The Griffin Taylor Latta House, Ludlow, Kentucky

Mother’s Day was yesterday, and I celebrated by working almost all day in the garden. This circa 1914 holiday is a curious oddity to me, as it was most stridently not celebrated in my childhood home. When other children worked on Mother’s Day cards in elementary school, I made a birthday card for my mother. Incapable of subterfuge (or keeping my mouth shut), I loudly announced to my art teacher that I couldn’t make a Mother’s Day card, because “my mother doesn’t believe in it and says that it is just a way for businesses to make money!” Bless Mrs. Wanke for calmly directing my candor and energy toward another project. But in honor of my mother, a strong, feisty, wonderful woman that I love very much,  I’d like to share the historic Griffin T. Latta House in Ludlow, Kentucky.

The facade of the Latta House, Ludlow, Kentucky. Photograph February 2023.

While this early 20th century house is notable for its shape – it’s a dodecagon (12-sided) – for me the allure centers on the name of the family that first owned the circa 1901 dwelling.

Names are a big deal in my family, which has a penchant for double first names for daughters. This tradition began when my mother was in a small rural school with two other little girls also named Jane. The teacher dealt with the inevitable confusion by calling each girl by their first and middle names. My mother’s middle name was her mother’s maiden name – Latta. It’s not common in these parts (Central Kentucky), but there are 53 branches of the Latta family!

Our branch, Scots-Irish immigrants, arrived in America in the 18th century, and made their way to Kentucky from Maryland. Although you get lost in family research on the Internet now, my great-grandfather, an ardent genealogist in his later years, did all of his Latta searching by hand. My mother inherited a pale green garbage bag (the only time I have seen a plastic bag that color) full of hand-written and typed letters he wrote seeking information on the family in the 1920s and 1930s.

Side and rear elevation (south and west). I especially liked the paired doors with transoms under the small hipped roof porch.

I don’t know the exact connection between my branch of the Latta family and whatever branch Griffin and his folks belonged to, but his house is delightful. Sadly, poor Griffin is somewhat overshadowed by his high-achieving father, Alexander B. Latta. The latter was the president of the first city council in Ludlow in 1864, but his fame was cemented by the invention of the first practical and functional steam-powered fire engine.

Griffin served as Superintendent of the Ludlow Water Works for over 30 years and was one of Ludlow’s “most progressive citizens.”* He was also associated with the Kenton Building and Loan Association for over  40 years, so he likely had a hand in the development of the town, which expanded greatly in the late 19th century.

In 1910, Griffin, then a widower, lived in this house with one servant (Carrie Tristch, age 39) and his two adult daughters, Mary B. Latta, and Luella A. Latta.

An illustration of the A.B. Latta’s fire engine, from the March 1m 1959 edition of the Cincinnati Enquierr.

This distinctive 2.5-story, yellow brick house is located on the north side of Latta Avenue in Ludlow, a river town west of Covington. Oral history holds that the elder Latta designed this unique house for his son, but given that he died in 1865 when Griffin was only 10 years old, it is more likely that the design was inspired by Orson Fowler’s works.

Each of the 12 sides of the Latta house is pierced by either a window (all with rusticated stone lintels) or a door.  I bet the natural light inside the house is lovely.

The main entry door, with sidelights and a transom, is located underneath a three-bay canted porch with brick posts. Paired 1/1 windows are located above the entry door on the second story, and a shed roof dormer lights the attic above.

North elevation of the Latta house.

Another door, this one with an with an arched hood on  brackets, is located on the north elevation of the house. While I simply enjoyed seeing the house from the sidewalk (after I called my mother to tell her of my discovery!), there are interior photos in the 2023 real estate listing.

Griffin Latta died in 1930, and I imagine the house passed out of the Latta family at that time. He would have been a contemporary of my great-grandfather, Thomas Waller Latta, and I have to wonder if the two men ever corresponded about the name they shared.

I’m glad my mother has shared her family stories with me, and passed along a love of historic architecture. Even though we never got her candy or cards for Mother’s Day, it doesn’t mean her influence and contributions weren’t recognized and valued. I am very fortunate to still have her in my life.