Monday morning deserves a dreamy Queen Anne-Romanesque Revival style house, I think… and the George W. Robson, Jr. house fits the bill! Cincinnati-based architect Samuel E. des Jardins designed this gorgeous dwelling for Robson, an affluent resident of Bellevue, in Campbell County, Kentucky.
The George W. Robson, Jr. House in Bellevue, Kentucky.
The 2.5 story brick house has massive stone arches over the second story windows, and stone quoins detail the corners of the house. Decorative shingles highlight the large attic gable and the gable of the wrap-around porch. The dwelling is located in the Taylor’s Daughters Historic District, which encompassed some 1,165 buildings at the time of its listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
The district received its name from the founders of Bellevue, members of the James Taylor family. During the post-Civil War era, the family christened many of the streets of the developing town after their daughters and granddaughters, including Berry, Washington, Foote, Ward, Van Voast, and O’Fallen (presumably the women’s last names…).
A circa 1985 photo from the National Register files of “Robson’s Row.”
Robson himself was a developer, responsible for the houses of “Robson’s Row.” This collection of dwellings, built around 1884, “originally had roofs of imbricated slate with their developer’s initials G. W. R spelled out in contrasting tiles.”
One of the members of Robson’s Row.
The buildings of Robson’s Row are actually more representative of 19th century residential architecture than Robson’s own house, but I find the typical and the atypical to both be wonderful!
Very interesting adding to my introduction to Kentucky. Bet the blue house has been gussied up a bit since built — striking in present paint job!