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Tucked away unassumingly on Madison Place, Botherum is one of downtown Lexington’s most unique and celebrated historic homes. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Tucked away unassumingly on Madison Place, Botherum is one of downtown Lexington’s most unique and celebrated historic homes. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Tucked away unassumingly on Madison Place, Botherum is one of downtown Lexington’s most unique and celebrated historic homes. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Tucked away unassumingly on Madison Place, Botherum is one of downtown Lexington’s most unique and celebrated historic homes. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Tucked away unassumingly on Madison Place, Botherum is one of downtown Lexington’s most unique and celebrated historic homes. Photo by Caroline Allison
In the heart of downtown Lexington’s historic Woodward Heights neighborhood stands an 1851 mansion that has been restored by Kentucky’s most celebrated landscape designer, Jon Carloftis, and his longtime partner, Dale Fisher. Constructed from Kentucky limestone and situated on almost an acre, Botherum is downtown’s largest residential property – but tucked away in such a manner that many aren’t even aware it’s there.
Designed by prolific 19th-century Kentucky architect John McMurtry (1812-1890), the house was commissioned by Kentucky attorney general Madison Conyers Johnson, a confidant of Abraham Lincoln – in part, as a shrine to Johnson’s late wife, Sally Ann, who was sister to Cassius Marcellus Clay and who died in childbirth in 1828. Johnson’s heirs later sold the estate to J.C. Woodward, who sold most of the original 36 acres as individual lots.
Historic property is not uncommon in Lexington, and beautifully restored homes aren’t in short supply either, but rarely does one possess as much character as Botherum. Carloftis has mastered the art of updating the home for modern-day living and entertaining, all while respecting its many antique details. From the traditional English gardens to the garage-turned-pool house, Botherum is truly an updated Southern mansion designed for the ultimate garden party.
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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Carloftis drew inspiration from photos of Botherum’s original, 1850s English gardens while designing the home’s outdoor lving spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
Gardens
After purchasing the property in 2012, Carloftis and Fisher initiated a million-dollar renovation that included both interior and exterior work. Botherum had fallen into disrepair over the years, with the only recent residents being a family of raccoons that lived in the basement. More than 70 trees were removed from the property to make way for the current gardens, but the large ginkgo tree that is said to have been a gift to Johnson from Henry Clay, still stands, now bearing a handsome oversized porch swing.
The renovation, which took a year and six days, also involved moving the only remaining outbuilding to a prominent location in the garden. Of the five original buildings, “one was probably an outhouse, one was a smokehouse, and possibly storage sheds,” Carloftis said, adding that the historic structure was not dismantled but moved via crane. He and Fisher acted as the contractors and hired builder Mikey Johnson for the bulk of the renovation.
Botherum’s gardens are as extraordinary as one might expect, complete with signage identifying its many Kentucky-native plants, which exist in harmony with more exotic varieties such as the stage-stealing Globemaster alliums, marked by spherical blooms atop a tall, thin stem. A variety of classic and modern statuary can be found among the plants, along with many intimate seating areas accented with antique outdoor furniture. A modern saltwater pool is adorned with decorative orbs. Life-sized wooden horses flank the side entrance. In another section, a homemade fountain adorned by a limestone dog face provides a fitting place for their two yellow Labradors, Lily Carloftis and Gertrude Fisher, to take a plunge on hot summer days.
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The living room features domed, 20-foot ceilings, an original 1850s chandelier, and a large mirror surrounded by the original plaster Morning Glory frame. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The living room features domed, 20-foot ceilings, an original 1850s chandelier, and a large mirror surrounded by the original plaster Morning Glory frame. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Photo by Bradley Quinn
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Flanked by two mature fiddle-leaf fig trees, the kitchen table overlooks one of the home’s tranquil gardens. It serves as Carloftis’ home office and is also one of his favorite spaces. Photo by Caroline Allison
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The fully remodeled basement retains a very cozy and historic feeling while also serving as the ultimate man-cave. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The fully remodeled basement retains a very cozy and historic feeling while also serving as the ultimate man-cave. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The fully remodeled basement retains a very cozy and historic feeling while also serving as the ultimate man-cave. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The fully remodeled basement retains a very cozy and historic feeling while also serving as the ultimate man-cave. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The fully remodeled basement retains a very cozy and historic feeling while also serving as the ultimate man-cave. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The fully remodeled basement retains a very cozy and historic feeling while also serving as the ultimate man-cave. Photo by Bradley Quinn
Main House
Echoing the design of the house itself – which combines Grecian, Roman, Bohemian and Gothic elements – the home is filled with an eclectic blend of luxe, modern furnishings, antique statement pieces and quirky oddities and collectibles that showcase the homeowners’ personalities.
Bringing the outdoors inside, much of the décor pays homage to the plant and animal kingdom. The foyer sets the tone immediately with a few key pieces from their impressive taxidermy collection – including a full-size young black bear and an enormous bison’s head that watches over a central table stacked with glassware, candles and art books. All of the mantles are lined with decorative bits of the natural world, from antlers to dried flowers and bird’s nests.
A Victorian-inspired apiary houses a collection of live birds, bringing the sounds of the outdoors inside.
With its 20-foot-high octagonal plaster ceilings, the home’s drawing room is truly a sight to behold. It features several original period details, like the converted gas chandelier and a mirror over the fireplace surrounded by the original plaster morning glory frame. Perfect for entertaining, the mirror is slanted slightly to allow the host to keep an eye on every guest. The room’s four recessed corners were probably used to display statuary depicting the four seasons.
