Woodlawn / Colonel William Rodes House, Big Hill Avenue, Richmond, Kentucky
From Placeography
| Edit with form | |
 | |
| State/province: | Kentucky |
Woodlawn is one of the more formal examples of the Federal style architecture in Rchmond and possesses carved woodwork which exemplifies the style. The house consists of a central story-and-one-half pavilion flanked by lower lateral wings. Doric columns of stone support an one-story stone portico. The High ashlar limestone foundation elevates the 70' wide brick front facade laid in Flemish bond brickwork. A wide central doorway is surmounted by a lead-mullioned elliptical fanlight and framed by fluted columns.
Contents |
History
The land upon which Woodlawn stands was acquired through the preemption of Judge Robert Rodes (1759-1818). He and his wife, Elizabeth Delaney, gave the property to their son William Rodes (1799-1877) upon his marriage to Pauline Green Clay (1802-1866). Gen. Green Clay had Woodlawn built as a wedding gift to his daughter and new son-in-law. Col. Rodes, a wealthy hempp manufacturer and a prominent Richmond resident, promoted the decision to build the new Madison County Courthouse (MA-65) and to landscape the Richmond Cemetery (MASE-23).
His estate once extended to Lancaster Avenue and included land now a part of Eastern Kentucky University . Both Federal and Confederate soldiers occupied the grounds of Woodlawn during the Civil War, with some of the Battle of Richmond being fought here. In fact, Union Gen. Braxton Bragg’s army encamped here, watering at the spring in front of the house.
