University of Kentucky
Maxwell Place
Lexington, KY
During the summer of 2013 Lord Aeck Sargent conducted a condition assessment, measured drawings and maintenance plan for historic Maxwell Place. The home serves the dual function as a center of formal campus events and the home of the President.
The condition assessment and measured drawings involved an LAS team of two historic preservation architects, one landscape architect and a systems engineer, all of whom were on site for three days to measure and evaluate the house from the roof to the basement to the yard. The team documented and analyzed the pedestrian patterns around the house and made recommendations for future uses of the site.
The exercise included designing a universally accessible entrance for the front of the historic house. The result was an exterior concrete ramp that begins at the driveway and entrance to the pergola and brings visitors to the original front porch. The goal of the design exercise was to create a way for persons to enter the front of the house without traversing the stairs and feel a part of the main entry sequence. The team also developed a planting plan for the front of the house as well as walled garden area.