Every historic building has a story to tell
I’m always partial to a house with personality. The William and Ella Craycroft McElroy House, with its distinctive near-diamond shaped footprint, exudes character and charm. The 2.5-story, frame, Queen Anne style house was built between 1898 and 1903 on Main Street in Springfield, Kentucky. The first time I saw this delightful concoction, I wondered (read more)
Category: Washington County
Tags: #kentuckyarchitecture, #queenannestyle, #springfieldky
There’s a handsome (if a little careworn) house with a corner tower across from Kolb Park in Paducah, Kentucky. In 1888, this brick Queen Anne dwelling was the height of fashion, constructed for a German immigrant named Louis Kolb at a time when transportation improvements and an expansion of the city limits bolstered the city’s (read more)
Category: McCracken County
Tags: #frankkolb, #kolbdrug, #kolbhouse, #paducahky, #queenannestyle, Kolb House
Although houses from the Victorian period are popular with large numbers of people now, there was a time in America when styles like the Queen Anne were loathed. Noted architectural historian Clay Lancaster, with his slightly acerbic wit, noted that the architecture of the period and its “escape to exotic modes indicates unrest, and it (read more)
Category: Jefferson County
Tags: #louisvilleky, #queenannestyle, #virginiaavenue, #westviewbuildingcompany, Parkland
I adore architecture, but I’m no builder. My forays into construction as an adult consist of assembling wooden trellises from scrap wood, and then painting the entire ramshackle affair bright colors. Fully cognizant of my lack of skill, I love seeing the houses that true builders construct for themselves. Last year, while winding my way (read more)
In my family lore, there is a not-so-mythical place known as “back seat land.” As a frequent occupant of this space, landscapes and buildings that filter through my memory are most often framed by the dimensions of the back seat car window, and many a long winding road trip was enlivened by peeks of historic (read more)
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