The Second Empire Style in Kentucky

There’s something about a mansard roof. The Addams Family house, in both the 1960s sitcom and movies – the Bates house/motel from Aldred Hitchcock’s Pyscho – and numerous representations in art, pop culture, and music (I was ecstatic when Vampire Weekend released “Mansard Roof” in 2007). The mansard roof (basically, a dual-hipped roof) is the foundation of the architectural style known as the Second Empire.

A late 19th century Second Empire house in Carlisle, Kentucky that started off as a doctor’s office/house, and later served as the Potts Hotel.

The Second Empire style derives its name from the reign of Napoleon III in France; the name of its most distinctive feature, the mansard roof, comes from the 17th  century French architect Francois Mansart.

A small(ish) Second Empire house in Lexington, Kentucky. This is a common house form, but the roof is not nearly as common – and could have been added later.

The style traveled from France to England to America – and first showed up in a pattern book by Calvert Vaux in 1857. The Second Empire style, always with that distinctive mansard roof, spread across the United States from the Civil War period into the early 20th century. It is, according to that doyenne of architectural history tidbits, Virginia McAlester, “relatively rare in the southern states…though scattered examples survive in all regions settled before 1880.”*

An example of the style in Maysville, Kentucky.

If you follow Gardens to Gables on social media, you will note I often post a photograph of a Second Empire building on Mondays, with the hashtag #MansardMonday  -as though I had spotted a rare bird in the wild. In a way, that is exactly what finding a Second Empire building in most parts of Kentucky is like – a singular discovery to be accompanied by many exclamation points.

The circa 1880 Gillim House in Owensboro, Kentucky, was built for John Woolfolk, founder of the People’s Wharf-Boat and Transfer Company.

I’m not sure why the style didn’t prove more popular in Kentucky – we aren’t the Deep South, after all – but it is definitely a “scattered” style in the Commonwealth.** Often, the only sign of the Second Empire style on a dwelling is the mansard roof of a tower – while the rest of the house sports a gable or hip roof.

The mansard roof provided another floor of living space without making a house seem overly large and looming, so it fit in well in urban neighborhoods, and also proved a popular roof choice when earlier dwellings were remodeled.

A late 19th century dwelling in Richmond, Kentucky, with a mansard roof topped central tower. (House is no longer extant, see The Scooby Doo House for more.)

Many public buildings in the United States were built in the Second Empire style – so many were constructed during the two terms (1869-1877) Ulysses S. Grant served as President that the style was sometimes referred to as the “General Grant style.”

Another example of mansard tower, Owenton, Kentucky.

So a mansard roof – and what else? The roof is the defining feature of the style – though it is often accompanied by patterned slate on the roof, elaborate dormers, towers, and cresting. Everything below the roof line is very similar (if not identical) to the Italianate style.

A Second Empire dwelling in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Second Empire style is most prevalent in Northern Kentucky, in towns like Covington and Newport. There, the mansard roof adorns small houses, large houses, and rambling multi-family blocks. It is a most exciting excursion for the roving architectural historian keen to spy as many Second Empire examples as possible.

A Second Empire style dwelling in Dayton, Kentucky.

Although not common in Kentucky, the examples we do have illustrate that the style is not for the faint of heart. If you like a plain, simple,  and restrained  building – the Second Empire is not for you!

The French term horror vacui—the fear of unadorned surfaces— was employed in  that country to describe the style, which is typically grand, elaborate, and heavily ornamented. Of course, sometimes the mansard roof sits atop a relatively plain and modest house – but there is typically some architectural flourish applied to the windows or cornice.

Definitely not a shrinking violet! Covington, Kentucky.

I’ll probably always continue to keep my eyes peeled for Second Empire examples – because it is fascinating how local builders, keen to display their grasp of new trends and fashions, used the mansard roof during the style’s period of influence. There is one caveat though –  the rebirth of this roof form in the late 20th century leaves me nauseous, as it almost always seems clunky, inappropriate, and aesthetically lacking.

*Virginia McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses (second edition, 2014), 318.

** I am sure someone has written about the dearth of the Second Empire style in the south. In Lexington, at least, I think it has to do with the density of Federal and Greek Revival townhouses in the downtown area – the logical places for the style to flourish were well built-out before it became popular locally. The Second Empire style flourished in the Northeast – and some sources speculate that antipathy for anything associated with that part of the country in the south after the Civil War is the main reason for the lack of Second Empire style buildings below the Mason Dixon line. I’ve also heard that climate has something to do with an inclination (or lack thereof) for the mansard roof? I welcome anyone’s expert knowledge or input!