As you drive River Road east of the Louisville Boat Club and west of the Riviera subdivision, there is a yellow clapboard house with lush landscaping and a white front porch. If you could sit on that porch, you would look across the River Road Scenic Byway to the Ohio River which from the porch seems almost close enough to touch. This is the Addison Lee House; built in 1928 by Addison Lee, the President of the Louisville Gas and Electric Company and a very significant person in the history of aviation in Jefferson County. In 1998, this historic home was slated for demolition. River Fields stopped the demolition and saved the house forever. To learn how this small miracle took place read on…
The real threat of destruction and multi-family housing!
In 1998, the Addison Lee House was for sale. A local developer hoped to purchase it, tear it down, and build five “Savannah Style” condominiums. The condominiums required rezoning since the zoning on the River Road scenic byway only allows single family dwellings. Rezoning, if successful, could then have been cited as a precedent for the construction of other multi-family homes on the scenic byway. The open views of the Ohio River and the riverine open spaces which the public now enjoys would certainly have been compromised and might even have been lost forever. River Fields and many generous supporters saw the threat this posed and saw that it could be averted.
River Fields President and CEO, Meme Runyon, laughs when she recalls the developer’s efforts to persuade her that the condos would mean progress. “He said, ‘The River Fields Board will love it. The five condos will be Savannah Style.’ I responded, ‘Louisville doesn’t need to copy Savannah. We have our own history and beauty. We need to preserve that instead!’”
River Fields set out to find a buyer who would restore the home, not tear it down. And restoration was definitely an issue. The 1997 flood had inundated the entire basement and about twelve feet of the first floor. After several days, the waters resided, leaving the original 1928 floorboards buckled, plaster falling off the walls, and the paint peeling everywhere- inside and out.
River Fields’s Trustees, staff, and supporters knew this home was a link to our community’s history and was an integral part of River Road’s cultural landscape. To save it, River Fields purchased the house with generous funding provided by donors and supporters of our mission. The plan was to end the threat of demolition, hire a preservation consultant to research its history, nominate it for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, protect the house and its landscape forever with a conservation easement. Once that was done, River Fields would sell it at a reasonable price to a buyer who could restore it.
Early in the project, River Fields reached out to David Morgan who at that time was then the State Historic Preservation Officer and the Director of the Kentucky Heritage Council, the state agency responsible for protecting our historic buildings, sites and cultural resources. David has since retired and is now a River Fields Trustee. A four-step preservation plan was agreed upon by these partners and the donors. The property was placed on the market and eventually sold to buyers agreed to support the National Register listing and the conservation easement. They restored the home beautifully with guidance from the Heritage Council staff. The National Register nomination was completed and approved by local, state, and national decision makers. David remembers this project, “The key to any successful project is partnerships, and the Kentucky Heritage Council and River Fields have established one of the most successful partnerships in the state. The Addison Lee house is but one example of how conservation and historic preservation goals have resulted in saving a key cultural landmark in the Ohio river corridor.”
Today, tomorrow and forever
On June 29, 2000, River Fields, the Heritage Council, and the new owners signed a Preservation and Conservation Easement which protects the historic elements of the house and the cultural landscape of the property forever. This easement is held by River Fields and the Heritage Council. The terms of the easement provide that they will preserve and protect hat the property’s scenic resources forever, ensuring that it will remain a permanent fixture on the River Road Scenic Byway. To fulfill this responsibility, staff from River Fields and the Heritage Council visit the Property every year to ensure the easement’s terms and conditions are being followed, working with the landowners to provide feedback, guidance, and approvals for any work that is needed.
The Addison Lee House was saved because River Fields had the courage to step into a real estate transaction and buy an endangered house, and because very generous major donors stepped up to provide the funding to purchase the property, to pay for the expenses of the National Register nomination, and to underwrite the conservation/preservation easement. The Scenic Byway and these historic resources at the site will be protected for all future generations to enjoy thanks to the commitment of River Fields, visionary citizens and donors and our partners at KHC – and because generous supporters like you give us the annual support that sustains us. This combination of advocacy, land conservation, and historic preservation represents a unique conservation success story for River Fields, highlighting the innovative and creative ways we have approached conservation and historic preservation over the last three decades. It also highlights the partnerships we have cultivated, and our commitment to permanent protection for our most cherished resources.1
Who was Addison Lee?
Most of us had never heard of Addison Lee; however, he was very well known in his era as the President of the Louisville Gas and Electric Company and as a pioneer in bringing aviation to Louisville. In recognition of his work, Lee Terminal at Louisville International Airport was named in his honor. A bronze plaque there tells us:
“[Addison Lee] was a guiding spirit in the development of Bowman Field. He was a pioneer in aviation in this community, and as the first chairman of the Airport Authority, served continuously from October 16, 1928, until his death on May 1,1949.”
Interestingly, former River Fields Trustee Jim Welch-who with his wife Mary Anne, was a generous donor to the Addison Lee House project-later became a member of Louisville’s Airport Authority and currently serves as its chairman.
As President of Louisville Gas & Electric and of the air board, Addison Lee was clearly a man who wanted to bring modern conveniences to his community. His home, however, harkened back to a previous era. It was built at the end of the country estate era in Jefferson County and was considered in the National Register nomination a “country place.” In 2000 when the property was listed on the National Register, the home ‘s construction was exactly as it was when it was built seventy-two years before. Except for a subtle approved addition on the back and a small garage, it still is the same for the public which drives by and enjoys it, something that their children, their grandchildren, and generations beyond will be able to enjoy as well.
