Historic home once part of Hamburg Place farm set to be razed for new development

A Lexington developer has filed a demolition permit for a 1929 home that sits on property that will soon be turned into a multi-use development near Interstate 75 and Winchester Road, according to city building permit and planning documents.

Construction on Meadowcrest, which sits on approximately 84 acres near Winchester Road and Polo Club Boulevard, began in 1929, according to Fayette County Property Value Administrator records.

Cowgill Properties purchased the property in 1999 from the Madden family, which owned the land that is currently much of the Hamburg-area shopping center. According to planning documents, Cowgill Properties intends to develop the 84-acre plot that Meadowcrest sits on into a multi-use development that could include businesses and residential property. The land is part of the expansion area, which was added to the urban service boundary in 1996.

The land is adjacent to the proposed Central Baptist Lexington’s new Hamburg campus, which is currently under construction.

Dewey Crow, director of the city’s building inspection department, said the demolition permit has not been issued.

“We are awaiting final documentation from the contractor,” Crow said.

The Neo-Georgian house was designed by local architect Robert McMeekin in 1931, according to Janie-Rice Brother, who writes the local blog www.gardenstogables.com and is an architectural historian.

The house was originally built for one of the heirs of the Hamburg Place farm, according to Brother. The two-story brick home is more than 7,400 square feet, according to property records.

In 2017, the house, which has been abandoned for years, was used to film the horror movie, “The Wiccan.”

The application for the demolition of the home was first reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader’s reporting partner, WKYT-TV.