The Facade
The Ferguson Mansion, circa 1920
Edwin Hite Ferguson commissioned the Louisville architectural firm of Cobb and Dodd - the same firm responsible for designing the Seelbach Hotel and the new capitol building in Frankfort - to design his home in 1901. Construction of the mansion took four years (1901-1905) and $100,000 - approximately ten times the cost of the neighboring Victorian homes. At the time, the mansion was the most expensive home in Louisville. In comparison, the home would cost an estimated $2,000,000 today, which does not include the difficulty or cost of the intricate craftsmanship found throughout the building.
The mansion originally housed nine occupants: the three members of the Ferguson family - Edwin Hite Ferguson, his wife Sophie Fullerton Marfield Ferguson, and their daughter Margaret - and six servants. Ferguson made his fortune in the cottonseed-oil business and his company grew to be the 2nd largest of its kind in the world. In 1907, not long after the mansion was completed, Ferguson was ousted from his own company. From that point on his fortune began to dwindle, eventually forcing him to sell the house in 1924. The Pearson family purchased the mansion and it served as the Pearson Funeral Home until the mid-1970s. The house also served as the headquarters for John Y. Brown, Jr.'s successful 1979 gubernatorial campaign. The mansion became the headquarters of The Filson Historical Society in 1986, the culmination of The Filson's 1984 centennial celebration and plan.
The Ferguson mansion is built in the Beaux-Arts style that reached its peak in popularity at the turn of the century. The classicism of the Beaux-Arts style was based on the precepts of the internationally famous French design school, the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. The style is characterized by a number of elements, focusing particularly on extraordinary detail and symmetry. Beaux-Arts structures are usually large in scale and design. The mansion exemplifies several typical design elements of the Beaux-Arts style including wall surfaces with decorative garlands, floral patterns, and shields. The facade also boasts an oval cartouche over the doors, an entry porch roof supported by classical columns, and a mansard, or flat roof.
