LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 1998 Designers' Show House, sponsored by the Bellarmine College Women's Council, will be held Sept. 19-Oct. 4 at 2501 Denham Rd., Louisville, Ky. The home will feature rooms and grounds decorated by nearly 30 Louisville-area designers.
The Property at Seneca Gardens, acquired by Switzerland native Jacob Wetstein and his German-born wife, Henrietta, consisted of two tracts of land, each 47 ½ acres which had been part of the Farmington estate. The home, built in 1846, is a farmhouse that was constructed in four stages.
When Mr. Wetstein's will was probated in 1865, his wife inherited his farm property for use during her lifetime. She died in 1889. Descendants of the Wetsteins lived in the house until 1932 when its owners fell victim to the Great Depression. Dr. Sam Overstreet, doctor of internal medicine, and his wife, Irma, purchased the house in 1936. Dr. Overstreets' son, Robert, and his wife Joe Anne, purchased the house from his parents in 1970. In 1979, Dr. Charles Morris and his wife, Barbara became its owners. Dr. Morris had grown up a block away and had played on the grounds as a youngster. David B. Ratterman, an attorney, and his wife, Mary, an interior designer, purchased the home and the remaining two and one-half acres in 1998. Their restoration work has revealed significant information about the origin and development of the house, suggesting the original style may have been classic "double pen" construction, a popular folk house brought to Kentucky during the American westward movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The park-like setting in the City of Seneca Gardens has encouraged use of the grounds in this century by neighborhood children as a sports field and playground.
Show House hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. The café will be open for lunch Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Special events will be offered. A boutique, where fine giftware and unique gift items are available, will be open during Show House hours. Tickets are $10 and available at the door.
The Bellarmine College Women's Council was formed in 1963 and currently consists of a membership of approximately 400 women from the Louisville area. The Council has supported and assisted Bellarmine in its cultural affairs, campus beautification, athletic and library programs. The Council introduced the Designers' Show House in 1974 and will celebrate their 25th anniversary for the Show House event. The Bellarmine Women's Council has contributed more than $1 million to the Bellarmine Student Aid Fund since its inception.
For more information, call (502) 452-8046 or 452-8338.