Yesterday was a rare day, at least in the context of the past few weeks. I ventured outside the confines of hearth and home to carry out some fieldwork (from the safety of my car, thus ensuring proper social distancing). That task completed, I took a half hour and walked around in the spring sunshine, enjoying a parade of historic homes in the Crescent Hill Historic District, and especially the late 19th century whimsy of the Judge Emmet Field House.
The trees appear to have leafed out quickly, almost hiding the facade of the Judge Emmet Field House.
Although Field’s name is attached to the brick, two-story Italianate house, he was only its best known occupant. The dwelling was constructed in 1878 for Jonathan C. Wright and sold in 1890 to the Fields family. A few years earlier, Fields had been elected to the common pleas branch of the Jefferson Circuit Court.
The Judge Emmet Field House, circa 1982. Photograph from the National Register of Historic Places files.
I have a special fondness for Italianate-style hoodmolds, and these do not disappoint – and neither does the full-width porch, which seems especially delicate and lovely compared to the very solid mass of the house.
A view of the side elevation and facade.
The house was built on a section of the former Kentucky fairgrounds, a 38-acre tract with the main entrance on Crescent Avenue (the Fairgounds was located here from 1853-1873).
The Field House, circa 1922, when the house contained several apartments.
Judge Field died in 1909, and in 1916, his widow divided the house into apartments. She lived there until her death in 1938. The house underwent substantial renovations in the late 1990s, and now appears to be a single family home.
Great 👍 my next door neighbor – well half a block away. Thanks for history.
I’m on the old fair grounds too off Crescent ave