“I found a beautiful antique set,” said Carloftis, “but my mother said, ‘Don’t do that, it’s too predictable’”.
Oversized twin columns that originally flanked the drawing room have been converted into a bathroom and what Carloftis calls the “laundry room and bourbon closet.” Here, he displays his collection of antique julep cups and jiggers, along with plenty of Kentucky’s native spirit, which he says, “makes laundry a lot more fun.”
The dining room was converted from an original courtyard, with former exterior windows having become display cases. After lots of searching, Carloftis found the seven-foot round dining room table in an antiques shop in Lambertville, New Jersey. Made in 1872, it was originally used in a Philadelphia hunting club. The mismatched chairs, mid-century relics that likely came from an old bank or office boardroom, lend a casual touch to an otherwise formal room, and the centerpiece changes seasonally.
The converted farmhouse kitchen features a wood-burning hearth, accented with beehives from Carloftis’ mother’s Rockcastle County property and, fittingly, a portrait of a young Abraham Lincoln. A window nook allows enough light for a pair of fig trees, under which Jon has his morning coffee and schedules his day. This, he says, is his favorite room in the home, a place to get centered and enjoy his morning coffee with their dogs. On the wall to the left is a vintage metal sign, found underneath the house, that reads “Visit Botherum,” a relic of the days when Botherum was open to the public.
While the rest of the home skirts the line between playfulness and formality, Botherum’s basement is in a class of its own. Giving new meaning to the word “man cave,” the striking subterranean hideout features dim lighting, rough limestone walls and an antique wood ceiling. The sitting area’s lush chesterfield sofa and matching club chairs create a perfect relaxation nook. Included in the basement is another guest bedroom, a cave-like game room, a massive billiards table and a custom chestnut bar created by Longwood Antique Woods. Another of Carloftis’ prized possessions – twin hooks fashioned from two chicken’s feet “flipping the bird” – is displayed near the bar.
“I bought that in West Virginia, and it was the best $22 I ever spent,” he said with a laugh.
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The Carriage House at Brotherum serves as a fully functional guest home and is filled with a whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds. Photo by Caroline Allison
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The Carriage House at Brotherum serves as a fully functional guest home and is filled with a whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The Carriage House at Brotherum serves as a fully functional guest home and is filled with a whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The Carriage House at Brotherum serves as a fully functional guest home and is filled with a whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The Carriage House at Brotherum serves as a fully functional guest home and is filled with a whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds. Photo by Bradley Quinn
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The Carriage House at Brotherum serves as a fully functional guest home and is filled with a whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds. Photo by Bradley Quinn
Carriage House
A three-car garage constructed in the 1980s when the home was owned by Dr. John Cavendish (who also built the high stone wall that surrounds the property) has been transformed into a three-story suite. Here, more of their whimsical collection of antiques, family mementos and yard sale finds have transformed the structure into a fully functional guest home – complete with a full kitchen, guest bedroom, sitting area, office and laundry room. While eclectic pieces can be found throughout the property, the carriage house, with large glass doors overlooking the home’s newly installed saltwater pool, seems to serves as a showcase for some of the more intriguing ones.
For example, on the ground floor, a bar has been fashioned from a restored antique mail-sorting table. A hammered metal sink was installed in the opening that once held a mail bag. As Carloftis explained, the postmaster would sort letters on the table and slide them into the suspended bag, which would be hung on the metal bars mounted to one side. Today, they are used to hang towels and cleaning supplies, making the table an attractive and functional cocktail station.
Other notable features include a collection of antique gardening tools (“I’m crazy about tools!” says Carloftis), a “dog wall of fame” with canine-related photographs and artwork, a collection of Civil War era shaving mirrors, a custom recessed mirror also custom-built by Longwood Antique Woods from wood once used in a stable (“You can see where the horses have cribbed it,” he says) and a gorgeous French daybed paired with a Chinese bamboo screen, both antique statement pieces that add to the eclectic sense of whimsy and unexpected design unions.
In the second-level sitting room, a fabulous 1970s brocade sofa is accented by two huge waterfront photographs by Christopher Hirsheimer (former editor of “Saveur” and Carloftis’ close friend). A 1930s carnival game that now functions as an end table. On an end table sits a wonderfully bizarre object that was probably a children’s toy horse – except the underlying structure was fashioned from a small animal skeleton. The curio collection continues in the guest bathroom, which contains a sizable assortment of rubber duckies and two of Carloftis’ most prized possessions: twin prints of 1930s-era Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.
“I love that they’re looking at each other,” said Carloftis, who bought them for 50 cents at a yard sale. “If the house burned, they would be first things I would grab.”
With a New York galley-style kitchen and a laundry room that also contains Carloftis’ wall of accolades, the carriage house is as complete as any guest could want, but Carloftis admits that when he has guests, he often stays there because he wants them to experience the main house.
At first glance, it seems that the angled walls of the guest bedroom were designed to accent a four-poster bed. At least, that’s what Carloftis thought, until he found out that those “interesting angles” were actually the property line.
But, he said, that situation is actually an ideal metaphor for his design philosophy. Making existing quirks work, he feels, has been one of the secrets to his success. “If [a client] has this strange thing that other people would rip out and start fresh, I would work with what is there. I like to offer several options for every major decision, so when the garden is finished, my clients feel like they had a hand in helping design it. If a designer is too forceful, after a while, they’ll lose business because all of their works starts to look alike.”