House and Garden 
Vol. XI JUNE, 1907 
“ASHLAND” 
No. 6 
By MARY HODGES 
I N the blue-grass of Kentucky at the extreme 
eastern end of Lexington, where the old Rich¬ 
mond road broadens into the new Boulevard, 
lies “Ashland,” the home of Henry Clay, and for 
that reason perhaps, the most interesting of the many 
charming homes of that well-known country. 
Built in 1809, in a veritable land of ash trees, the 
old house possessed a charm—a savor of another 
century—not found in the present house, ivy-cov¬ 
ered and charming though it be. 
In 1854 such serious defects were found in the 
masonry of the house that rebuilding was necessary; 
the same materials were used, however, and the 
original plan of architecture adhered to. The archi¬ 
tect, Major Lewinski, a Polish refugee, was 2 man 
of great intellect and ability. 
For a time “Ashland” passed out of the hands of 
the Clay family, being sold to the Kentucky Uni¬ 
versity, but was 
purchased by 
the late Henry 
C. McDowell, 
whose wife is a 
granddaughter 
of Henry Clay. 
Since coming 
again into their 
possession, it 
has assumed 
once more its 
former prestige. 
The present 
owner of “Ash¬ 
land” uses it for 
the breeding of 
blooded stock, 
and the distin¬ 
guished visitor 
of to-day may 
be taken out to 
examine some newly imported breed or an especially 
fine animal as in the days of the great Commoner 
when utmost simplicity was the key-note of its hos¬ 
pitality. 
Throughout Mr. Clay’s correspondence with his 
friend Governor Brooke, is a recurring reference to 
his fondness for his home and agricultural pursuits, 
and an inventory of the stock at that time, much of 
which was imported from England and Spain, shows 
a knowledge and love of things pastoral. 
To the same friend Mr. Clay writes, “I assure 
you most sincerely that I feel myself more and more 
weaned from public affairs. My attachment to 
rural occupation every day acquires more and more 
strength, and if it continues to increase another year 
as it has in the last, I shall be fully prepared to 
renounce forever the strifes of public life.” 
Very pretty stories are told of Henry Clay’s love 
for home and 
domestic life. 
A neighbor upon 
beingasked how 
Mr. Clay stood 
as a farmer, re- 
plied: “Oh! 
none rank high¬ 
er, unless, in¬ 
deed, it be Mrs. 
Clay.” 
In 1850 when 
Clay returned 
for the last time 
from Washing¬ 
ton, he was met 
on the outskirts 
of the town by 
admiring consti¬ 
tuents who took 
the horses from 
the carriage and 
Copyright, 190~, by The John C. Winston Co. 
213 
