Lexington, KY - After the Kentucky Association Racetrack shuttered in 1933 as a victim of the Great Depression, Lexington found itself without a formal Thoroughbred race course for the first time in over a century, and a group of concerned citizens was immediately put to the task of establishing another venue. Even though this cadre didn't know where the track would be located yet, its unique business model was already in the making, and one of the facility's hallmarks would be to "run a race meet of the highest quality possible," according to Nick Nicholson, the current president and CEO of Keeneland, the racetrack this group eventually founded in 1935.
In all, six locations for the racetrack were vetted before the community leaders pulled their resources to purchase nearly 150 acres of land from renowned Thoroughbred trainer John O. "Jack" Keene at the current location of the Man O' War Boulevard and Versailles Road intersection. Keene already had the beginnings of a racetrack carved into the land, as well as a sundry structure that was part ballroom, traveler's lodge and horse stable (which eventually became what is now the Keeneland Clubhouse).
Adjacent to this property was the Keene farm and the family home, the venerable Keene Place - a lush Georgian mansion built in 1800 by Francis Keen (Jack Keene's ancestor; the 'e' at the end of the name made various cameos through the family's lineage). Through the years, the home endured many metamorphoses from its original two-storey brick structure, but it remained in the Keene family for nearly 150 years until it was sold in 1948.
When Keeneland first began to hold races in 1936, the facility quickly established itself as the bastion of equine culture, in the Bluegrass area and internationally, and its landholdings slowly began to enclose the parcel of land holding the Keene Place. Toward the end of 2003, Keeneland was presented with the opportunity to purchase the remaining 15 acres of land, including the historic home, and place the properties under its esteemed stewardship. (A small cemetery behind the house is still retained by the Keene family.)
True to the original charter for the racetrack in 1935, Nicholson felt Keeneland had the obligation to honor this home with a restoration "of the highest quality possible" that would preserve its timeless history while preparing the structure for modern usage.
But before any physical work commenced, Keeneland partnered with the University of Kentucky's Center for Historic Architecture and Preservation to conduct a meticulous chronicle of the mansion, construction process, land and Keene family. Even the diverse flora surround the house was scrupulously documented. Six massive volumes sit in the living room ready to answer any question a visitor may have regarding the Keene Place, past or present.
Nicholson consults this tome often while fielding questions about the home, and he gets giddy talking about all of its quirks - like an off-center window on the faÁade. Architecturally, it's very distressing. "For weeks it drove us crazy, because we couldn't figure it out," he said. One day the crew realized there was once a staircase situated just behind this window, and in the early 1800s, before electricity helped people get around their home, natural light was very important. "It wasn't set up to be symmetrical from the outside, it was set up to be functional on the inside."
Directly beneath the askew window is another oddity, at least in modern times - dual front doors. While the mansion was a residence, it was also an agrarian center, and each portico had a very specific purpose. The one on the right likely led to a room that served as an office and living room that could handle dirty boots and the other bells and whistles of farm life. The left door would be used as a proper entrance for entertaining socialites, dignitaries and other notables at social functions, which likely led to a formal parlor area.
In May of 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette, the celebrated French commander and military comrade of General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, on a tour of the young country he had helped liberate from England, visited Fayette County. The auspicious occasion was the first and only time the county's namesake visited. Lafayette stayed overnight at the Keene Place, and he, assuredly, used the left door while entering the premises.
Amusingly, Lafayette was supposed to stay the night with Colonel Abraham Bowman, Lafayette's "aide-de-camp" during the war, who had a stately home on what is now Bowman Mill Road. Due to inclement weather and shoddy road conditions, Col. Bowman's daughter, Mary Bowman, the wife of John Keene who lived in the Keene Place, learned that she was going to be entertaining Lafayette, who "up to that time, undoubtedly, was the most important visitor Lexington had ever had," Nicholson said. Mary's portrait still hangs in one of the home's parlors.
"Every time I look at that portrait, I can imagine her running around like a nervous wreck in the hours before Lafayette shows up getting everything ready," Nicholson said.
After the methodical narrative of the home's condition was complete, the renovation and preservation work began - nearly six year's worth of effort. Nicholson enlisted the assistance of Jim Thomas, the past president of Shaker Village (and "recently retired," Nicholson notes) as a historic preservation consultant, and Phase IV Contractors handled much of the labor.
Throughout the interior, assorted relics from Keeneland's vast archive accentuate all the shelves and tabletops of replica and original period pieces. Each room was given its own color motif, and William Hodgens, Keeneland's interior advisor, developed original carpets for the flooring and drapes for each window.
Though the Keene Place is a centuries-old home, its renovation, which was completed in 2009, also included many modern-day fixtures, including a large commercial kitchen for catering, and environmentally savvy features, such as energy-efficient window coverings, which don't obscure some of the original windows, and geothermal heating.
"Many of these old homes have many fine attributes, but concern for the environment isn't one of them," Nicholson said. "From an environmental standpoint, the house is a very modern house."
Keeneland now offers the Keene Place to the public as a conference or special event venue. The impressive structure is an appropriate accompaniment to the other Keeneland holdings, such as the Keene Barn, the Keeneland Library, and, of course, the immaculate racetrack.
While the home's historic significance may indicate the greatest importance to the Lexington and Thoroughbred community, conversely Nicholson says the household is also a testament to the artistry of modern craftsmanship.
"To me, one of the most important things about this house is that it's a living example that modern craftsmen in central Kentucky are still as exceptional as they ever were," Nicholson said. "People that say modern workmanship is not as good as historical, you tell them to come here."