The Gables
The Gables ca. 1940s-1950s, when it was owned by Mary G. Johnston. From the Ross Collection. Courtesy Bethany Major.
According to the Statement of Significance submitted by Historic Pewee Valley to the National Register of Historic Places, “The small plot of land (on Central Avenue) for The Gables was purchased in 1894 and the sophisticated and eclectic gambrel-roofed cottage was built shortly after.”
The cottage is believed to have been built by Maria Dillingham Bakewell (1831-February, 1918), sister-in-law of the famous naturalist, John James Audubon. Her husband, English-born William Gifford Bakewell (February 17, 1799-March 21-1871), settled in Louisville around 1810, shortly after his older sister, Lucy, married Audubon and moved to Kentucky. Two of his other siblings ended up in Kentucky as well: Eliza, who married Nicholas Berthoud of Shippingport, and his older brother, Thomas Woodhouse Bakewell.
On November 10, 1828, William “Billy” married Alecia Adelaide Matthews. The Louisville Directory of 1832 lists the family residence on the south side of Market Street between 6th and 7th. William’s shipping and commercial establishment was on Main Street before 6th. Like many Louisvillians, both he and Thomas suffered financial setbacks during the Panic of 1837. In 1842, William was forced to sell his home.
His wife died in 1847 and William quit Louisville and moved to New Orleans in 1848, where his business interests were centered. On October 23, 1854, he remarried, this time to Maria Dillingham. They had four children:
· Lucy Audubon Bakewell (1859-1886), married Ira S. Millikin
· Alecia Adelaide Bakewell (1862-)
· Annie Gordon Bakewell (1865)
· Willy Dillingham Bakewell (1871)
A biographical sketch of his son-in-law, Ira Millikin, published long after William’s death, referred to William as, “…a well-known capitalist and railroad owner in the south. He was tendered a commissary generalship under the Confederate government during the Civil war, but declined the honor because of his strong Union sentiments. He was tolerated in the South, however, because of his usefulness as a railroad promoter.” By the time William died at New Orleans of heart disease on March 21, 1871, he owned a mansion on Jefferson and 8th.
Maria appears to have lived in the cottage for a time. Her daughter, Anna, is mentioned as a music student at the Kentucky College for Young Ladies in a March 11, 1883 Courier-Journal story about a musicale put on by the students on March 9. Anna performed two songs, "Waltz Song-- Merry War" and "Fantasia de Concert Bellsario," and Mrs. Bakewell sang a selection from "Linda." A July 6, 1884 Courier-Journal report on Pewee's summer crowd listed her as staying at the Kentucky College for Young Ladies with her two daughters, Annie and Willie. Maria may even have been teaching at the school, which could have prompted her to build in Pewee Valley. At the golden anniversary celebration of Prof. and Mrs. Rowley on September 14, 1891, she sang the ballad, "John Anderson, My John."
The Gables was advertised for sale in 1908, and Maria died ten years later in February 1918. She is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.
The cottage is believed to have been built by Maria Dillingham Bakewell (1831-February, 1918), sister-in-law of the famous naturalist, John James Audubon. Her husband, English-born William Gifford Bakewell (February 17, 1799-March 21-1871), settled in Louisville around 1810, shortly after his older sister, Lucy, married Audubon and moved to Kentucky. Two of his other siblings ended up in Kentucky as well: Eliza, who married Nicholas Berthoud of Shippingport, and his older brother, Thomas Woodhouse Bakewell.
On November 10, 1828, William “Billy” married Alecia Adelaide Matthews. The Louisville Directory of 1832 lists the family residence on the south side of Market Street between 6th and 7th. William’s shipping and commercial establishment was on Main Street before 6th. Like many Louisvillians, both he and Thomas suffered financial setbacks during the Panic of 1837. In 1842, William was forced to sell his home.
