Every historic building has a story to tell
There are any number of attractions that cause me to pull my car over and hop out with my camera – historic corner gas stations being near the top of the list. I’ve photographed the ones I know of in Lexington (my favorite is in the Woodland Triangle – now Missy’s Pies, during my father’s (read more)
I am always amused by the lists released each year heralding popular baby names, and the origin of some of those choices. The practice of naming babies after famous people isn’t a trend unique to today’s pop culture-obsessed world. In Kentucky, scores of children in the 1820s were christened “Henry Clay” after the Great Compromiser, (read more)
Bell bottoms. Beanie babies. Disco and the Atkins Diet. Fads are curious, strange creatures, and likely to reappear (especially in fashion) when least expected. I am not certain that this truism exists in architecture, for I have yet to spy the fad of octagon houses taking hold again. In mid-19th century America, the octagon house was (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture, Kentucky churches, Kentucky history, National Register of Historic Places, Vernacular
Tags: #benjaminhenrylatrobe, #kentuckyarchitecture, #octagonalhouse, #octagonsinkentucky, #orsonfowler, #poplarforest, #thomasjefferson, #westvirginia
One of my favorite daydreams – and mental exercises – involves the possibility of time travel. Should I be hurtled back into Kentucky’s history, would I be able to find my way around, using landmarks to chart my path? I always wonder if I would recognize our family farm circa 1860 or so (I never go too (read more)
My grandmother’s house is for sale. I stumbled across the listing yesterday in my attempt to discern what is on the Central Kentucky real estate market that may interest potential buyers like…me. House-hunting is not actually something I enjoy that much. As an architectural historian, my standards can be exacting (that is probably an understatement). Plus, (read more)
The American Revolution was not only a political liberation, but a cultural one too – and I think the best way to visualize that cultural revolution is to look at the architecture produced in this country during the 19th century. The classical world was put on a pedestal, and one of the styles to emerge (read more)
“I hear the train a comin’, It’s rolling ’round the bend…” The first two lines of “Folsom Prison Blues,” sung by Mr. Johnny Cash, not only brought the man in black fame, but it catapulted California’s second oldest prison into popular culture mythology.* There are no catchy mid-20th century songs about the 19th century stone (read more)
I went to a lot of museums growing up – but the most compelling exhibits that lingered with me were the streets I traveled down, whether walking around my small hometown, or watching in rapt attention as a traveler in the backseat. One of those memories from the “backseat files” involves the grand historic houses (read more)
There are degrees of rural in Kentucky. My own experience, though it felt isolated at times (growing up on a farm does curb one’s teenage exploits), barely fulfills the definition as I see it in other areas of the Commonwealth. Despite the marked nuances of what rural means, certain themes defined the rural Kentucky lifestyle (read more)
A house is much more than just shelter. Historically, homes have functioned as symbols of expression, wealth, and power – for those who could afford such brick and mortar displays – and a house on a corner lot in town commanded maximum exposure. And in the frenzy of the late-19th century, when styles and materials (read more)
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