SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. — It’s a home that has kept a hidden secret for more than two centuries.
“This house was built probably 1787, at least in the wee years past 1785, by Israel Grant, one of the first settlers of Kentucky, and his wife, Susannah Boone, a sister of Daniel Boone, Susannah Boone Grant,” said Scott County Historian Ann Bolton Bevins.
With the passing of time and the ever-changing real estate market, the owners of the home made the decision to sell this Scott County property, which in turn led to an amazing discovery as contractors began to deconstruct it.
“We found some amazing craftsmanship that it still just blows my mind that people built a structure like this so long ago with the limited tools that they had. Especially considering the weight of some of these timbers and how high they had to lift them. And it really hasn’t moved much over time. There’s some settling in some sagging, but they did an excellent job of building this,” said Josh Wright, the project contractor.
For the current owners of this home, the discovery of the hidden structure was bittersweet.
“I’ve had a lot of feelings. First, very gut-wrenching and heart-wrenching, and there’s a devastation to see a beautiful, beautiful home that is getting hammered down. But I stand back, and I looked, and I talked to one of the workers and said, ‘Isn’t this mint condition?’ And he said, ‘This is extraordinary,’” Jane Drake Hale said.
“I’ve been more than surprised by how good of quality the workmanship was done. And the quality of the good that has still remained to this day. Very little damage, no worm beetles, very little water damage. It’s extraordinary. And then you see the workmanship that was put in to build this property is extraordinary,” Phil Drake said.
That workmanship has kept this home standing for the past 235 years.
“The structure has not really been changed that much in its history. Even these interior walls are the original wallboards. These floors we’re standing on are the original ash floors and same with the floor above us,” Wright said.
To preserve what they have found, workers have begun the deconstruction process that will catalog each piece, and place it in a secure storage until a new location can be found to rebuild.
“The goal is to find a place to rebuild, and we have gone through a number of different channels trying to find someone who would take this and would rebuild this and preserve the history that comes with this,” Phil Drake said.
History that for this Georgetown home has withstood the test of time.
“This stands for the beginning of Kentucky, the beginning of civilization in this part of America,” Bolton Bevins said.