Ronald-Brennan House
Encyclopedia
The Ronald–Brennan House, often referred to as just the Brennan House, is a historic Italianate
townhouse
located in Downtown Louisville
, Kentucky
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on August 11, 1975. The house was voted one of the top ten favorite buildings in Louisville by local residents in a contest by the Courier–Journal
.
merchant Francis Ronald. It was sold to Thomas Brennan in 1885. One of Brennan's sons continued to live in the house until his death in 1963 and given to the Filson Club
.
The house was operated by the Filson Club as a house museum from 1969 until 1992, when a non-profit organization
was created by the club to manage the house, as well as to help defray the costs of maintaining it.
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
townhouse
Townhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
located in Downtown Louisville
Downtown Louisville
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on August 11, 1975. The house was voted one of the top ten favorite buildings in Louisville by local residents in a contest by the Courier–Journal
The Courier-Journal
The Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...
.
History
The house was built in 1868 for the tobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
merchant Francis Ronald. It was sold to Thomas Brennan in 1885. One of Brennan's sons continued to live in the house until his death in 1963 and given to the Filson Club
The Filson Historical Society
The Filson Historical Society is a historical society located in the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. The organization was founded in 1884 and named after early Kentucky explorer John Filson, who wrote The Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke, which included one...
.
The house was operated by the Filson Club as a house museum from 1969 until 1992, when a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
was created by the club to manage the house, as well as to help defray the costs of maintaining it.