The Demise of the Scooby Doo House, Richmond, Kentucky

The Second Empire style, with its distinctive mansard roof, is not a common architectural style in the Bluegrass State.  When I spot an example in my travels around Kentucky, I tend to remember. News of the demolition of an eye-catching Second Empire house in Richmond, Kentucky, reached me over a week ago – a house known to locals as the Scooby Doo House.*

The Scooby Doo House, spring 2016.

The three-story, three bay wide house house had a central tower topped with a mansard roof and iron cresting. Sharply peaked cross gable attic dormers, clad in shingles and with round arched windows, further accentuated the hipped roof of the house. The paint scheme – green, a peachy salmon, dark red, a bit of blue – caught the eyes of residents and visitors alike.

The house was recorded as being in “poor condition” when documented in 1982, but it was still included as a contributing element in the National Register of Historic Places-listed West Richmond Historic District. This listing made the house eligible for historic tax credits, both state and federal, that could have aided in its renovation and preservation.

A mansard roof is a given for “spooky” old houses in popular culture.

I never went inside the Scooby Doo House, haven’t researched it, and know very little about the development – and decay – of the building.

Although there is some supposition that an earlier brick dwelling was incorporated into the house, from an exterior examination, it was clearly a  frame post-Civil War dwelling, with all of the flourishes (detailed hoodmolds, patterned shingles, arched windows, Eastlake style porch) often found in late 19th century vernacular architecture.  Houses of this period often incorporated elements of many different styles – such as Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, Second Empire.

Whoever commissioned in the latter part of the 19th century possessed the means to build a large and splashy new dwelling. One name attached to the dwelling is Wainscott, another is Nancy Tribble. The land initially belonged to the Miller family, early residents and landholders in Madison County.

From Google Streetview, the Scooby Doo House in its context.

But I do know demolition by neglect, and it appears that this dwelling died from decades of that dread disease. St. Mark’s Catholic Church was the owner in 1982, and many small town churches can’t really utilize historic houses well – a lack of finances and a lack of need.

At the risk of sounding cynical, I’m surprised the house wasn’t torn down years ago for a surface parking lot.

Another view of the facade.

An article in the Richmond Register (as an aside, local newspapers are VERY important – please support yours if you are lucky enough to have one. They are gold mines for researchers!) details some of the property’s history and the owner’s plans for the lot.

I will take issue with one of the statements in the article – that the installation of “modern appliances, fixtures and design” detracted from the value of the house. It’s doubtful anyone would willingly live in a house with appliances and fixtures from the late 19th century. I happen to be very fond of modern plumbing and central  heating – and I make my living studying historic buildings and live in a historic house!

The house under demolition, in a photograph posted by John Lovell‎ in Memories and pictures of Richmond, Kentucky https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10222329047925495&set=gm.2970353246416674&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Ultimately, the demolition of this house is a waste.

Whatever new construction that goes in its place will not impart the same sense of history and charm as its predecessor. The building materials used to construct the Scooby Doo House – particularly the lumber, both rough and finished – can’t be easily obtained today. We cut down those types of old growth trees generations ago.

I do mourn the loss of the Scooby Doo House, but I grieve even more for what it reveals about us – a throw-away, consumerism-based society. The demolition never should have happened if the dwelling had been taken care of all along.

A section of the 1912 Sanborn map showing the house, noted by blue arrow. This section of West Main Street doesn’t show up on the Sanborn maps until 1912.

Water is the enemy – this simple phrase, uttered by a long-ago employer, settled into my mind. If  a cardboard box has a good roof, and the water is kept away from it, it will be in good shape. But water infiltration, combined with neglect and lack of maintenance, is a death knell for any building.

And that death arrived last week, meaning no more delightfully painted and intriguing Scooby Doo House in downtown Richmond.

*The house was recorded as MASW-11 in the Kentucky Heritage Council (State Historic Preservation Office) survey files.