News & Updates
The Kirkpatrick & Co Blog
Historic Homes
Paint the Town Chinese Vermillion! Vibrant Historic Paint Colors in Lexington
The Colorful Bluegrass
We’ve always known Lexington, Kentucky is a colorful place to live. We were surprised to find how literally true that was all along. From the earliest days in the “Athens of the West,” residents were enlivening their walls with punchy colors of paint.
Chinese Vermillion. Prussian Blue. Patent Yellow. [...]
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March 7, 2024
Thomas Lewinski | Bluegrass Architects to Know
When Thomas Lewinski arrived in Lexington in 1842, he was among the first professional architects in the region that included Gideon Shryock & John McMurtry. Born in London to a Polish father and English mother, Lewinski had pursued the priesthood before finding he was more suited to military life. The [...]
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February 26, 2024
Meet Alfred Cohen, Famed Bluegrass Muralist
Above, a young Martha Stewart trying her hand at painting a mural at her historic Turkey Hill farm
When marketing a historic home, we are always interested in a home’s decorative details. We document all the unique features as we help our clients seek a new steward. One detail we [...]
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February 18, 2024
Premium $1M+ Home Sales in Lexington, KY 2023
While the United States luxury real estate market at large floundered in 2023, Lexington, Kentucky’s premium market did not. 90 residential properties over $1M closed in Fayette County in 2023. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 43% of these transactions were cash, making them less effected by current interest rate conditions.
Also remarkable? 56% sold [...]
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January 4, 2024
Robert McMeekin | Bluegrass Architects to Know
Born on his family’s farm near Armstrong Mill, Robert Ward McMeekin’s forebears had received a land grant from the Virginia Commonwealth before Kentucky’s establishment in 1792. His pride in his homeland is imbued in his work. “I’ve always been preoccupied with the beauty and gracious lifestyle” of the Bluegrass, McMeekin [...]
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December 7, 2023
Vertner Woodson Tandy | Bluegrass Architects to Know
Vertner Woodson Tandy 1887-1949
Perhaps the most famous Black architect hailing from Kentucky never practiced here, yet his family’s legacy bears a lasting mark on Lexington. Vertner Woodson Tandy was born in Lexington to Henry and Emma Tandy in 1887.
Henry Tandy, formerly enslaved in Estill County, was a skillful mason who [...]
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October 31, 2023
Frankel & Curtis | Bluegrass Architects to Know
Some of Lexington, Kentucky’s most beloved streets are dotted with homes by the renowned architects of Frankel & Curtis.
The Firm
Frankel & Curtis was formed before 1920 by Leon K. Frankel and John J. Curtis, two trained architect/engineers. Frankel had been a professor, teaching engineering at the University of Kentucky [...]
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October 4, 2023
Hugh Meriwether | Bluegrass Architects to Know
Hugh M. “Bud” Meriwether 1899-1979
Above, a Nicholasville home designed by Meriwether
Active from the 1930’s to the 1970’s, architect Hugh Meriwether’s residential portfolio includes historic “revival” homes for modern living across across Lexington & Central Kentucky. While his work spans a variety of architectural styles, Meriwether is well-known for his residential [...]
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September 2, 2023
Can you tear down a home on the National Register? Should you?
We’re historic home experts, and we often encounter a great deal of misinformation and even apprehension regarding preservation. Our brokerage helps clients navigate the process of buying or selling heritage properties with sensitivity. It is our aim to provide clarity and encouragement through keen expertise. Here, we’d like to share [...]
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August 28, 2023
What’s behind those columns?
Discover the hidden past of many Bluegrass Greek Revival homes
Kentucky is famed for its genteel horse farms boasting white-columned Greek Revival estates. Visitors are often surprised to discover many of these “Greek Revival” manses date from much earlier than that period (c.1830-60) in Kentucky.
As now, homeowners were eager to demonstrate [...]
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July 11, 2023