Some Historic Preservation Love on Valentine’s Day

Candy hearts, Valentine’s, chocolate, flowers…I’ve supervised Valentine card making this weekend, gotten treats for two parties for the tiny people, and consumed way too much sugar. But what I really want for Valentine’s Day? Some preservation success stories! The bleak winter landscape doesn’t help, but I feel inundated with stories of pending demolitions and losses – and while I do want to capture those stories – I’d also like to highlight some happy house stories. Or a restoration project in process – some Valentine-in-action work that is saving some of the rich architectural heritage of Kentucky.

A beautiful house in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, that has been restored by its family.

It’s all  too easy to focus on the wrecking ball stories…but I bet there are some hidden gems out there, slowly being brought back to life by folks doing a little bit whenever they can.

That certainly describes my personal historic house Valentine’s project – it will be four years this spring since we moved into our 1901 farmhouse, and while we’ve come a long way – there’s a long way to go!

I recently discovered this early 20th century photograph of our farm – the barn in the background still stands, while the outbuilding at right is sadly gone.

Sometimes it’s not just a building –  but a landscape. One of my favorite posts was the reclamation of an urban lot into a secret garden by Lexington’s Jim McKeighen.

Vegetables and ornamentals share space nicely in McKeighen’s ever-evolving garden.

My first real preservation project was a 1930 bungalow in Lexington, Kentucky – although it was very hands-on (due to my lack of funds), the transformation of a plain, empty lot into a series of gardens brought me so much joy. (Since I sold it, I am afraid my gardens have vanished.)

I was able to rebuild the rotting front porch and make some lovely front yard garden beds at my first house.

So on this Valentine’s Day, share this post – and let me know about some positive preservation stories! You can email me at gardens2gables@gmail.com – and I’ll gladly trade all of my candy (well, maybe not all -it is from the finest candy maker in Kentucky – Ruth Hunt Candies) for an inbox full of love for historic buildings and landscapes.