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The former home of General John Hunt Morgan, on Second and Mill
Streets, in Lexington, Kentucky, is typical of an architectural style
which characterized houses built in the Bluegrass region for half a
century before the Civil War. It was restored to its original lines, .
with one exception, and redecorated throughout the interior in 1930. l
The old place has been converted into a museum by its present owner and l
the antique furnishings used by the Morgan family are now on exhibit. i
In effecting restoration of this Colonial Georgian house, formerly known
as Hopemont, a front veranda which had been added, has been torn away. ,
Venetian blinds used by the Morgans were brought out of the stable attic ’
and set in place at the large, deep—set windows. `
The front doorway has fan—lights, one above the other in even
lines. A pillared veranda on the south side, flanking a paved courtway, l
is also a work of architectural grace. The massive chandeliers, heavy
doors and circular stairway are intact. High—ceilinged rooms are features
of the first two floors of the twelve room structure. A third floor attic
extends the entire length and breadth of the house. A bay window near
the southwest corner of the first floor occupies the space formerly used as
an entrance to General Morgan's office and this is believed to be the only ~
change in architectural design which has been made in the restoration work.
There is an iron fence in front of the house and a high brick wall extends -
along the south side of the property. “
Hopemont was built in l8ll by John Wesley Hunt. It was designed
by the noted architect, Benjamin Lathrobe. The foundation of native
limestone is well fashioned and laid in mortar. Full—size, red brick,
burned on the estate, were used in the construction of the walls and of T 4
the chimneys, which appear above the roof. Sheet metal was used in con-
structing the roof. The lumber used in the interior was of native timber, {
chiefly ash and oak. Hardwood was used in the flooring. The wide, double
doorway of carved woodwork has finely leaded casements at either side and Z
the inside of these doors and of the shutters, reeded and paneled, forms j
a design of triple crosses. There is a great spiral stairway without · y
- apparent support, the steps of ash swinging upward from the first to the !
third floor. A cherry handrail completes a balustrade of delicate, white K E
spindles. wide, double doors open between one of the two spacious drawing 5
rooms and the dining room. A long living room with a cavernous fireplace
at the far end is entered from the other drawing room. There are five g
bedrooms and a sleeping porch on the second floor. The rambling slave
quarters in the rear of the place are still standing.
John Hunt Morgan, probably the greatest partisan ranger of all
American wars, was born June l, l825, at Huntsville, Alabama. He was the `
son of Calvin Morgan and was brought to Kentucky when four years old, his
family locating on a farm near Lexington. His first war experience was
as a member of a Kentucky cavalry regiment, during the Mexican war; his .
first battle, that of Buena Vista, in 1840. Ten years later he was made
» captain of a volunteer infantry company, the Lexington Rifles, and on
September 29, l86l, he linked his fortunes with the South, in the War