After writing about Rotherwood last week, I decided to get to work on a mystery house on Paris Road that stands between Rotherwood and Royal Oak subdivision. For years, this old deserted house has been slowly disappearing from view behind a copse of surrounding trees. From what I can tell, the house at one time must have been a mansion on the same order as Rotherwood.
I found the house listed in a survey of historic properties conducted by the Kentucky Heritage Commission. While recognizing its significance, the Commission could not visit and photograph the house because permission could not be obtained from the out-of-state owner. Their brief description classified the house as a “brick Queen Anne style residence.”
My search for the original owner then turned to an examination of historic county maps. The house is not found on the Hewitt map of 1861. However, a house does appear on the Beers and Lanagan map (1877) located on the east side of Paris Road and the north side of Hood’s old road. It was listed as the home of “W. Vanmeter.” As shown on the accompanying map, Hood’s Road once ran just north of Dr. Washington Miller’s Deer Lawn Farm (the present Royal Oak Estates). It appears to be in the same location as the mystery house…