Hunt-Morgan House: History in Lexington

Stepping into the Hunt-Morgan house I was immediately swept back to a time when Lexington was on the frontier and considered the “Athens of the West.” Saved from destruction by the Bluegrass Trust, the house was built by John Wesley Hunt, a prominent businessman who wanted to flaunt his wealth and standing in society. To do this he designed several opulent front rooms, designed for entertaining, and a back portion of the house designed for tradesmen, business acquaintances and children.
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Built in the Federal style, the tour begins in the foyer, highlighted by the Palladian window with original glass intact. While our guide did ask that no one sit on the furniture, nothing in the house is roped off, so tour participants were allowed to “get up close and personal” with the artifacts in the house. I was amused at the examples of wealth the family displayed. Cherry furniture was considered common during this period so they had the furniture overlaid with more expensive wood. The plates in the dining room were in a common design but special ordered in Mrs. Hunt’s favorite colors.
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One of the interesting aspects of this tour was the stories behind the portraits on the walls. The family was ardent Southern sympathizers during the war and one portrait shown was of a melancholy lady. When the portrait painter asked her why she was so sad, she declared she had been accused of spying for the Confederacy and had to escape her home in the middle of the night, leaving all her possessions behind. He offered to paint “whatever meant the most to her” into the portrait. When the portrait was finished, he had painted a small picture of her dog onto her brooch.
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Another interesting portrait was of Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan, the first Kentuckian to win a Nobel Prize. His research on genetics and fruit flies is still in use today. Having found my personal nemesis due to my dislike of genetic fruit fly studies in college, I spent some time glaring at his picture.
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One of the rooms on the second floor is devoted to Alexander T. Hunt, and features extensive Civil War memorabilia. General Hunt was a Southern General with an infamous history. Known as “a horse thief” to his distractors and a great guy to his sympathizers, he was betrayed by a family member who was a secret Union sympathizer. When the Union Army showed up to arrest him, he tried to jump on his horse and escape. Instead, he was shot in the back and paraded around town after his death.
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Our tour ended with a sweet ghost story of Bouvette, a family servant who appeared for many years to sick children living in the house. After the tour we wandered through the small but beautifully maintained gardens attached to the house and then through historic Gratz Park.
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If you go:
Be sure to take a look at the “cottage” next door. It was designed by request for a leading member of Lexington society’s daughter, who was tired of living in a mansion and asked “for a small cottage in town.”
Take a walk down the street and visit the former law office of Henry Clay, one of Lexington’s most famous citizens.
Bring your camera! You are allowed to take pictures in all the rooms.

We received complementary admission to the Hunt-Morgan House, but all opinions are my own. 

25 Comments

  1. Wow what a nice place to visit. I like taking my kiddos to historical sites. It’s great to experience places like this.

  2. This looks amazing. Love the décor. I need to put this on my list.

  3. What a beautiful home. I love visiting places like this, so neat to see how things used to be.

  4. This is such a beautiful Place!!

  5. I love visiting places like this rich with all that history! Very pretty too!

  6. Amber Louise Edwards

    Oh my!! THAT is just gorgeous! Love the history in there!

  7. I guess they showed him what was what with that shot to the back! It’s so interesting they felt cherry wood was “common”.

  8. I love visiting historical sites. The Hunt Morgan house looks like it would be right up my alley.

  9. I love going on historical house tours as well. Just looking at the similarities and differences between how they lived and how we live now fascinates me.

  10. I love going on house tours. My first research paper was about Henry Clay; I’d love to revisit that old interest!

  11. Feels like strolling back
    In time!

  12. I love these historical homes made into museums. It’s so interesting to see how people lived before cell phones and television and all the other gadgets of modern life.

  13. That’s really cool. The historically accurate rooms are great, and the garden is beautiful.

  14. That’s place looks so great! I love historical places like this. They really put you in touch with the past in a personal way.

  15. I love the decor of the house. It is so pretty and different.

  16. This house looks pretty cool! I love the antique decor inside of it because it looks really cool.

  17. Oh I’d love to stay there! It looks gorgeous and like you would wander and always find new stuff!

  18. I love how all the old Civil War era houses have ghost stories connected with them. What a fun tour to see a restored home.

  19. This house is beautiful. I absolutely love the charm of historical homes.

  20. I love touring places like this. The garden area looked beautiful as well.

  21. wow, like stepping into another era – so cool!

  22. Love it! History always charms me like nothing else!

  23. That is so neat! I love the historical charm.

  24. What a neat piece of history to visit.

  25. I love historical houses like this. How awesome that you got a chance to visit.