HOPE HOUSE

304 West Third Street

When Caleb Ford built this Greek Revival house in 1841 it fronted on Mill Street.  The Reverend Edward F. Berkley of Christ Church purchased the house in 1845.  He baptized Henry Clay in 1847 and conducted Clay’s funeral in 1852.  Around 1897, Mrs. J. Hull Davidson had the house enlarged, remodeled, and reoriented toward Third Street.  She is said to have wanted the columned porch and fanlight doorway for her daughter’s coming-out party, but she did not live to see the work completed.  Because of these changes, the house is often described as “the house that turned its back on Gratz Park”.

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