His wife died in 1847 and William quit Louisville and moved to New Orleans in 1848, where his business interests were centered. On October 23, 1854, he remarried, this time to Maria Dillingham. They had four children:
· Lucy Audubon Bakewell (1859-1886), married Ira S. Millikin
· Alecia Adelaide Bakewell (1862-)
· Annie Gordon Bakewell (1865)
· Willy Dillingham Bakewell (1871)
A biographical sketch of his son-in-law, Ira Millikin, published long after William’s death, referred to William as, “…a well-known capitalist and railroad owner in the south. He was tendered a commissary generalship under the Confederate government during the Civil war, but declined the honor because of his strong Union sentiments. He was tolerated in the South, however, because of his usefulness as a railroad promoter.” By the time William died at New Orleans of heart disease on March 21, 1871, he owned a mansion on Jefferson and 8th.
Maria appears to have lived in the cottage for a time. Her daughter, Anna, is mentioned as a music student at the Kentucky College for Young Ladies in a March 11, 1883 Courier-Journal story about a musicale put on by the students on March 9. Anna performed two songs, "Waltz Song-- Merry War" and "Fantasia de Concert Bellsario," and Mrs. Bakewell sang a selection from "Linda." A July 6, 1884 Courier-Journal report on Pewee's summer crowd listed her as staying at the Kentucky College for Young Ladies with her two daughters, Annie and Willie. Maria may even have been teaching at the school, which could have prompted her to build in Pewee Valley. At the golden anniversary celebration of Prof. and Mrs. Rowley on September 14, 1891, she sang the ballad, "John Anderson, My John."
The Gables was advertised for sale in 1908, and Maria died ten years later in February 1918. She is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.
Little Colonel Connections
Frank Conn, pictured in the May 1976 Call of the Pewee, when he became a Town Councilman
The Gables is mentioned several times in Annie Fellows Johnston’s “Little Colonel” stories. She rented the cottage in the 1890s and, according to local tradition, wrote “Two Little Knights of Kentucky,” the third book in the series, in the blue room on the second floor. It was while living at The Gables that she first became acquainted with Edgewood’s owners, the Craigs, who inspired 12 characters in the series.
In 1911, Annie Fellows Johnston purchased The Beeches from her long-time friend Mary Lawton, and two years later, purchased The Gables for use as a guest cottage and as rental property. Some of the people who lived in the cottage over the many years that Annie and her stepdaughter, Mary, owned it, included:
In 2016, the Presbyterian Church sold it to a private owner who is restoring it.
In 1911, Annie Fellows Johnston purchased The Beeches from her long-time friend Mary Lawton, and two years later, purchased The Gables for use as a guest cottage and as rental property. Some of the people who lived in the cottage over the many years that Annie and her stepdaughter, Mary, owned it, included:
- Peyton H. Hoge, II, along with his wife, Blanch Weissinger Smith Hoge, and their infant son, Peyton, III, who grew up to serve as Mayor of Anchorage, Ky., from January 1970 until his death on September 14, 2001.
- Eugene "E.B" and Mary Ella ("Minnie Mo") Malone, their widowed daughter Laura, and Laura's fraternal twins, Laura and Herbert. Several decades before they lived in the guest cottage, Mary Ella made cameo appearances in the "Little Colonel" stories as Mrs. Mallard, the mother of Katy Mallard (in real life, Kate Malone, Mary Ella's oldest daughter), one of the day pupils at Lloydsboro Seminary and a chum of the Little Colonel's in the novels. The Malones later built 115 Ash Avenue, also on the National Register of Historic Places.
- The Fred Gisiger family, who rented The Gables from Mary Johnston in preparation for the birth of their first child, Fred H. Gisiger, who was born there on February 2, 1940. The Gisiger's owned Maple Hill Dairy Farm where the Clovercroft subdivision is today.
- J. Chilton “ChiChi” Barnett, an amateur historian and owner of an antique shop specializing in whiskey containers located on the site of the old railroad station. His collection of whiskey jugs is now housed at the Oldham County History Center.
- Frank and Dorothy (Hughlette) Conn, and their sons James and Steve, who rented The Gables from 1951 until Mary Johnston’s death in 1966, at which time they inherited the property from her. It was owned by the Conn family until Frank’s death in 1998, when the Pewee Valley Presbyterian Church bought it.
In 2016, the Presbyterian Church sold it to a private owner who is restoring it.
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