the residential units were removed and today it is the home of Portofino’s, the Thomas & King Company, and Cornett Integrated Marketing. The redevelopment was completed under the direction of Omni Architects, and representatives of Omni, Thomas & King, and Cornett were all available for questions and to discuss the building during our January 2013 Blue Grass Trust deTour of the building. Each of the occupants, was passionate about being downtown and found terrific benefit in being in a historic structure that had been transformed for today’s use.

Thomas & King Mail Room

In the Thomas & King mail room, as well as other first floor areas, the original tin-stamped ceilings remain visible while the high ceilings make what is normally a tight fitting area seem spacious.

The building rests upon a raised basement with a stone facing above the sidewalk. Above the total eight bays of the first floor are glass transoms which rest below a “masonry band in a simplified running dog motif across the entire façade at the base of the second story windows.” Architects of the original structure were Herman L. Rowe and Arthur Giannini, the former being the “dean of Lexington’s late 19th century architects” and the latter being his partner in later years.

Additional pictures can be found on flickr.

Sources: ancestry.com, Bricks+Mortar, Downtown Building Inventory, Fayette PVA, KDL, Kentucky History, NRHP.


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Our March 2013 gathering will be at the Federal Building on Barr Street. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

The old Centenary Methodist Church is another fine example of Lexington’s ecclesiastical architecture

The old Centenary Methodist Church, ca. 1979
Photo: National Register file

former Centenary Methodist Church – Lexington, Ky.

Local historic preservationists recognize the year 1955. It was in that year that the John Wesley Hunt residence was razed and the Blue Grass Trust was formed. Nearby, a local church congregation made another decision which ultimately led toward historic preservation. Today, a step toward preservation is once again needed at 154 North Broadway. It is an important step, as the old church – along with others in the immediate area – comprise what is described in the National Register as “an outstanding group of downtown ecclesiastical structures.”

Organized in 1866, the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church dedicated its sanctuary at 154 North Broadway on July 24, 1870. Designed by Cincinnatus Shryock, the Venetian Gothic church cost to $32,000 to erect. Other descriptions of the style include High Victorian Gothic and Northern Gothic. Labels aside, the sanctuary’s exterior is bounded with sloped buttresses. The belfry actually shrinks as it reaches toward the heavens on account of the acute gables that impose great character for the octagonal bell tower.

Sanctuary

As is often the case with churches, the historic newspaper archives at the public library prove quite informative. A March 1889 Sunday evening service was dismissed early “because of furnace smoking out audience.” The phraseology indicates that churchgoers to the church were accustomed to some smokiness, but that this Sunday it was too much to bare. Today, any smoke beyond incense would be cause to bring in the fire department!

Of course, this smoke could have caused damage which required repairs for, in either event, the church underwent “elegent improvements on the interior” later in the month with “lovely frescoe work.”

Another renovation in 1908 saw the installation of thirteen large windows – “five on each side and three in front [each] of beautiful art design add[ing] both to the interior and exterior beauty of the building.” These windows were installed at a cost of $1,000.

Charred timbers above the sanctuary.
Photo: Laryn Karsnitz

In 1923, a fire caused $15,000 damage to the structure evidence of which is visible from the belfry. Of course, the visible damage could also have been caused by other more recent fires. The author recalls firefighters responding to a fire above the chapel in recent years.

Oh, yes. 1955. In February 1955, “the fate of Lexington’s 90-year-old Centenary Methodist Church … will be decided within the next two months. … The church expects to either relocate, remodel its present building, or consolidate.” We know not what a remodel plan would have looked like, but it would be likely to have caused serious disruption to the Venetian Gothic structure standing at the northeast corner of Broadway and Church streets.

The congregation decided to consolidate with another church, Trinity Methodist Church with the consolidated church assuming the Centenary name but using the Trinity facilities on South Limestone (since demolished, Centenary relocated again in 1992 to Tates Creek Road). The merger was completed in May 1955 and the old Centenary Church was sold in October 1957 for $29,025.

