Tag: Owsley Brown Frazier

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Bevin appoints Brown-Forman, Glenview Trust, other big-money heavy-hitters to new UofL board; Schnatter and Frazier raise profiles

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 10:42 p.m.

Matt Bevin
Bevin

Tightening his grip on the University of Louisville, Gov. Matt Bevin today added 10 more members to his reconfigured board of trustees, appointing a slew of business heavy hitters, including at least one with long family ties to the board.

Among them: Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter; Glenview Trust Co. founder and chairman David Grissom, who’s also a retired Humana executive; and Brown-Forman heiress Sandra Frazier.

Schnatter is a major UofL booster, donating millions for naming rights to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. He and conservative industrialist Charles Koch donated $6.3 million to the school in March 2015 to establish an on-campus center to study the virtues of free enterprise; responding to criticism, the university said the money wouldn’t curtail academic freedom.

Sandra Frazier
Frazier

Frazier, who is now cycling off the Brown-Forman board of directors, also is a director of Glenview Trust, a boutique investment firm that serves more than 500 of the area’s wealthiest families. Her late father, Harry Frazier, is a former UofL vice chairman, and her uncle, the late Owsley Brown Frazier, was once chairman.

Two other Bevin appointees are private equity and venture capitalists, according to The Courier-Journal: Dale Boden, now a partner with Weller Equity; and Douglas Cobb, who co-founded Chrysalis Ventures with David A. Jones Jr., a Humana director. Jones’ father, David Sr., co-founded Humana and is also a Glenview Trust director. The 10-member Glenview board comprises some of Louisville’s  biggest power brokers.

Here’s Bevin’s order, with the full list of appointees and their terms.

Bevin’s announcement today follows his surprise June 17 dismissal of the previous 20-seat board, which he called “dysfunctional” in its oversight of the university and President James Ramsey. He replaced them with an interim three-member board, which he filled out with today’s appointments. The school has been roiled with controversy over Ramsey’s seven-figure compensation; a sex scandal involving the marquee men’s basketball program, plus other administrative missteps. Ramsey offered to resign when Bevin dissolved the board, but a final decision on his future was deferred to the next board.

In other news: Continue reading “Bevin appoints Brown-Forman, Glenview Trust, other big-money heavy-hitters to new UofL board; Schnatter and Frazier raise profiles” →

Real Estate

We will sell this house today! Owsley Brown Frazier’s $4.9M ‘mansion that whisky built’

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.

Owsley Brown Frazier
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.”