Photograph courtesy Mansion Hill Properties
When Mark Ramler decided to restore this 1883 Newport home, he knew he had to get it right. His firm, Mansion Hill Properties, stripped the exterior of its aluminum siding and fiberboard shingles, added decorative features to the porch and gables, and painted the whole thing white. The house sits in historic East Row, a Newport, Kentucky, neighborhood that, with its creation, combined Newport’s two historic quarters, Mansion Hill and Gateway. “This is a very prominent corner,” Ramler says, “so it had a big impact on the neighborhood.”
Inside, previous owners had made extreme design choices such as hiding some of the home’s three fireplaces behind walls and closing up transoms that let light pass through to interior rooms. Ramler and his team undid most of that, uncovering those original 1883 features that make the home both unique and an important part of Northern Kentucky’s built environment.
Photograph courtesy Mansion Hill Properties
Downstairs, the formerly dark kitchen is bright, open, functional, with a spacious island holding most of its stainless steel appliances. Moving up the graceful staircase, the primary bedroom features vaulted ceilings, ornately framed windows, and an exposed brick chimney. And yes, that’s a fireplace (inoperable) in the primary bathroom across from the double sink. A second full bath and powder room with custom vanities make the home exceedingly livable.
Ramler, who studied architecture at the University of Kentucky—and then doubled down with a master’s degree in historic preservation—cofounded Mansion Hill Properties with Jim Bush in 2012. The firm specializes in historic renovations, doing important work to thoughtfully restore some of the region’s oldest properties, specifically those in Kentucky’s river towns.
Photograph courtesy Mansion Hill Properties
The project was a huge success, receiving awards from both the Cincinnati Preservation Association and Preservation Kentucky.
When this home was built in 1883, Northern Kentucky was fast evolving from a rural outpost to a modest metropolis. Now, with its 20-ish-minute walk to downtown Cincinnati across The Purple People Bridge, the house is what Ramler and company call “an urban farmhouse.”
See more photos of this home below:
Facebook Comments