The daffodils, yellow and bright against a gray February day, signaled to me to slow down. Then I saw the house, half hidden by trees, a small, frame, central passage dwelling on a stone foundation, with a brick chimney at either gable end.
The facade of the abandoned house.
The weatherboard was still mostly white on the one-story house, but the roof was on its way to total collapse – there’s nothing quite like old, wet, deteriorating asphalt shingles. A sidewalk likely once led up to the four-panel central entry door, which has a three-light transom and two-light sidelights over recessed panels. A front porch with turned and chamfered supports and brackets is centered on the facade. The front porch holds echoes of how lovely this house once must have looked.
The front door.
I’d left Bowling Green with the intention of seeing as much as I could on the rural roads, tracing a circuitous path (the only sort of path to take!) back to Central Kentucky. The location of the little house was between the rural crossroads of Gott and Polkville, on the south side of the Gotts-Hydro Road.
(As always, this my plea for some reader out there to contact me with any history they might know of this historic house!)
A section of the 1877 D.G. Beers & Co Atlas of Warren County. A white arrow illustrates the possible location of this house.
This may have even been the home of a member of the Gott family. I’d put its construction date in the post-Civil War era, likely the 1870s-1880s. The narrow, elongated windows suggest the influence of the Italianate style, which was drifting across rural Kentucky at the time.
A side view of the house.
Like most houses of the period, there is an ell that extends to the rear of the house. It was likely originally just two rooms, with porches on one or both sides. One of the porches was enclosed to create additional living space.
An example of a central passage plan for a one-story house. Original plan drawn by William J. Macintire.
Someone attempted to deal with the neglect with tarps hung over the roof, but there wasn’t much evidence of anyone taking care of the house for years and years.
The ell at the rear of the house.
But the clumps of daffodils are proof that at one time, this was a beloved spot, and one that its occupants sought to make more beautiful.
One great thing about KY is it provides your with endless vernacular architecture to interpret and educate and amaze us all. Hows the book coming?
This is the house with the “broken roof,” as my son calls it. I BELIEVE the owners live next door. Someone has lived in it in recent-ish times, based on the debris. There is atleast a partial second floor, but getting to it isn’t possible due to rotted floors.
The side-view picture has what looks like old grave stones under a tree, but you would have mentioned them so I guess I havee an overactive imagination. Back roads are the best!
What’s the address?
I have no idea what the street address is!
Loved this article, can’t wait to see others that you write about.
Thank you for reading!
This is my house! I am stationed in California and have been unable to come home for any extended period to do any work. I allowed people to live there who “worked for rent” and then left me with large unpaid utility bills when they moved out. I wish there were grants to help me restore it or save it. When my father died in 2014, I lost my last parent who kept an eye on it for me. It was the Robert Garrison home and I grew up spending so much time there as a child. They were like grandparents to me as they had no grandchildren. I later bought the house and some land when their daughter passed away and the extended family put all of the farm up for auction in separate tracts. It was such a beautiful home…I’m so sad it’s in the shape it is now…
Would you be interested in selling it I live across the road in a mobile home could take me time and redo or fix house up which would take a lot of work
I enjoy riding my scooter pass it…when home visiting my family.
We are retired military would you please contact us concerning your house? Thank you.
I love old houses, makes me sad when I see them abandoned. I try to invision what it would have been like living in them. I would love to see them bought and restored.
I live across the street. When we moved here in 1997. The daughter was still alive and took care of it. There was a car in the garage and a dinner bell. It was nice looking place. Then the daughter passed and it sold at auction and the lady that bought it in 200. Let someone move in to take care of it for rent. And that’s when it started looking so bad. But all the blooms of flowers and trees are just beautiful.
Just had to do quadruple-takes (and borrow another set of eyes: my husband’s) to confirm this wasn’t my family’s property.
May not have info about this particular house, but I’d be happy to lead you to one *very* close, with much similarity — on Gotts Hydro Rd., similar architecture, “abandoned” facade, etc.
Noticing family names of mine in the atlas you provided [Mottley]. Very surreal.
Feel free to contact me. 🙂
I do live across the road and was surprise when I seen this on Goggle we have only lived in Bowling Green Ky for little over a year almost 2 years I am sure some of the neighbors know who owned the place I do believe the lady that owns it lives in Germany is what I have been told it would make a Beautiful Home Place Virginia Joyce Flowers 2108 Gotts Hydro Road South Unit 2
I do live across the road and was surprise when I seen this on Goggle we have only lived in Bowling Green Ky for little over a year almost 2 years I am sure some of the neighbors know who owned the place I do believe the lady that owns it lives in Germany is what I have been told it would make a Beautiful Home Place Virginia Joyce Flowers 2108 Gotts Hydro Road South Unit 2 different neighbor
I know of a two story house that has two sets of “Irish” staircases. They lead up to two rooms that are adjacent but not connected. I understand that when workers or visitors stayed that was so the sexes couldn’t mix. I know the owner if you’re interested.
I sent you an email! Thanks for reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed your article and appreciation for the beauty and the story that we can all imagine lies within. Well done! My mind was transformed to latter days and the joy that that home brought to some lucky family. Many thanks!
Thank you and thank you for reading!