Tag: Video

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.”

In U.S. Senate bid, Gray ran on business credentials. His first financial report lays them out

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray won the Democrats’ nomination for U.S. Senate yesterday by campaigning on his experience helping save the family’s Gray Inc. construction company after his father’s death. He’ll now face Republican Sen. Rand Paul in November — a contest he concedes will be tough.

Jim Gray
Gray

“I have no illusions about it being a challenging race,” he told the Lexington Herald-Leader, “but I’ve got the experience and I’ve got the record. That experience is in the private sector, in building a family business.”

In the race to the senate, Gray, 62, joins other well-heeled candidates who’ve run on business bona fides, including Gov. Matt Bevin and White House hopeful Donald Trump. Gray’s first financial disclosure report, filed last month, offers a glimpse at that record.

The April 15 report covers the period extending back to the start of 2015. As with all such reports candidates and office holders must file annually, Gray’s assigns only a range of values for his family’s business, real estate and stock holdings. An individual stock, for example, may be valued at between $15,001 and $50,000 — the value Gray gave to his investment in the biotech giant Amgen. What’s more, it’s a point-in-time view; there’s no way to know the value of any of the assets today, nor whether they’re even still owned.

Still, Gray’s report offers a revealing snapshot of his family’s more big-ticket assets:

  • Gray Inc.: valued between $5 million and $25 million
  • Gray Realty commercial property: $1 million to $5 million
  • Woodford Realty commercial property: $250,000 to $500,000
  • Visual and Antiquity Investments, which consists of contemporary paintings, sculptures, mixed media and rare books: $1 million to $5 million. The report doesn’t say whether this is a private collection or commercial venture

The report also lists stocks and other investment securities, with a combined value between $1.8 million and $4.1 million. The portfolio includes a mix of technology stocks (Apple and Facebook); pharmaceuticals (Bristol-Myers and Merck, in addition to Amgen) and consumer goods (Starbucks and Walt Disney). A partial list:

Gray portfolio medium

Finally, Gray also reported annual wages of $160,000 as mayor, and $125,000 from Gray Inc., where he’s non-executive board chairman.

Related: Watch Gray’s “American Dream” campaign video about saving the family business.

1,000 swans + 55 lbs. of salmon + 1 rocket-powered skateboard = Taco’s newest TV commercial

Now airing, it’s for the much-anticipated return of Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch and Cheesy Double Beef burritos. The Yum division stopped selling the limited-time menu items three years ago. But fans wouldn’t have it, inspiring this LOL ad.

Related: How customers organized the Beefy Crunch Movement to win back the burritos, including a Facebook fan page that drew 40,000 likes and a Change.org petition. Taco Bell finally raised a white flag March 30, returning the $1 spicy Fritos-stuffed burritos to menus three weeks ago. Plus, more videos on Taco Bell’s YouTube page.

Video: UPS foundation chief Martinez demos new blood-delivery drone plan

Foundation President Eduardo Martinez briefed reporters on this morning’s announcement that UPS’ charitable arm will explore drone use to deliver life-saving medicines such as blood and vaccines across the world. The UPS Foundation has awarded an $800,000 grant to support the project’s initial launch in Rwanda (press release).

Le Relais logoWhat Boulevard would choose from the spring menu at one of our favorite restaurants, Le Relais:

  • Escargots de Bourgogne: snails in garlic herb butter. $11
  • House salad: Groganica greens, fresh goat cheese, strawberries, toasted almonds, herbs, sherry vinaigrette (half portion). $5
  • Steak frites: pan-roasted 9 oz. prime New York strip, pommes frites, spinach, bordelaise sauce, bone marrow butter (half portion). $22
  • Café Glacé: house-made coffee ice cream topped with espresso and served with Chantilly cream. $9

From the restaurant:
Situated in the historic airport terminal of Bowman Field, Le Relais offers a fine dining experience like no other in Louisville. You’ll find exquisite French cuisine, prepared with only the finest, freshest ingredients, combined with relaxed, first-class service and an intimate, 1940s art-deco interior reminiscent of the café from the movie “Casablanca.”

Reservations on OpenTable, or call 502-451-9020.

And speaking of Casablanca . . .