A Greek Revival rarity in Jefferson County, Ky.
ROSEWELL
W
6900 Transylvania Avenue, Prospect, KY
ith its statuesque columns and sweeping staircase,
Rosewell recalls a time when Louisville began to
blossom into a river town. The tranquil 4.5 acres on which
it sits near the Ohio River was part of an 8,000-acre parcel
that Virginia donated to Transylvania Seminary trustees in
the late 1700s to sell to fund the school.
The two-story, hall-parlor house was built in the
1820s, with a limestone addition in 1854, the latter being
the focal point of the home’s 1983 listing on the National
Register of Historic Places. Anita Middleton, who bought
the house with her attorney husband Charles in 1924,
named the house Rosewell for the roses that thrived on
the farm’s well water.
Even with an updated kitchen and master bath,
the home retains historic charm and elegance, with ornate
chandeliers and sconces, a stained-glass window and clawfoot tub. Arched doorways on each end of the grand hall
can be opened to allow a cool breeze to flow through the
stately home.
The modern kitchen and a grand hallway flanked by
other rooms provide the ideal setting for elegant Kentucky
Derby parties. What better place to celebrate the Run for
the Roses than at Rosewell?
Highlights
v More than 7,000
square feet
v 6 bedrooms, 4
bathrooms, 8 fireplaces
v Additional, nonhistoric 1.3 acres of
land included, for a
total of 5.8 acres
It’s all in the charming details at
ROSEWELL
Arched doorways at each end of the hallway allow a
breeze to flow through the home on balmy days. Other
details include a sweeping, winding staircase; a patterned
border on the hardwood floors; and quaint lighting that
evokes the feel of another time.
The smokehouse at Rosewell, right, is thought to have been built in the
1820s, around the same time as the first part of the home. In recent
years, it has been used for storage. Rosewell also boasts eight fireplaces
and six bedrooms. Four columns flank the front porch that opens to the
grand hall.