Lexington, KY - When Italian immigrant Hannibal Buchignani crossed the street from his North Limestone meat shop in 1909 to check out the hubbub across the way, neither he, his wife nor his six children knew he would return having purchased from an auction what had been touted as the "handsomest doors in Lexington" - not to mention all 6,000 square feet of house beyond those doors.
Buchignani, whose large family had previously been living in an apartment above their market across the street (located in the space that is now Whittington's Books), realized he had made a big purchase. What he probably didn't realize is that it marked the beginnings of what is arguably one of the longest and most layered family histories of any single downtown building. While you might know the structure today as the eclectic home furnishing and gift shop Mulberry & Lime, the building is also home to the store's owner, Mary Ginocchio (Hannibal's great-granddaughter) and her children, who are the fifth generation of the family to inhabit the house. This past December, Ginocchio hosted an open house to celebrate 100 years of family history in the home.
The home is known to historians as the Matthew Kennedy House, a nod to the locally renowned architect who built it as his own residence sometime around 1816. According to historian Clay Lancaster's book "Antebellum Architecture of Kentucky," Kennedy, often noted as "the first architect in Lexington," had been commissioned to design a new main building for Transylvania University, and he incorporated classical-style elements into the home that had been rejected by the university.
The Buchignanis didn't live in the home for long - Hannibal's health was ailing, and in 1912 his doctor recommended the family move out to the country (at the time, the "country" was just south of where Commonwealth Stadium is now located). The family retained ownership of the house, however, and Hannibal's sons continued to operate the Buchignani Market until the 1960s. By that time the Matthew Kennedy House, which had been leased out for a number of different uses over the years, including a rooming house and a Goodwill store, had been vacated and boarded up for a number of years. The neighborhood was in decline. Honing a special value for the historic value of the house, local preservation architect Martin Ginocchio - who just happened to be Hannibal's grandson - stepped up to the task of restoring it as a residence. Martin, the son of Hannibal's daughter Elvira, moved into the home with his wife and four children in 1968, updating the aging home and remaining there until all four children were grown.
Years later, one of those four children, Mary Ginocchio, put another notch in the family's rich history of living and working on the 200 block of North Limestone, opening a retail shop and moving her family into the Matthew Kennedy House in 2001. Reading a 1970 newspaper article (pictured above, behind the clock) written after Mary moved into the house the first time at age 7, a sense of dÈj‡ vu is evident. Mary's daughter, Annie, now sleeps in the bedroom that Mary herself once called her own; Mary occupies her parents' bedroom; her son is in what was once her father's office.
Mary's mother passed away in 2001 and her siblings have all moved from Kentucky, but with historic articles, photos and mementos scattered throughout the shop and residence - including the body of an unusual "bicycle built for three" that Hannibal crafted for his three sons circa 1900 - the legacy of the family history is still very much present and alive. Mary's father, Martin, the city's director of historic preservation, also remains close, living in a historic duplex on Constitution Street (virtually in the backyard of the Kennedy House), also owned by the family. In fact, even the name Mulberry & Lime is a nod to history, as Limestone was once called Mulberry Street.
Mulberry & Lime, located on 216 N. Limestone, is officially participating in February's Gallery Hop, on Friday, Feb. 19, featuring jewelry artist Karen Lindner. The shop will be open from 5 -
8 p.m. Regular store hours are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday. For more information, call (859) 231-0800.