Louisville Magazine

MAY 2012

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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Crescent Hill Waterworks, 3006 Frankfort Ave. "Most Louisvillians are familiar with the Water Tower and Pumping Station No. 1, which is a National Historic Landmark. But it occurs to me that this whole Crescent Hill complex should be one, recognizing that the Water Company and its engineers pioneered a lot of the water-quality standards in this country. Te Water Tower, we all know, is a classical column, a Doric column, decorated with various gods and goddesses, except for the American Indian. For this building, completed in 1879, chief engineer Charles Hermany chose the more romantic Gothic style — very reminiscent of a small church. Te rest of the buildings on the whole industrial campus are sort of Renaissance Revival structures. We returned from a trip to Italy a couple of months ago and this reminds me of the area around the cathedral in Pisa, where you also have manicured lawns and great classical masonry buildings emerging in the landscape. Every detail, including the cast- iron railing that surrounds the reservoir, is just beautiful, and the workmanship of the stone is second to none." Locust Grove, 561 Blankenbaker Lane "Tis is the circa-1790 work of Major William Croghan, who crossed the Delaware River with George Washington and knew many of the Founding Fathers. It's the seat of his plantation, one of the finest examples of early Georgian architecture in the state. Both the north and south facades are laid in the Flemish Bond brick pattern (alternate bricks laid perpendicular to each other to create a double thickness), which was and is very expensive to lay. Down near the foundation, that's called a raised water table. It helps deflect rainfall water off the house, but it also shows the extra width of the foundation wall. Also notice the belt course — the strip of brick between the first- and second-floor windows — that marks where the floor joists are pocketed in. Locust Grove is another of the great preservation success stories in our community — purchased by the state and county in the 1960s and restored. Walter Macomber, who was the architect of Colonial Williamsburg, was hired to direct the restoration, and (local historian) Sam Tomas and his brother Jim were the on-site caretakers. And now, as a result of financial support from an anonymous donor, the home's interior has been totally reinterpreted." [64] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.12

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