Gaffney House Louisville, Kentucky
National Register of Historic Places Data
The Gaffney House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places with the following information, which has been imported from the National Register database and/or the Nomination Form. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since listing.
- National Register ID
- 83003710
- Date Listed
- December 8, 1983
- Name
- Gaffney House
- Part of
- Jefferson County MRA (Multiple Property Submission)
- Address
- River Rd.
- City/Town
- Louisville
- County
- Jefferson
- State
- Kentucky
- Category
- building
- Creators
- Gaffney, James J.
- Level of Sig.
- local
- Years of Sig.
- c. 1910; c. 1927
- Areas of Sig.
- ARCHITECTURE
Description
Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.
Three story residence of multi-colored brick built into a hillside overlooking the Ohio River. The first story is below grade level on the river side and only the other two stories are seen from the land side. The house is situated close to the road with a front entrance court of concrete with inset square patterns of red brick.
A rough, stone, brick, and mortar wall surrounds most of the site. Stone steps with wrought iron railings lead to the main entrance. The door is behind a wrought iron gate and has a Gibbs surround of sandstone with large voussoirs.
Multi-paned metal casement windows also have stone Gibbs surrounds. Colorful art glass panes are in one set of windows, and the garage doors have art glass windows with lily and lotus flower designs.
Defining the arches above the garage doors is a stringcourse of stone extending across the facade of the house.
The red clay tile roof divides an arrangement of pendants decorated with terra cotta tiles and brick, each displaying a Mayan-like sun design. This influence is also seen in the white wooden hood above the front door. A walled terrace on the lower river side is of stone and brick with a grassy area.
History
Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.
J.J. Gaffney purchased the land in 1910. The house was built between that time and 1927. Gaffney first appears in the city directory with the Upper River Road address in 1928. Prior to that time he may have used the house as a weekend or vacation home because of its location in the county and on the river.
James J. Gaffney (1863-1946) was a prominent Louisville architect from the late 19th century until his retirement in 1930. He designed churches, commercial buildings, and residences. They include the first building at Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanitarium in the Tudor Gothic style, Taggart House (now Wildwood Country Club) in the Queen Anne style, the Byzantine-style St. James Church, Holy Name Church, and the Belvoir and Besten apartments. He made use of details and motifs from many architectural styles, often combining them in buildings reminiscent of the works of early 20th century English architects.
Statement of Significance
Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.
The Gaffney House is a significant example of early 20th century "mannerist" design. Employing classical details, Arts and Crafts, Prairie School, and Mayan motifs, the Gaffney House is an extravagant expression of the eclectic
talents of its designer.