The following year, another church – Everybody’s Church – purchased the old Centenary Methodist for $30,000. Everybody’s Church had previously worshipped at the downtown Ben Ali Theater since being founded in 1927 by the former minister of Maxwell Street Presbyterian, Rev. J. Archer Gray in an attempt to “reach ‘the man of the street.'” By 1998, Everybody’s Church had fallen on hard times and shuttered with the historic structure being purchased by Broadway Christian Church in 2003 for $25,000.

Today, the historic Centenary Methodist Church is again for sale. The listing and our recent deTour with the Blue Grass Trust revealed “incredibly preserved geometric style stained glass, flat level hardwood floors, [and] very high ceilings.” It is listed for $680,000 and the listing includes certain preservation-minded easements.

During the deTour (December 2012), the pipes of the organ were exercised once again filling this once-holy space. The space above the sanctuary reveals some charred timber evidencing the fires described above. But the space also reveals the building’s strength with some beams being appx. 18″ thick. And it A spacious, open chapel on the second floor behind the main church is ripe with potential.

Explore additional pictures of this beautiful Shryock-designed church by clicking here.

Sources: Downtown Building Inventory; Fayette PVA, Jim McKeighen, local.lexpublib.org, NRHP (Northside N.A.)


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Our February gathering will be at the Oldham House on South Limestone Street with an afterHour at Joe Bologna’s. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Lexington Children’s Theatre Ended a 60 Year Nomadic Existence with West Short Street Home

The Main Stage at Lexington Children’s Theatre – Lexington, Ky.

In 1978, the Sleepy Head House furniture store expended $350,000 on renovating a warehouse at 418 West Short Street. Sleepy Head House billed itself as “The South’s most complete Factor-Furniture Store.”  Years later, the facility closed as consumer trends didn’t bring consumers downtown to buy mattresses.

Another group acquired the old warehouse  after their “nearly 60 years of nomadic existence that scattered its operation among the Opera House, ArtsPlace, and a warehouse off Winchester Road.” The Lexington Children’s Theatre purchased the old Sleepy Head House in 1996 and immediately launched a $3 million capital campaign to create the theatrical complex the organization required.

The Lexington Children’s Theatre was not a new game in town. It’s 60 year “nomadic existence” began in 1938 to “present educational entertainment for children and to provide the opportunity for creative expression.” The following spring, the theatre’s first production, Noah’s Flood, hit the stage.

So by 1998, LCT had moved into its permanent home and in September of that year opened its new stage with The Riddling Child. It remains an incredible part of central Kentucky’s arts scene and introduces the stage to children throughout the region. During our visit, costume and set designers (all done in-house) were busy at work preparing for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The four street addresses (416, 420, 422, 426 W. Short) consist of two 3-story and two 2-story multi-bay brick buildings. The properties are carved out from the surrounding Victorian Square indoor mall. While some question has arisen to Victorian Square’s future, the LCT owns its own structures and its future is wholly independent.

Check out the other photos from our visit to the Lexington Children’s Theatre in the following slideshow. Photos are also available on flickr.

Sources: Bricks+Mortar, Lex. Children’s Theatre, Lex. H-L


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Our February gathering will be at the Oldham House on South Limestone Street. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Lexington’s Central Fire Station

Lexington Central Fire Station – Lexington, Ky.

On East Third Street, just east of Martin Luther King Blvd, is Lexington’s Central Fire Station. It opened in 1929 and replaced an earlier central fire house on Short Street. According to a January 1926 article in the Lexington Leader, the old Short Street fire station was “not only unsightly and dilapidated, but a ‘menace to life and property.'” A good case for new construction.

So the city hired J. Graham Miller to design the Central Fire Station which was constructed by the Skinner Brothers and the Perry Lumber Company. It remains Lexington’s most active fire house nearly 85 years later.

