21c Museum Hotel founders Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown won the top state award for historic preservation in Kentucky, given annually by the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation and the Kentucky Heritage Council. They were honored for starting their Louisville-based boutique hotel chain in rehabilitated, historic commercial buildings here and elsewhere and for garnering “national and international attention for their innovation and hospitality,” a council spokesman told The Courier-Journal.
Founded in 2006, 21c now has locations in Louisville on West Main Street, and in five other cities: Bentonville, Ark.; Cincinnati; Durham, N.C.; Lexington, and Oklahoma City. Watch Wilson and Brown talk about 21c:
An occasional look at premium homes on the market.
The marketing campaign for the philanthropist’s country manor, “The Avish,” steps up tonight, when Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty hosts a private cocktail party and showing for clients, brokers and agents. Owsley Brown Frazier, an heir to the Brown-Forman distillery fortune, died four years ago at 77. The seller is his daughter, Laura L. Frazier; its assessed value is $4.8 million, according to Jefferson County tax records. The Avish is at 5224 Avish Lane in Harrods Creek, the wealthy enclave in northeast Louisville.
The asking price is $4.9 million, down from $5.3 million in December, when the listing was pulled after a pending sale from March 2015 fell though, according to Zillow. When it originally hit the market in 2012 after Brown’s death, Curbed put the list at $6 million. Later that year, Zillow says, it sold for $4.8 million, presumably to Laura.
Frazier
The Avish translates to “Rocky Hill” in Gaelic, and is named for the Brown family’s ancestral home in Ireland, according to The Voice-Tribune. It was built in 1910 by Brown’s grandfather, Owsley Brown, according to Curbed, which called it the “mansion that whiskey built.”
Here’s Lenihan’s description: This impressive estate is on The National Register of Historic Places and sits on 10 acres overlooking the Ohio River. With nearly 18,000 finished square feet, there are two master suites, four additional bedrooms, nine full baths and two half-baths. The grand foyer is flanked by a reception room, dining hall and a formal parlor with adjoining conservatory. The first floor is also comprised of the catering and main kitchens and the owners office suite. You may access the private living quarters on the second floor by one of three stair cases, service or passenger elevator. The third floor features a private suite that’s perfect suite for an in-law, an au pair or nanny. The grounds feature a gorgeous arbor, stunning formal garden with garden house and attached greenhouses, walkways, barn and guest/managers quarters with two bedrooms and bathrooms. The lower level is where you’ll find the indoor pool and solarium, private his-hers bathrooms with dressing areas, entertainment areas, laundry facilities, office and garages.
Related:Brown’s last will and testament. Plus, Boulevard is reminded of this scene starring Annette Bening from 1999’s “American Beauty.”
Features include a true chef’s kitchen supplies double dishwashers, an immense marble-topped island, stainless steel appliances, Viking gas range and a food pantry hidden by a hand-carved antique wood door. A breakfast nook looks into a cozy screened-in porch.
Julian Fellowes has just published a new book — Belgravia — which like Old Louisville’s Belgravia Court, is named for one of London’s most posh neighborhoods. Belgravia will be a serialized historical drama published as an app; it opens on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo at a ball thrown by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels, according to Town & Country.
In Louisville, Belgravia Court property seldom hits the market. But at least one — 419 Belgravia — is now listed for $395,000, according to the Realtors association.
Photo, top: Belgravia Court’s famous Pink Palace. Map, below: how to get there.
An occasional look at premium homes on the market.
The address: 240 S. Peterson Ave., 40206. Asking price: $1,175,000. Agency: Kentucky Select Properties. Details:
A significant 2004 renovation, designed by Tim Winters and executed by builder Fred Bennett, completely transformed this property originally built in 1900 and provides all the amenities of a newer home in one of Louisville’s most sought-after, historic and urban neighborhoods.
An occasional look at premium homes on the market.
The address: 4006 Glenview Ave., 40222. Asking price: $1,995,000. Listing agency: Gant Hill & Associates. Details:
One of the most distinctive properties in Louisville, offering modern amenities with timeless elegance and design. Located in prestigious and bucolic Glenview, this majestic estate has more than 11,000 square-feet of iving area on more than five acres (listed on the National Registry of historical properties). The European-inspired porte-cochère flanked by limestone columns, hand-painted chinoiserie-inspired wall paper, and imported Scottish fireplace columns are among the many unique features. In the photo, above, the dining room has hand-painted murals by Italian artists. Susan Maloney of Maloney and Smith, the original interior designer, traveled the world searching unique items for the home, including crystal chandeliers in almost every room and coordinating the installation of seven fireplaces.
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