HABS Documentation of Rose Hill, Lexington, Kentucky

Three years ago, I wrote about a photographer named Theodore Webb, and the work he carried out for the Historic American Buildings Survey. Today I had the pleasure of browsing the HABS collection (looking for something else entirely), and came across the jaw-dropping documentation of Rose Hill, a Federal-style house (with later stylistic modifications) in Lexington, Kentucky. The photographs are so lovely, and I don’t think I will ever be inside this historic house, so here is a sampling for you to enjoy! The entire collection – photographs, data sheets, and measured drawings – can be viewed here.

Circa 1934 photograph of Rose Hill by Theodore Webb. HABS Collection.

Rose Hill was built in the second decade of the 19th century for John Brand, a native of Scotland. A portion of the lot was used for Brand’s business purposes, including ropewalks for his hemp factory.

This undated image of Rose Hill, by Kentucky’s own Clay Lancaster, is pretty much how my photos of the house – peering over the gates – appear. Image from the Clay Lancaster Slide Collection at the University of Kentucky. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7tb27ps028_626_1

The interior plan of Rose Hill is, based on its footprint, a deviation from typical Kentucky interiors of the time. The central hall is truncated, and leads to a side, transverse passageway to provides access to the south wing of the house.

The HABS floorplans – absolutely beautiful work.

The doorway on the facade of Rose Hill, as seen from the interior. Photograph by Theodore Webb, 6 February 1934, HABS collection.

According to the 1934 HABS documentation: “The interior wood work, including the doors, trim, and mantles are beautifully designed and were executed by skilled craftsmen, a feature which has made this house one of the most outstanding in the State from an architectural standpoint.”

The drawing room at Rose Hill. Photograph by Theodore Webb, 6 February 1934, HABS collection.

Looking into the library (used as a dining room in the 1930s) from the drawing room at Rose Hill. Photograph by Theodore Webb, 6 February 1934, HABS collection

Although the portico is a later Greek Revival modification, Clay Lancaster noted that “Rose Hill has not been seriously modified. Kitchens and bathrooms have been installed inside the house.”* I wouldn’t call that a modification, but a necessary improvement – I may love historic buildings, but I adore modern conveniences.

Façade view, showing the portico. Photograph by Theodore Webb, 6 February 1934, HABS collection.

I also adore the HABS collection – looking through these photos makes my blood pressure lower and all seems right with the world. Rose Hill is still very much standing, but many of the resources captured in the HABS files are gone.

Elevation of Rose Hill, as built. HABS collection.

Where we would be without the talented men and women who swept across America to document the historic built environment? How much more of our nation’s history would have been lost with no record of it ever existing?

Rose Hill, autumn 2019.

I am by no means a HABS-level photographer, and most days I am just a middling architectural historian. But I hope my small efforts play a role in creating awareness of Kentucky’s rich history, both the fancy, high-style houses like Rose Hill, and the barns, corncribs, old stores, and vernacular dwellings that tell the story of our Commonwealth.

*Clay Lancaster. Antebellum Architecture in Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1991.