Beechmont Neighborhood Association

Farnsley - Kaufman House

Restoration underway

Farnsley Kaufman House


Auction nets $8300
Wednesday, November 7, 2001

SOUTH END/SOUTHWEST
Sales net $8,300 for improving old home
Farnsley-Kaufman House will receive auction proceeds
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By Rowena Bolin
Special to The Courier-Journal


An auction held last month by Friends of the Farnsley-Kaufman House surpassed the group's goal of $7,500.

''We estimate that we netted approximately $8,300,'' said Doug Farnsley, chairman of the group's board.

The Oct. 27 event at the FarnsleyMoremen House, 7410 Moorman Road, was the fourth auction that the group has sponsored to help pay for restoration of and repairs to the historic Farnsley-Kaufman House at Cane Run Road and Lees Lane.

The house originally belonged to David Farnsley, whose brother, Gabriel, owned the grander FarnsleyMoremen House. It was built as a log home in 1811 and received a brick addition in 1830. Doug Farnsley is a great-great-great nephew of David Farnsley.

The Farnsley-Kaufman house sits in front of Farnsley Middle School. The Jefferson County Board of Education, the owner of the property, had planned to raze it in 1997 when it built the middle school, but the group organized to save it.

The big item at this year's auction was a dinner for six to be served at the Farnsley-Moremen House. It will be the first dinner to be held in the restored house, Farnsley said. In previous years, the dinner has been held in the Farnsley-Kaufman House, he said.

Jack Medford, president of Medford Property Co. Inc., paid $1,025 for the dinner. It will be prepared by Garrett Sanborn, culinary arts instructor at Western High School. Medford gets to choose when the dinner will be held.

Medford has purchased the dinner at the three previous auctions, as well. ''He's been a very good supporter, a very good friend to our group,'' Farnsley said.

Medford said he supports the group's goals because members ''are trying to preserve a bit of our heritage that is most important.''

A new item in this year's auction was a signed print of a proposed logo for the Friends of the FarnsleyKaufman House. The print is a picture of the house with a tree and grapevine laden with grapes in the foreground. Farnsley said grapes were grown on the property and wine was made there years ago.

In four years the group has raised about $190,000, including grants, for the house's renovation. Work on the home is less than half finished. Farnsley said the group doesn't have an estimate on how much more money is needed.

Contributions can be sent to Friends of the Farnsley-Kaufman House, c/o Douglass Farnsley, 400 W. Market St., Suite 1800, Louisville, Ky. 40202.









Beechmont Neighborhood Association Home Page

Restoration cont'd

Local/Regional » News Item Friday, September 6, 2002

Preservation group to show off restoration of historic home

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By Christopher Hall
Special to The Courier-Journal

The historic Farnsley-Kaufman House at Cane Run Road and Lees Lane will have an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The event, organized by the Friends of the FarnsleyKaufman House, aims to show off the progress the group has made in restoring the early 19th-century home.

''We view this as an opportunity for both the people who have given (to the restoration project) and anyone else in the community to come see what we've been doing,'' said Doug Farnsley, chairman of the group's board and a great-great-great-nephew of the building's original owner.

The house, which sits in front of Farnsley Middle School, was built in two stages -- as a log home in 1811 and with a larger brick addition in 1830. It originally belonged to David Farnsley, whose brother, Gabriel, owned the grander Farnsley-Moremen House.

Most recently, the preservation group headed by Doug Farnsley completed structural work on the log portion of the house. Part of the building had to be lifted off the ground while now-hidden steel reinforcements were added to help maintain its structural integrity. The original clapboard siding on the house was removed, restored and replaced.

Visitors will be able to ask questions of Doug Farnsley and others who have been closely involved with the project, including Dennis Domer, chairman of the master's degree program in historic preservation at the University of Kentucky; Mike Mullinix of Restoration Group Inc., which is restoring the house; and Jay Stottman, an archaeologist with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey who has conducted digs at the house.

Stottman also will conduct an excavation during the open house in which both adults and children can participate.

Parking for the event will be available in the middle school's lot.

The Friends of the Farnsley-Kaufman house was organized in 1997 to save the house when the Jefferson County Public Schools, which owns the property, had plans to raze it. Since its founding, the group has raised about $190,000.

''One of our immediate goals is to make the house more attractive from Cane Run Road,'' Farnsley said, noting that the grounds had become overgrown. Rather than just pulling out the overgrown flora and replanting, the preservation group is working with an expert in historic landscapes to make sure the grounds are attractive and historically accurate.

''We want the house to be a point of pride for the school, the neighbors and the people who drive by on Cane Run Road,'' Farnsley said.


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