I’ve been playing catch up at work this year, which means my ability to channel energy and time into my blog is limited. Snow days, sick children, work – life has intervened. But it’s a constant struggle to rein in my wondering grey cells, especially when I spy interesting buildings while out and about. It is a testament to my discipline that I have not even looked even once into the background this particular building in Covington, Kentucky.
The Philadelphia Street elevation is fairly standard within its surrounding context.
I was taking a 15-minute “break” from my real work when I wandered through a section of downtown Covington, camera in hand. (I did get asked if I was working for Google maps, which made me chuckle. Nope, I’m just a crazy lady obsessed with historic buildings!) While the street elevation of this two-story brick building did not surprise me, the porches on the ends (north and south elevations) alerted my Spidey senses that “one of these things is not like the others.”
The multi-family house is built into the side of a hill, with a raised stone foundation.
There is a very clumsy (non-historic) attic dormer, but that isn’t what prompted my synapses into overdrive.
No, it’s the arrangement of windows and doors into what is obviously meant to be many separate units – a historic use, not a modern conversion.
Detail of the south elevation.
Was it a boarding house? Or simply a historic multiple family dwelling? I do know it is within the boundaries of the West Side-Main Strasse Historic District, but given the dearth of survey forms for districts listed in the 1980s, I doubt there is much individual documentation on this intriguing building.
Maybe when I reach a point when I don’t feel rushed off of my feet, I can look into the story of this historic house. Until then, I shall dedicate myself anew to rigorous concentration on less exciting cultural historic reports…
