Furniture Design

A number of historic homes in Louisville, Kentucky open their doors to enable students of antique American furniture and interiors to gain an insight into how such objects were used in their original context.

Brennan House

First off is Brennan House at 631 South Fifth Street - Louisville, KY. The Brennan House holds tours daily Tuesday-Friday, 1-4 PM. The Brennan House, built in 1868, is the last standing private home in Louisville’s downtown business district. The three-storey red-brick Italianate-style home is furnished in the American Victorian fashion.

The Brennans accumulated a large collection of antiques as well over 85 years of collecting. The home is filled with mainly nineteenth century (mostly 1860s-1870s) furnishings and art objects.

One highlight of the Brennan collection is the Centennial Bed Set made in “Renaissance Revival” style popular in Victorian times.

The Brennan House is not for those seeking Southern style interiors however as it is entirely done in an old-world, European manner.

Farmington

Farmington House is a large Federal era home made in 1816 based on plans by Thomas Jefferson. The house is made in the typical Federal architecture style with highly proportioned decorative elements all to be seen in the 14 rooms.

Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:30pm and Sunday, 1:30 to 4:30pm.

Locust Grove

Locust Grove is a National Historic Landmark set on 55 acres of the original 694 acre farm established by William and Lucy Clark Croghan in 1790 in Kentucky.

The Locust Grove collection features late 18th and early 19th century furniture, metals, prints, ceramics, paintings, textiles, books, firearms, tools and various domestic objects. Most of the furnishings are of Kentucky and Virginia origin, along with other east U.S., French, and English art objects.

The Locust Grove collection has fine examples of early craftsmanship and is considered to be one of the best on public display in the upper South. Objects in the collection reflect the decorative style and function of the Federal period, the activities of a frontier farm and the skill and craftsmanship found in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:30pm and Sunday, 1:00 to 4:30pm.

Whitehall House and Gardens

Whitehall House, 3110 Lexington Road Louisville, KY, is features period furniture and paintings. In 1909, Whitehall’s seventh owner, Mr. John Middleton, transformed the circa 1855 two-story, eight room house into a 15 room Classical Revival style mansion.