The  ‘Lil Kaintuckeean and his grandmother

During our BGT deTour of the station house, we explored the living areas, the boiler room, offices, and kitchens of the fire house where our first responders spend so much of their days and nights.

One notable feature of this fire station is that there are four working fire poles. To demonstrate, one of the firefighters went down a pole while those assembled watched. We all wanted to join in, but only my four year old was able to slide down the firehouse pole.

At least to the extent his grandmother could lift him! It was a fun time for even the youngest among the crowd!

After the firehouse, we explored the nearby Old Episcopal Burying Grounds as well as the London Ferrell Community Garden. Needless to say, the ‘Lil Kaintuckeean kept me from listening and photographing.


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart); the Central Fire Station was our deTour in Oct. 2012. The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Our February gathering will be at the Oldham House on South Limestone Street. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Spindletop Hall is “a masterpiece which has no parallel in Kentucky”

Entrance to Spindletop Hall – Lexington, Ky.

Spindletop Hall – Lexington, Ky.

A forty room mansion in the Georgian Revival style located on Lexington’s Ironworks Pike was constructed in 1935-1937 for Ms. Pansy Yount. The mansion, at 45,000 square foot, stands at the end of a quarter-mile long, tree lined private drive. When one considers the massiveness of this home – along with its numerous outbuildings including a garage, pool house, stables, aviaries, and kennels – the constructions costs of a mere $1 million seem quaint. Today, the PVA has assessed the value of the 1,066 acre property at $20 million which is far short of its actual value.

The 17-bay mansion itself consists of a rectangular 9-bay plan with two receding flanking wings to create the balance of the structure with most of the structure in Flemish bond laid red brick. The original copper roof remains. Dominating Spindletop are the six Ionic limestone columns on the temple portico behind which a limestone block facade contrasts with the dominant red brick.

There are wrought iron features throughout Spindletop, but none quite as spectacular as as the Palladian window on the northwestern elevation of the porte-cochere. There, the setting sun creates a canvas which brightly displays the detailed iron work.

And although the porte-cochere would have been a primary entrance to the home, the entrance hall is not want of beauty. The double doors through which you enter cost $14,000 for the pair at the time of their installation and are made of bronze. Also of bronze is the three part chandelier hanging overhead from the molded plaster ceiling. The hall is flanked by a pair of winding stairs, though the centerpiece is a large white mantel which had been extracted from Wornersh Park in Surrey, England.

Elizabethan Living Room – Spindletop Hall

Three main rooms off the Great Hall: the Georgian Dining Room, the Elizabethan Living Room, and the William & Mary Music Room. The dining room features a carrara marble mantel built for Shapwick Hall in Somerset, England, ca. 1750. The colossal living room – 30′ x 60′ – has oak paneled walls and a beautiful wooden mantle carved with the phrase “East, West, Home’s Best.” This Flemish phrase complements the 16th century tapestry hanging on one wall (hiding those panels which are not carved). The music room contains a ca. 1735 mantle from London, wainscoted mahogany walls, a fare violin collection, and a Kimball reproducing organ. The organ can be played in the music room or remotely controlled from six locations throughout the house. One hundred rolls of music were specially recorded for the Yount organ and are contained next to the instrument in a Chinese lacquered cabinet. The organ pipes are largely contained underneath the Grand Hall, though nearly a mile of organ pipe is contained within the mansion.

A few steps down from either the music or the living room is the Gothic Library. There one will find oak paneling, faux hammer beam ceilings, and a gray stone English Tudor mantle removed from Trentham Hall in Staffordshire, England. The texts on the shelves have been gifted to Spindletop; Mrs. Yount removed her 7,000 volumes with her to Texas. Also gone is the original oriental Persian rug which reportedly cost $40,000 in the 1930s. The porte-cochere enters into the library, which has long been my favorite room in the mansion.

