St. Matthews is home to many of Jefferson County’s important and historic properties. One such home is an 8,400-square-foot, yellow-and-green gothic revival-style abode at 401 S. Hubbards Lane. The 10-bedroom, nine-bathroom county landmark was built in 1853 and National Register of Historic Places. Today, it is known as: Inn in WoodhavenA bed and breakfast owned by Mark Lansing and Jeremy Couture.

Looking for fixed seasons

Lansing and Couture had lived in Florida for nearly two decades, and the northern natives decided it was time to move a little closer to home.

“We both grew up in extreme seasons, so we were looking for moderate seasons,” Couture said.

The couple considered moving to Chattanooga, Asheville and Lexington before falling in love with Louisville.

“We chose Louisville, and then we found this house,” Couture said of the property built by a prominent Kentucky farmer named Theodore Brown.

“He built this house in the 1850s in the gothic style, which was pretty rare in America,” Couture explained. “The style was typically reserved for churches, so this is probably one of about a dozen gothic houses built in this style in the United States in the 1850s, (and) probably the best preserved of those that may still be standing.”

Preserving a piece of history

The house has not changed hands many times in its 171-year history. Lansing and Couture are only the hotel’s fifth owners and have done their best to preserve its historic integrity while also creating practical spaces for guests to enjoy.

The house still has its original flooring, grand staircase, plaster beams and flower clusters, to name a few. The windows are also in original, leaded glass condition.

“We are lucky enough to still have all of the original shutters,” Couture said, adding that a fair amount of restoration work has been done. “We took all the shutters out, sanded them… and put them back on so they were in working order.”

He and Lansing also attached razor blades to the windows to scrape away the numerous layers of paint, thus enabling all first-floor windows to open for the first time in more than 50 years.

“The house itself is an incredible architectural achievement,” Couture added, explaining that the walls used wooden studs and beams instead of steel. “As a result, the entire house expands and contracts at the same rate with temperature fluctuations, thus never compromising the integrity of the house. “As a result, there are no cracks in any of our walls due to house settlement,” he said.

With such a solid foundation, the house did not require any major structural changes. Many of the changes Couture and Lansing made—like removing the pink dining room wallpaper—were aesthetic changes to better accommodate their guests.

“Our goal… is to update it without modernizing it,” Couture said, “to keep it seasonal but functional and comfortable, and to make it gender-neutral.”

Better bed and breakfast

Other changes to the dining room include the installation of darker, period-appropriate wallpaper; hanging framed old hunting pictures; featuring a darker chandelier; and painting the ceiling.

“We did a semi-gloss finish on the beams and a flat finish in the same color on the inside of the tray, so it stands out without any extra color,” Couture explained. “We really try to pay attention to all the details we put into the home.”

The dining room is one of many common areas where guests can gather when not spending time in one of the eight guest rooms. This includes the four people in the main house; three in the carriage house, also built in 1853; and one in the cottage, the third building on the property built in 1998 in the main house and carriage house style.

Couture and Lansing have been working on various projects in the three buildings since purchasing the property almost four years ago. There is still a lot to do, but they are happy with where they are and enjoy sharing it with everyone who walks through their doors.

“When you own a house this old, you don’t actually own it; you’re more like a caretaker until the next person comes along and loves it,” Couture said. “It makes us feel good to have the house sparkling again. … Mark (and I) have had to test boundaries and patience more than once to get things done, (and) it hasn’t always been easy, but it’s always been worth it.”

Do you know of a house that would make a great House of the Week? Email Writer Lennie Omalza at [email protected] or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at [email protected].

nuts and bolts

Owners: The property’s innkeepers are Mark Lansing and Jeremy Couture.

House:St. This 10-bed, nine-bathroom, 8,400-square-foot, Gothic Revival-style home in Matthews was built in 1853.

Distinguishing elements: Three-span, brick common masonry; projecting gabled central bay with barge board and a bay window; Recessed entry with Tudor arch and label molding; carved first-floor openings in quatrefoil design; second floor and side windows have tracery with quatrefoil motifs and label molding above; two internal chimneys with four leaves; a clovered chimney; single-storey porches supported by Tudor-arched fluted posts and a parapet connecting the posts and the balcony above; stone water table; one-and-a-half-story carriage house with gabled roof center decorated with drip bargeboard, round-arched central transept, and interior brick chimney; octagonal dome in the middle of the roof; The third building constructed on the property is a board and plank cottage built in 1998 in the main house and carriage house style; the walls are horsehair plaster and lath; The core of the walls consists of wooden piles and beams, while the exterior is made of locally made brick; two original staircases leading to the second floor, including a spiral staircase; 10 meter doors; 14-foot ceilings; nine fireplaces (five working); original, 96-inch lead glass windows with original shutters; 171-year-old original wooden floors; full basement with brick floor, brick arches and eight-foot ceilings; almost 2,500 square feet of outdoor terraces, porches and patios; half acre plot.

Applause! Applause! Jeremy Couture, St. Louis for his guidance. Thanks to Josh Suiter of the Matthews Chamber of Commerce; Rob Price of Valley Maintenance; Judith Beach, Sara Salazar, her husband Julio, and Jill O’Hare, and everyone who helps maintain and run the house and bed and breakfast on a daily basis; plus Ron Jolly, Louis Straub and the team at Independence Bank; and finally his partner, Mark Lansing.

This article first appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: St. Interior of the 1850s Gothic revival-style Inn in Woodhaven on Matthews