Boxhill (Louisville)

Last updated
Winkworth
Winkworth, Boxhill, in Louisville.jpg
Front, seen through the fence
USA Kentucky location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location3200 Boxhill Lane, Louisville, Kentucky or Glenview, Kentucky
Coordinates 38°18′5″N85°39′28″W / 38.30139°N 85.65778°W / 38.30139; -85.65778
Built1906 - 1910 [1]
ArchitectJoseph E. Chandler, Stratton Hammon (1956 addition)
Architectural style Georgian Revival
MPS Jefferson County MRA
NRHP reference No. 83002752 [2]
Added to NRHPAugust 16, 1983

Boxhill, also called Winkworth, is a Georgian Revival house in Glenview, Kentucky, a small city east of Louisville, Kentucky. It was built in 1906 or 1910 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1] [2]

Contents

As with other nearby mansions such as Lincliff, Boxhill reflects a period of Louisville history around the turn of the 20th century where wealthy Louisvillians built showcase homes along the Ohio River above Downtown Louisville. The 29 remaining mansions constitute the largest such collection along the 981-mile long river, and are among the best-preserved collections of turn-of-the-century estates in the United States. [3]

History

William E. Chess, president of the Chess and Wymond Cooperage Company, built Boxhill on a 75-acre (30 ha) tract on the Ohio River that he bought in 1906. The house, located on a bluff above the river, was completed by 1910. The Georgian revival house is reputed to have been designed by Boston architect Joseph E. Chandler. The landscaping, including elaborate gardens and a long tree-lined mall leading from the road to the house, is thought to have been planned by Bryant Fleming, a landscape architect from Buffalo, New York. [1]

Chess' daughter, Mary Grace Chess Robinson, took over the property in 1917. She and her husband, Avery Robinson, vice-president of a cordage mill, lived on the estate until 1923, when they sold it to Henning Chambers, a brokerage firm executive. [1] Portions of the original estate were sold off during the 1950s. In 1956 sidelights and a cast-iron balcony were added to the house's entry and a second story was added to a wing. [1]

In the early 1970s Robert and Shirley Alexander from Chicago bought the property. In 1977 they were murdered in Boxhill by their stepson. He was diagnosed a schizophrenic and found incompetent to stand trial for the murder. As the mansion had been the site of a grisly double homicide, the bank which came to own it found no buyers despite offering it for sale for over three years. In 1980, Helen Combs, a veteran contractor who had restored dozens of older mansions in Louisville, purchased it for $355,000. She described the restoration process as unique, even for her, saying "The windows were out, plastic was over them, there was no furniture.... We got to this one room and opened the door, and saw big red cabbage roses on the walls, red carpet, red bedspreads and red lamps that glowed." [4]

Combs intended to live in the house but her husband, former Kentucky governor Bert T. Combs, balked at the idea, referring to it as the "murder house". She sold the house in 1982. [4]

The property was scheduled to be auctioned in September 2023 by Sotheby's International Realty. Proceeds were to benefit Bellarmine University, to whom the property was gifted by its former owners, Dr. Allan and Donna Lansing. [5]


See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenview, Kentucky</span> City in Kentucky, United States

Glenview is a 6th-class city along the southern bank of the Ohio River in northeastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States The population was 531 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Louisville</span> United States historic place

Old Louisville is a historic district and neighborhood in central Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the third largest such district in the United States, and the largest preservation district featuring almost entirely Victorian architecture. It is also unique in that a majority of its structures are made of brick, and the neighborhood contains the highest concentration of residential homes with stained glass windows in the U.S. Many of the buildings are in the Victorian-era styles of Romanesque, Queen Anne, Italianate, among others; and many blocks have had few or no buildings razed. There are also several 20th-century buildings from 15 to 20 stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Kentucky

The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transit Authority of River City</span> Transportation provider in Kentucky, United States

The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) is the major public transportation provider for Louisville, Kentucky and parts of southern Indiana, including the suburbs of Clark County and Floyd County. TARC is publicly funded and absorbed private mass-transit companies in Louisville, the largest of which was the Louisville Transit Company. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 5,755,800.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cave Hill Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cave Hill Cemetery is a 296-acre (1.20 km2) Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of burials in Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnycastle, Louisville</span> Neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky

Bonnycastle is a neighborhood four miles (6 km) southeast of downtown Louisville, Kentucky USA. It is considered a part of a larger area of Louisville called The Highlands. Its boundaries are Bardstown Road, Cherokee Road, Eastern Parkway and Speed Avenue.

