Midway, Kentucky, is one of those charming towns that teems with perfect photographic possibilities. One of the most most popular spots in Midway for historic house lovers is a Carpenter Gothic dwelling known as “Wincoma.” This house is everywhere on social media, and although I do like to champion the underdog, the downtrodden, and the neglected vernacular specimens of historic Kentucky architecture – I’m not immune to a pretty face (or façade).
I mean – it is a lovely facade to behold!
Much is made of the house’s board and batten cladding, and the delectable bargeboard. The three bay wide house has a central entry tower that is a truncated (and perhaps even more picturesque!) than that of the supposed inspiration for the design of this house, Andrew Jackson Downing’s “Design VI” in his 1842 book Cottage Residences or A Series of Designs for Rural Cottages and Cottage Villas and their Gardens and Grounds Adapted to North America. (I admire a man who does not stint on words in his book titles.)
The slightly more grand possible basis for Wincoma.
The dwelling was constructed in 1871 for Dr. Marcus E. Poynter and his wife Kate, and built by Midway’s most prolific architect/builder, David Lehman.
A German immigrant, Lehman arrived in the United States in 1848, and made Midway his home in the early 1850s – and then proceeded to design and build many, many houses, churches, and buildings. He was into the Gothic Revival style in a big way. Lehman’s prolific career has been ably covered by Dr. Patrick Snadon (Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati) in his graduate thesis Bargeboards and Bluegrass: Gothic Revival Residences in Central Kentucky (1976).
Side elevation of Wincoma.
One of Lehman’s trademarks was a trefoil vent set within a triangle – a motif present on two of Wincoma’s elevations and on most of his buildings in Midway. As an aside, I have no idea who christened this house “Wincoma” or why; my information comes from the 1978 Midway historic District NRHP nomination.
I regret that no day of the week in the English language starts with a “P” so that I could have more alliterative options, but despite that, please enjoy this delightful bit of historic architecture.
It is irresistible in its architectural splendor.
I love this house!
How would I find a copy of Dr Snadon’s thesis?
Love a house plan that includes a library as necessary!! Where was the kitchen? In the back yard? That might be a problem………………love your articles and comments!!
I too would be interested in reading “Bargeboards and Bluegrass: Gothic Revival Residences in Central Kentucky.” Unfortunately, the only copies in any library, according to WorldCat, are at the University of Kentucky. That is a bit too much of a drive to go for a book that cannot be checked-out of the library, anyway. It does not seem to have been digitized, yet, either. That’s too bad. Patrick Snadon is a well-known and well-respected architectural historian, so I know I would enjoy “Bargeboards and Bluegrass.” I have his and Michael Fazio’s “The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe,” a monumental book in scope and size (literally, it is almost cinderblock-like). Although we have mutual friends, I have never met Mr. Snadon, nor visited his humble abode, Elmwood Hall.