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mary todd lincoln HOUSE Mission
We cultivate public interest in the multilayered past by sharing the story of a woman whose experiences resonate today.
About the Mary Todd Lincoln House
The Mary Todd Lincoln House, located on West Main Street in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, was the family home of the future wife of the sixteenth President of the United States. In 1977, the girlhood home opened to the public and became the first house museum in the country to honor a First Lady.
Originally built between 1803-1806 to serve as an inn, the property became the Todd family home of in 1832. Daughter Mary Todd, born in December 1818, lived here until she moved to Springfield, Illinois, in 1839 to live with her older sister. There she met and married Abraham Lincoln, whom she brought to visit this home in November 1847.
In the Todds' day, the property contained separate outbuildings, including an outdoor kitchen with slave quarters, wash house, smoke house, and stables with a carriage house. Unfortunately, no evidence of the outbuildings remains. The Todds also had a large garden, now partially restored.
The Todd family lived here until patriarch Robert S. Todd’s death in 1849. Legal disputes in the Todd family led to a public auctions, with the contents of the house sold in 1849 and the house itself sold in 1852. After the Todds moved out, the property had many uses, including a boarding house, a grocery store, and even a brothel. By the 1950s, the structure, in poor shape, was being used for storage. In 1977, led by Beula C. Nunn, the house was restored and opened to the public as a museum.
Today, the home is used to tell the remarkable story of Mary Todd Lincoln to thousands of visitors from around the world, featuring family portraits and furnishings from the Todd and Lincoln families. View more photographs.
About Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation
Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation (KMPF) is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization founded in 1968 to protect the unique history of Kentucky. Under the leadership of the Kentucky's First Lady, Beula C. Nunn, the Foundation’s first project was the restoration of the Governor’s Mansion in Frankfort. The second project was the restoration of White Hall in Madison County. White Hall was the home of Cassius Marcellus Clay, emancipationist, legislator, and Ambassador to Russia under Abraham Lincoln. White Hall was transferred to Kentucky State Parks after its restoration.
KMPF opened the Mary Todd Lincoln House to the public as a museum in 1977 after an extensive fundraising and restoration effort. The real property that comprises the Mary Todd Lincoln House is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and leased to KMPF through a unique 99-year lease agreement. KMPF is entirely responsible for the preservation and operation of the Mary Todd Lincoln House and does not receive regular financial support from the government. KMPF depends primarily on earned income from admissions, store sales, and membership dues to preserve and operate the museum.
About the HELM PLACE PROJECT
Helm Place encompasses one hundred and fifty acres located within the agricultural-rural zone of Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region. The property is governed by a conservation easement and identified as a Local Landmark with an H-1 overlay. The property includes 150 acres, a main house built circa 1853, a “garden house” which may be older than the mansion, and ancillary outbuildings such as a garage and several barns.
Helm Place was placed in trust to Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation (KMPF) in 1996 by Mary Genevieve Murphy. Mrs. Murphy was a long-time member of KMPF and had been involved with the organization for over twenty years by the time of her death in 2000. Mrs. Murphy provided a life tenancy for her husband Joseph Murphy, who died in 2011. Helm Place transferred to KMPF in 2012.
The property was placed in trust to KMPF with the hope that it would become a period house museum. Unfortunately, it did not come with funds for its restoration nor an endowment to support its operation as a museum. After years of research and discussion, the board reluctantly determined that the restricted use was not sustainable. Thus in 2015, KMPF began conversations with the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, which represents the public’s interest in assets left for charitable purposes. In 2016, with the support of the Attorney General’s office, KMPF began legal proceedings to terminate the restricted use. In May 2017, the Court granted KMPF’s Petition for Declaratory Relief.
After the Court granted the petition, KMPF decided to gift the historically significant items within Helm Place to other public institutions, ensure the real property is protected, and divest of the remaining personal property and the real property. Between 2017-2019, the historically significant items within Helm Place were gifted to sixteen regional collecting institutions, including museums, historical societies, and libraries, with the remaining items sold at public auction.
In 2021, KMPF began preparations to put the real property on the market, with the conservation easement, the H-1 overlay, and interior preservation easement attached. Helm Place was placed on the open real estate market in the fall of 2022, with the goal of finding a new steward with the resources to restore and care for it. Sealed offers for the property were due October 31, 2022.
KMPF’s sixteen-person board of directors evaluated all offers in early November 2022 to select the winning bid. While respecting the privacy of the new owners, we can say that they live in Lexington, own a business headquartered here, and have lived in a historic home in a local historic district for many years. That experience, along with their ties to the community and enthusiasm for the historic property, contributed to the KMPF board’s unanimous decision. The new owners intend to use it as their family home.
The sale was finalized for $2,491,515 on December 21, 2022. The interior preservation easement- which is held by KMPF- was executed at closing. We are pleased that Helm Place has its next stewards and that the future for this Local Landmark is bright.
For more information about the steps that KMPF has taken over the years, please see the Work Plan listed below.
Press Release- Historic Helm Place for Sale (Sept. 26, 2022)
Project Contact: Gwen Thompson, Executive Director; director@mtlhouse.org; 859-233-9999