The Point was a thriving 19th century neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, east of Downtown Louisville and opposite Towhead Island along the Ohio River. It was also located north of the present day Butchertown area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside, The Farnsley–Moremen Landing</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

Riverside, The Farnsley–Moremen Landing is a historic 300-acre (120 ha) farm and house in south end Louisville, Kentucky, along the banks of the Ohio River. The house is a red brick I-house with a two-story Greek Revival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Marine Hospital (Louisville, Kentucky)</span> United States historic place

The United States Marine Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, in the Portland neighborhood was built in 1845, and is considered by the National Park Service to be the best remaining antebellum hospital in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuster Building</span> United States historic place

The Schuster Building is a mixed-use structure at the intersection of Bardstown Road and Eastern Parkway in the Highlands area of Louisville, Kentucky. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as a "significant example" of Colonial Revival architecture as applied to commercial buildings, the Schuster building is one of Louisville's most prominent examples of that style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berry Mansion</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

The Berry Mansion was built in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1900 by George Franklin Berry. It is located on a hill just west of downtown that overlooks the state capitol building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shropshire House (Scott County, Kentucky)</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

The Shropshire House is a Greek Revival Federal style house located in the East Main Street Residential Historic District in Georgetown, Kentucky. The house was the built in 1814 by John and Mary (Gano) Buckner. The property was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 2, 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peterson–Dumesnil House</span> United States historic place

The Peterson–Dumesnil House is a Victorian-Italianate house in the Crescent Hill neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Of the remaining large country estates built by Louisvillians in the late 19th century to the east of the city, it is the closest to Downtown Louisville, and primarily for that reason, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincliff</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

Lincliff is a Georgian Revival house in Glenview near Louisville, Kentucky, United States, built in the early 1910s by William Richardson Belknap.

Winkworth may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert S. Brandeis Elementary School</span> United States historic place

Albert S. Brandeis Elementary School is a former elementary school in Louisville, Kentucky that began operation in 1913. It is listed as a historic building with the National Register of Historic Places. It was patterned after the Charlton House in England. It was designed by J. Earl Henry, the renowned early 20th century Louisville architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haphazard (Owensboro, Kentucky)</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

Haphazard is a historic house located on Pleasant Valley Road in Owensboro, Kentucky. The house overlooks the Ohio River, and its name is probably derived from the river's eddies. The property which Haphazard was built on was originally owned by George Mason, a signatory to the U.S. Constitution, who was given the land in a grant surveyed in 1787. Mason's grandson Richard sold the property to Robert Triplett in 1822, by which point the log house forming the central portion of the home had been built. Triplett likely added the house's side wings, northern gable, and Federal style interior. Triplett accomplished many local firsts, as he was Owensboro's first large real estate dealer; Daviess County's first soil conservationist, barge operator, and author; the first distiller on the Ohio River in the county; and the builder of Kentucky's first railroad. In 1843, A. B. Barret purchased the house from Triplett; Barret then sold the house to William Bell the following year. Bell, the president of a local bank, likely added the house's Greek Revival portico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humphrey-McMeekin House</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

Humphrey-McMeekin House is considered one of the finest Colonial Revival houses in Louisville, Kentucky. It was designed and built in 1914–1915 as their private residence by newspaper editor Lewis Craig Humphrey (1875–1927) and his wife Eleanor Silliman Belknap Humphrey (1876–1964), both Louisville natives. The mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Brown House</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

The Theodore Brown House is a historic building in St. Matthews, Kentucky, a part of the Louisville metropolitan area.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mary Jean Kinsman, Jeff. Co. Office of Hist. Pres. and Archives (1983). "Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, Site No. Jf-533: Winkworth" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying three photos, exterior and interior, undated  (32 KB)
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  3. Walfoort, Nina (1999-02-01). "Estate district pursues historic designation". The Courier-Journal . pp. 1A.
  4. 1 2 Walfoort, Nina (1999-03-01). "Woman saves stately homes". The Courier-Journal . pp. 1A.
  5. "Louisville's Boxhill Estate is up for auction. Here's what to know and how to bid". The Courier-Journal.