walkLEX: Maria Dudley Carriage House

The Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour to a local historic site that has been well-preserved and restored - the group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Details are always available on the Kaintuckeean Calendar and on Facebook! In September 2011, the deTour group visited three carriage houses; this is the second installment with the first having been the Hunt-Morgan House Carriage House. More pictures from this deTour are available on flickr.

Maria Dudley Carriage House - Lexington, Ky.

Built contemporaneously with the Maria Dudley House in 1879, the carriage house at 215 North Mill Street has been and continues to be beautifully converted into a usable garage and cottage. A stable stall door in the rear of the garage hearkens back to the structure's prior use, though the carriage house now ably stores vehicles and its upper floor is being remodeled into a very usable living space or possibly an apartment.

The first floor has ample parking room, a wonderful gardener's prep area, a storage area and a powder room, while the upstairs remains a wholly unfinished 1,044 square feet.  Architecturally, however, the carriage house could not be more different than the Victorian Eclectic main house with its octagonal tower that uniquely stands among the beautiful houses in Gratz Park.