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Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate

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Tag: tourist map

Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

November 30, 2019

YOU ARE HERE -> c1900s-1940s During the first half of the 20th century Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate was on the tourist map.  Even as it was still the private home of Henry Clay’s descendants, Ashland was firmly on the “list of noted attractions and shrines advertised so widely to visitors,” as C. Frank Dunn, … More Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

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Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

December 4, 2017

YOU ARE HERE -> c1900s-1940s During the first half of the 20th century, Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate was on the tourist map.  Even as it was still the private home of Henry Clay’s descendants, Ashland was firmly on the “list of noted attractions and shrines advertised so widely to visitors,” as C. Frank Dunn, founder … More Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

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Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

September 19, 2016

YOU ARE HERE -> c1900s-1950s During the first half of the 20th century, Ashland was most definitely on the tourist map.  Even as it was a private home with Henry Clay descendants still in residence, Ashland was on the “list of noted attractions and shrines advertised so widely to visitors,” as C. Frank Dunn, founder … More Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

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Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

November 6, 2014

YOU ARE HERE -> c1900s-1950s During the first half of the 20th century, Ashland was most definitely on the tourist map.  Even as it was a private home with Henry Clay descendants still in residence, Ashland was on the “list of noted attractions and shrines advertised so widely to visitors,” as C. Frank Dunn, founder … More Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

Leave a comment Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

May 1, 2012

YOU ARE HERE -> c1900s-1950s During the first half of the 20th century, Ashland was most definitely on the tourist map.  Even as it was a private home with Henry Clay descendants still in residence, Ashland was on the “list of noted attractions and shrines advertised so widely to visitors,” as C. Frank Dunn, founder … More Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

2 Comments Ashland: A Must-See Tourist Destination

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A bit of context about Ashland's architecture. Henry Clay's original house was built in two stages in the early 1800s: two-story center block first, then the wings. The house developed major structural problems, so after Clay's death, his son James rebuilt the house in the 1850s with the same foundation, footprint, and plan. Clay's grandaughter Anne made some interior changes in the 1880s. But the house you see today is the same shape, size, and almost the same layout as Henry Clay's original. Needless to say, it is a fascinating architectural hybrid. #HenryClay #Ashland #architecture henryclay.org
Henry Clay's house was designed in large part by Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), the British-born architect and civil engineer who established architecture as a profession in the United States. In the coming days we will discuss Latrobe's designs for Ashland. Clay may have met Latrobe as early as 1806-07 (his first U.S. Senate term), but first documented contact was 1811 “when Clay, then Speaker of the House, worked closely with Latrobe to refit the House of Representatives chamber and improve its acoustics...They became close friends and the Clays were frequent guests in Latrobe’s Washington home.” Michael W. Fazio and Patrick A. Snadon, The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006). #HenryClay #Ashland #architecture #BenjaminLatrobe henryclay.org
Most chandeliers and light fixtures in Ashland's interior were added in the 1880s and designed for gas but later wired for electricity (1907). The McDowells, in their focus on the Eastlake style and Aesthetic movement, installed as the focal point of the Entrance Hall this elegant chandelier made of beveled and stained glass. #Ashland #HenryClay #19thcentury #chandelier henryclay.org
Did you know that Ashland was fitted with a servant call bell system? Installed in the late 19th century by Henry Clay's granddaughter, Anne Clay McDowell, silver-plated call bell cranks or levers are found throughout the house. When the lever was moved up and down, one of seven bells in the domestic service wing would ring, summoning a servant to that particular room. #Ashland #HenryClay #McDowells #servantcallbells henryclay.org
Imagine living in a home so famous that thousands of tourists come to your door every year... #Ashland #20thCentury #tourism #Lexington #Kentucky #HenryClay henryclay.org https://historyofahousemuseum.com/2019/11/30/ashland-a-must-see-tourist-destination-5/
Between Ashland's Drawing Room and Dining Room are these fine pocket doors with silver trim. Rarely seen, as this doorway is ordinarily left open, the doors were installed in the mid-1850s by Henry Clay's son James and his wife Susan to separate their two parlors. #Ashland #HenryClay #JamesBClay #SusanJacobClay #pocketdoors Henryclay.org

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