Saturday, November 08, 2008
Featured Farm: Stonewall Farm
Few places in the Bluegrass countryside seem more suited to ghostly hoof beats clattering up and down the road than Stonewall Farm. Confederate guerrilla fighters and William Quantrill’s outlaws rode through the front gates of this estate. Founders of the Kentucky horse industry also entered past these gate posts, for Stonewall was among farms clustered at the heart of the early horse business.
Neither the outlaws nor Major Warren Viley, who founded Stonewall Farm in 1852, would believe how the property has changed. The present owner, Audrey Haisfield, began a major architectural and landscaping makeover upon acquiring Stonewall in 2005. The new look is an attention-catcher from U. S. 62 for people driving by between Midway and Versailles.
A lake, multiple fountains, and barns finished in brick are among the new features. The stallion complex includes such architectural details as a stained glass transom depicting the young stallion, Medaglio d’Oro, and his jockey. Immediately inside the barn, to each side of this entrance, lie two resting places that reveal an interior designer’s touch. Inside the stalls, stallions stand in bright yellow straw that is elbow-deep. A drop-down viewing screen inside the barn can be activated for the showing of any stallion’s races.
Chandeliers hang in the open cupolas of the stallion barn; travelers along U. S. 62 can see the lighted chandeliers from the road after dark. Other nighttime views from the road reveal lighted street lamps and four fountains shooting watery plumes in yellow and blue.
Continue reading Featured Farm: Stonewall Farm
Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "Celebrating the Horse"
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