Loudoun House
National Register of Historic Places

Loudoun House

Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Listed
February 6, 1973
Type
Building
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
73000798

About this property

The Loudoun House, located in Lexington, Kentucky, is considered one of the largest and finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the state. Designed by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis, the house was built in 1851 for Francis Key Hunt (1817–1879), who was named after his mother's cousin, Francis Scott Key. The home was built on 50 acres of land given to Hunt and his wife, Julia Warfield, by her parents upon their marriage. Following the death of his father during a cholera epidemic, Hunt inherited more than a million dollars and set to building the Loudoun House. Inspired by the W. C. H. Waddell mansion on Murray Hill in New York City, Hunt wrote to A. J. Davis, who designed a castellated Gothic Revival villa for Hunt after a brief correspondence. Hunt hired Lexington builder John McMurtry to construct the home. The project was expected to cost $10,000, but wound up costing three times that amount and taking four years to complete. He named the home "Loudoun" in honor of the song "The Bells of Loudon", his wife's favorite. Loudoun House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the five surviving castellated Gothic Revival villas designed by Davis in the United States. The house currently houses the Lexington Art League.

Location

Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
38.05538, -84.47606

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

African Cemetery No. 2
Listed
0.3 mi
Southeast Greyhound Line Building
Industrial
0.3 mi
Mathews, Courtney, House
Industrial
0.5 mi
Elsmere Park Historic District
Listed
0.6 mi
Morton, William, House
Industrial
0.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Loudoun House listed on the National Register?

Loudoun House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 6, 1973.

What type of historic resource is Loudoun House?

Loudoun House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Loudoun House?

The period of significance for Loudoun House is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1817.

Can I research the history near Loudoun House?

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