By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor
The home and studio of renowned artist, Frank Duveneck, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Kentucky Heritage Council’s Historic Preservation Review Board recommended the Duveneck House, one of 15 Kentucky sites, in May. The state preservation office is charged with evaluating National Register nominations prior to their submission.
Cincinnati fine artist, Linda Crank, also director of communications for the Presbyterian Church of Wyoming, was one of those who put together the application.
“The case had to be made that Duveneck was significant nationally in the world of art,” Crank said.
Crank, a devotee of Duveneck, cited a quote about him and the house from his daughter-in-law Josephine Duveneck’s book, “Frank Duveneck: Painter, Teacher”:
“Duveneck would slip out of the side door of his Greenup Street house soon after breakfast, puffing a cigarette in the long holder that he preferred and, swinging his cane, would walk a block to the street car…”
Crank says, “We can easily see him greeting the little girl who lived next door – who wrote a story about how he kept her occupied with a butterfly as she sat for a painting in his studio at the back of the house. We can also imagine him as a teenager stepping out the front door with a bucket of water and a dipper for thirsty soldiers marching up their street during the Civil War.”
In the application for consideration, Duveneck House supporters wrote:
“In 2000 Forward Quest, an area planning and development organization based in Covington, in cooperation with the Frank Duveneck Arts & Cultural Center Board, purchased the property, including the former hardware store. With the aid of a Kentucky Heritage Council grant, the exterior of the house and the studio was restored in 2002. This project substantially improved the exterior siding, the windows, the shutters, and the doors. Based on professional analysis, the house and the studio were painted in the colors chosen by Frank Duveneck when he first built the studio in 1900. In 2006 a Kentucky Preservation Grant was awarded to the Frank Duveneck Arts & Cultural Center to pursue the making of architectural drawings in preparation for the property’s further restoration. Full title to the building now is in the hands of the Frank Duveneck Arts & Cultural Center Board.
“The group awaits funds to make the intended interior renovations. At the present, the north wall of the studio against the property line is in deteriorated condition due to extensive water infiltration. The first floor of the house retains the modifications made for the now-closed framing shop, with very little historic interior fabric remaining. The second floor and attic have been only slightly modified and retain a substantial amount of original fabric. The interior of the studio has also been modified with much of the historic fabric covered up.
The interior of the building requires complete renovation to become habitable, usable space.”
Owners of National Register properties may qualify for state and/or federal tax credits for rehabilitation of these properties to standards set forth by the Secretary of the Interior, as certified by the Kentucky Heritage Council, or by making a charitable contribution of a preservation easement. National Register status does not affect property ownership rights, but does provide a measure of protection against adverse impacts from federally funded projects.
The National Register is the nation’s official list of historic and archaeological resources deemed worthy of preservation. Kentucky has the fourth-highest number of listings among states, at more than 3,300. Listing can be applied to buildings, objects, structures, districts and archaeological sites, and proposed sites must be significant in architecture, engineering, American history or culture.
Frank Duveneck House and Studio, Kenton County
Frank Duveneck House and Studio, 1226 Greenup St., Covington, authored by Linda P. Crank. The Frank Duveneck House and Studio is located in the Helentown Historic District, and according to the author, “is being proposed for individual listing so that the significance of the house’s association with Frank Duveneck can be more fully realized.” The site consists of a 2½-story, Italianate, wood-frame house with a side-passage plan, gable roof, and single-story rear wing dating to 1875. A board-and-batten-sided single-story addition was built for a studio around 1900, and a small concrete block garage attached in the early 20th century. The site is being interpreted between 1872-1919 and is nominated for its national significance under Criterion B for its association with Duveneck (1848-1919), “one of the most celebrated American painters… known regionally, nationally and internationally for his talent with the brush, for his role in bringing Realism as a style of painting to America, for his role as teacher and for his leadership in the community of American art.”
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See also: NKyTribune’s story, Duveneck House among 15 Kentucky sites recommended