RIDGEWAY’S STORY

Ridgeway is a Palladian villa with a center block, two wings, and two connecting “hyphens,” with end pavilions under hipped roofs. Ridgeway is often compared to Homewood, built in 1802 in Baltimore, and only one other house in Kentucky has this form—the 1810 Morton House in Lexington. The floor is level throughout the house, while the ceilings step down from 14 feet in the center block to 12 feet in the wings and 9 feet 3 inches in the hyphens. This preserves the stepped rooflines outside without introducing steps inside.

The recessed front portico has four Doric columns and a double door measuring 5 feet 2 inches wide, framed by sidelights and a large elliptical fanlight. The steps are cut Kentucky River limestone. A decorative swirl on the bottom step is also found at Adena and the Morton House and was a sign of wealth at the time.

The twelve-over-twelve double-hung windows have the largest panes of their era in Kentucky: 13 × 20 inches in 8-foot openings. Most of the glass is original and was shipped downriver from Pittsburgh. The original panes can be recognized by their color and small imperfections.

Eight carved cherry mantels were painstakingly stripped and refinished by the Birkheads. They show elegance and craftsmanship, with details similar to the mantels at Farmington. The interior of the fireplaces themselves is made of dark gray marble quarried in Lexington.

Five interior elliptical fanlights grace the doorways. At the front entrance, the large elliptical fanlight above the double door is trimmed with tiny inlaid metal flowers and stars.

White ash floorboards, some more than 14 feet long, remain unfinished as originally laid.

Handmade black box locks, each slightly different in size, secure all the interior and exterior doors. All the original skeleton keys remain with the house. The front-door lock measures 11 × 6 inches.

Two “window doors” open from the living and dining rooms onto the back porch, connecting the formal rooms with the outdoor gathering space. These doors were exceedingly rare for the time and speak to a home for entertaining.

An 8-foot arched double doorway joins the living and dining rooms. The circular path between the entry hall, dining room, and living room was innovative and provides lovely flow for guests.

The “cube room” measures 14 × 14 × 14 feet, with equal width, length, and height.

The solid exterior brick walls are 12 inches thick, with Flemish bond on the front and back. The mortar joints are finished with a painted “grapevine” line. The lowest 30 inches of the front are stucco scored to look like stone.

A cock pit in Ridgeway’s basement was once used for rooster fighting. The room retains its original dirt floor and the bench where spectators sat to watch, preserving a glimpse of a pastime from the house’s earlier history.

The original two-room brick kitchen house survives, joined to the main house by a covered “dogtrot.” Its twin beehive bake ovens are believed to be the only ones in Kentucky.

The farm grew hemp, tobacco, wheat, and corn on more than 400 acres, with an apple orchard. The historic farm stretched across land now bounded by Brownsboro Road to the north, Westport Road to the south, Hubbards Lane to the east and Chenoweth Lane to the west. Today, Ridgeway sits in the heart of St. Matthews and central Louisville, yet still tucked away in a secluded setting. Ridgeway Avenue follows the original carriage avenue.

Behind the house stands one of Ridgeway’s most remarkable living treasures: an American hornbeam of truly extraordinary size. Known as “musclewood” for its smooth, sinewy gray bark that ripples like flexed muscle, the American hornbeam is usually a modest understory tree. This one rises roughly 60 feet, with a trunk measuring about 8 feet around, and a sweeping canopy spanning some 60 feet across. For generations it has offered shade, shelter and quiet grandeur to all who gather beneath it, and today its broad, graceful branches frame some of the most beautiful moments at Ridgeway.