Traffic along Leestown Road continues to grow each year – but at certain times of day, the drive between Lexington and Frankfort can be magical – especially once you leave the thicket of 20th century development behind, and pockets of farmland appear on either side of the road. Having lived and worked in Frankfort at various points in my life, I’ve traveled this way often, and for all that time, the Lewis Nuckols House has intrigued me.
The Federal-style Lewis Nuckols House, Scott County, Kentucky.
As you journey to Frankfort from Lexington, the brick house sits on the right (or the north side of the road), its four bay wide facade (window/door/door/window on the main block of the house) made mute by sheets of plywood over the windows and doors.
Although one of my own personal research topics is houses with two front doors, the setting and solitary decay of the Nuckols House would have caught my eye regardless of the fenestration.
Circa 1978 photo of the Nuckols House, from the files of the Kentucky Heritage Council.
Constructed for Lewis Nuckols around 1800, the two-story dwelling underwent some stylistic updates shortly after the Civil War, with the windows being lengthened to reflect the popular Italianate style, and a semi-octagonal entry bay added (as seen in the above black and white image).
Nuckols owned a great deal of land in the area, and worked as a road overseer and land surveyor in the Bluegrass. He also served as the Sheriff of Scott County from 1816-18.
The arrangement of the windows and doors on the facade makes me suspect the dwelling has a hall-parlor plan (two rooms side by side, with no central passage or hallway). The jackarches over the openings are a typical Federal style characteristic in Kentucky. Interior gable end brick chimneys would have provided a heat source for each room on the first floor, and possibly on the second. The one-story brick wing on the left side of the photo was apparently the original kitchen.
Several years ago – maybe even a decade ago – it appeared that someone was working on the Nuckols House, and I was so excited. Ever since I first saw it, the house has been empty. But the work stalled, and appears to have ceased altogether, and the dwelling remains as immutable as ever.
The house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and as such, any qualifying restoration work on the building could receive historic tax credits – if only someone would dive into that project, and bring this house back to life.
Thank you! I drive by that house all the time on my trips to campus and everytime I peek over to if it’s still there – or better yet – under restoration. Everytime I’ve wondered the history. That 1978 photo is hard to believe that’s the same house.
Thanks so much!
OMG, that 1978 photo is amazing. I hope this entry flushes out someone who knows more about it!
Thanks, I was hoping this neighborhood house was under restoration as a residence several years back. Who was Lewis Nuckols? And who owns the property now?
I don’t know who owns the property now. Lewis Nuckols was in Scott County in the late 18th century – all I know about him is what is in the post – sorry!
I surely hope that someone saves this house. It would be an absolute shame to see it deteriorate beyond repair. Who owns it now and is it actually for sale?
I don’t know who owns it, and I’m not aware of it being for sale. It’s just a house I drive by frequently – I hope someone restores it too!
Another old Glory! Thanks for sharing! I hope someone restores it, the exterior still looks very sturdy.
Scott County’s property records are online. The house is part of a 77-acre parcel owned since 2011 by Karyn Crigler Bryant and John Matthew Crigler, c/o Karyn Crigler Bryant, who lives in suburban Nashville. They also own a 55-acre parcel to the east which has a nice little bungalow. Photographs show that the plywood over the Nuckols House’s openings is recent; it was not there in 2012 or 2016. It is parcel number 091-00-063.000 and the property report is available at the following link: https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=948&LayerID=18565&PageTypeID=4&PageID=8265&KeyValue=091-00-063.000.
Hopefully the house will be restored, though a house like this brings up an often contentious argument among historic preservationists: what do you restore? Do you restore a house to its original appearance or preserve the various changes that have occurred during its existence. In the case of the Nuckols House, someone made the choice to restore it to its purely original, Federal-style appearance, discarding all the 100-plus year-old Italianate exterior details. Get a few historic preservationists in the same room (or on an online forum) and you will certainly get an argument over whether this was the correct approach to this house. What you will not get an argument over is that it is a shame for such a historic house to be empty and deteriorating.