Upstairs, two palatial bedroom suites offered respite for Mrs. Yount and her daughter, Mildred. Mrs. Yount’s suite is decorated in the French style while Mildred’s is in that of 18th century England. Each suite consists of four rooms. Off Mrs. Yount’s bathroom is a safe which is alleged to have contained a necklace once belonging to Marie Antoinette.

Given the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping, Mrs. Yount was concerned that her Mildred – the richest little girl in America – would also be kidnapped. It is believed that under the house, there is a tunnel to safety. Mysteries and great beauty about at Spindletop Hall. More can be found on flickr.

Yount lived at Spindletop until she relocated in Texas in 1955. In 1959, the University of Kentucky purchased the property for a discounted $850,000 as Yount viewed the transaction as a gift to UK.


The Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart); Spindletop was our deTour in Sept. 2012. The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Our February gathering will be at the Oldham House on South Limestone Street. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Lexington’s “most important cultural and civic space” – The Kentucky Theatre

Kentucky Theatre Marquee – Lexington, Ky.
Shelves of Letters for the Marquee at the
Kentucky Theatre – Lexington, Ky.

The familiar marquee on Main Street identifies the only remaining of Lexington’s great, old theaters. Named as “a credit to Lexington and the entire State,” the Kentucky Theatre opened in 1922. At the time, the Kentucky was one of several theaters in the community of 40,000. The Ben Ali and the Strand also welcomed moviegoers, but none with the grandeur that was offered at the Kentucky Theatre. With its original space intact, the Kentucky Theatre is described by Steve Brown (President, Kentucky’s Mighty Wurlitzer) as “the most important cultural and civic space in the city.”

The ceiling originally featured a massive stained glass dome which was complimented with back-lighting that changed with the ‘mood’ of the film. To the best of anyone’s recollection, the stained glass was removed because the promoters of The Sound of Music thought that the glass dome had an adverse effect on acoustics. The Kentucky was designed for motion pictures and even was capable of showing the new “talkies”; the theatre was one of the first fifty theaters in America to feature sound. All these special effects, all in 1922.

Interior of the Kentucky Theatre – Lexington, Ky.

And all in a beautiful Italian Renaissance styled theatre opened as the premier movie house for Lexington by the Swiddow family. Even with management changes and numerous changes in customer demands, the Kentucky Theatre has only had one pause in operation over the past 90 years.

In 1987, a neighboring restaurant experienced a fire that caused significant damage to the Kentucky. Through a dedicated group of patrons and local leaders, the Kentucky would not remain closed. A grand reopening in 1992 revealed a beautifully restored theatre that continues to receive updates. A major renovation is planned in conjunction with the theatre’s 90th anniversary. This will be coupled with the complete restoration and reinstallation of the Kentucky’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ that first played there when the theatre opened in 1922.

Lexington in 1922, however, had its own skeletons. In particular, Lexington shares that southern sin of segregation. Since it opened, the Kentucky Theatre has had a single level and thus no feasible method for separating blacks from whites. This was not a progressive step; it was a design intended to prevent the attendance by blacks at films shown at the Kentucky. When the Kentucky’s smaller sister theatre was opened next door in 1929, it featured a balcony which allowed Lexington’s black community to appreciate the ‘old Spanish’ architectural style of the State Theatre.

Of course, times have changed through the years. Fortunately, segregation has ended. The balcony has been removed from the State Theatre.

In time, the seating capacity of the Kentucky srunk from 1,108 to 805. The stalwart manager, Fred Mills, has worked at the theaters since 1963. And the ever-popular Rocky Horror Picture Show is often a sellout at recent history’s highest grossing theater for the film. The theaters have served also as the site for weddings and funerals, for political debates, and the weekly Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour.

Yes, the Kentucky Theatre’s cultural and civic role in Lexington has been and is incredibly rich. And if these walls could only talk. Fortunately, the basement’s floor does. There one can find shelves of letters for the marquee while on the floor there are scribbled notations reminding the signer of the letters needed. The films named with these letters include the greatest works of cinematic art this country and world have offered.



The Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Our September gathering will be at the University of Kentucky’s Spindletop Hall on Ironworks Pike. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

Botherum, Lexington’s Taj Mahal

The Botherum – Lexington, Ky.

At the heart of downtown Lexington’s historic Woodward Heights neighborhood is the Botherum, a circa 1850 mansion. Today, the property is owned by Dale Fisher and Jon Carloftis, but the land itself was once the northeast corner of Col. Robert Patterson‘s original 400-acre tract, granted him in 1776.

It was here, in the middle of the nineteenth century, that lawyer and banker Madison C. Johnson, that “the fascinating residence known as Botherum … [was] erected by local builder-architect John McMurtry.” Like many Lexingtonians of his day, Johnson was a “cultivated man” whose interests varied greatly. An amateur astronomer, Johnson incorporated into the design the wrought iron octagonal parapet from which he could view the heavens.

Drawing Room at Botherum

It is believed that Johnson worked closely with McMurtry on the home’s design, incorporating personal details into the originally U-shaped mansion that combines Grecian, Roman, and Gothic elements. Within the U was an enclosed garden, no doubt to satisfy other of Johnson’s varied tastes. The walls of the Botherum vary too in material: while many are of rough limestone others are of brick construction with a plaster surface to give only the appearance of stone.

Despite his own personal touches, McMurtry was not commissioned to build Johnson a temple for himself. Rather, the Botherum was built to honor the memory and Johnson’s love for his wife who had died some twenty-three years earlier in childbirth. The story parallels that of the grief stricken Shah Jahan whose love for his wife, who also died in the delivery of a child, inspired the construction of India’s Taj Mahal.

Bohemian Glass Doors

Johnson’s affection for his late wife, Sally Ann, was also noted because Johnson believed himself physically ugly and found his wife quite the opposite. Johnson’s belief of his own appearance may have been his greatest challenge. Upon graduation from Transylvania College, Johnson had his diploma sent to him and his valedictory address read by the college president so that he would not be compelled to take the stage.

Johnson collaborated with Henry Clay (their friendship enough that Clay gifted Johnson with the massive gingko tree now in front of Botherum) and became a confidant for Abraham Lincoln. It is said that Johnson even rejected an offer by Lincoln to serve as Secretary of the Treasury for his fear of joining the Washington social scene was too great.

Floor boards covering a possible root
cellar beneath the basement floor.

It is unclear if his lack of confidence in his personal appearance kept Johnson from having house guests, but he did construct a small guest house to the rear of Botherum for the occasional guest. Some ‘guests’, however, were permitted to stay in the house particularly those seeking their freedom on the underground railroad. Although the particularities are unknown, one can imagine Madison C. Johnson concealing the “fugitives” in the root cellar beneath the original basement kitchen – a kitchen which itself was and is accessible only by trap door.

Dale Fisher, one of the new
Botherum owners

Madison C. Johnson was a noted businessman in Lexington having been president of the Northern Bank of Kentucky and having helped to establish the Lexington Cemetery. Before his death, the U-shaped Botherum was closed and the central garden removed. Above it, a central room joined the master floor plan. Johnson died in 1886 and his heirs immediately sold the Botherum and the surrounding acreage to J.C. Woodward. Within a year, a city map identified a subdivided Woodward Heights subdivision.

Given its impressive stature and romantic inspiration, it is almost a footnote to recall that prior to McMurtry’s architectural additions, the home was a simple, three-room farmhouse. From its humble beginnings, Madison Johnson remembered and honored the legacy of his deceased wife with a beautiful home which draws crowds to this day.

Botherum – Lexington, Ky.

Additional photos of the Botherum are available on flickr.
Also, here are a few pictures from the Historical Buildings of America Survey (1940).

Source: NRHP (Botherum); NRHP (Woodward Heights)


The Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Uniquely, and because of our nation’s celebration of independence, our next meeting is MONDAY, July 2 with more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.