Spindletop Hall, located at 3414 Iron Works Pike in

Lexington, KY Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

, is the former home of Pansy Yount, wife of

Miles Franklin Yount Miles Franklin "Frank" Yount (born January 31, 1880 in Monticello, Arkansas, died November 13, 1933 in Beaumont, Texas Yount-Lee Oil Company The Yount-Lee Oil Company, founded in 1914, was the successor to the Yount-Rothwell Oil Company which had been formed earlier by Miles Franklin Yount and Talbot Frederick Rothwell. It was part of the Texas Oil Boom The Texas oil boom, somet ...

. It is currently the home of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

's staff, faculty, and alumni club, which was founded in 1962.

History of Spindletop Hall

On November 14, 1925, Frank Yount struck oil at the

Spindletop Spindletop is an oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas, in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindleto ...

field in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

. The field, which had basically played out since its original discovery on January 10, 1901, produced from new strata over of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

an acre per year, pumping in excess of within 5 years. Now financially secure, Miles Frank and wife, Pansy, established in Beaumont a stable of

American Saddlebred The American Saddlebred is a horse breed from the United States. This breed is referred to as the "Horse America Made". Descended from riding-type horses bred at the time of the American Revolution, the American Saddlebred includes the Nar ...

horses, quickly becoming recognized as a leader in the industry.A History of Spindletop Hall
Retrieved 2013-01-06 One day shy of the eighth anniversary of Spindletop's second discovery, Frank Yount died of a heart attack at age 53 on November 13, 1933. Left as the beneficiary of great wealth, Yount's widow, Pansy, mired in controversy in Beaumont, chose

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

as the place she would start anew. Spindletop Farm was established in 1935 on of land, known previously as Shoshone Stud Farm, owned by

William Robertson Coe William Robertson Coe (June 8, 1869 – March 15, 1955) was an insurance, railroad and business executive, a major owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses, as well as a collector of Americana and an important philanthropist for the academic di ...

. At a cost of one million dollars, construction of Spindletop Hall began in 1935 and took two years to complete. Mrs. Yount deemed the house to be a showplace of Kentucky, a modern

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

. When completed, the mansion housed 40 rooms, each with its own thermostat, 14 bathrooms, 133 full-size exterior and interior doors, 102 windows with screens of copper, and 11 fireplaces, all encompassing over of floor space. At the time of its construction, the circular staircase and the 30X60 foot living room were the largest in Kentucky. Eventually, Mrs. Yount expanded the farm to . On the property were seven miles (11 km) of metal fences, 17 houses for servants and farm hands, and 18 barns. There was a greenhouse, swimming pool, bath house, tennis court, two aviaries, and three kennels. Pansy Yount lived at Spindletop Hall with her adopted daughter, Mildred, and

William Capers "Cape" Grant William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

, her third husband and horse trainer. She was considered "new money" by the Kentucky Blue Bloods and was never accepted into their social circle. During WWII she donated one of her husband Frank's Duesenberg cars to a local scrap drive. In early 1959, Spindletop Farm was sold/donated to The

for $850,000. Mrs. Yount died in 1962. Also in 1962, Spindletop Hall became the residence of the University of Kentucky Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Club. The club's roster has grown from around 500 memberships to nearly 1800 families and individuals.

Inside the mansion

The main floor

''Grand Entrance Hall'' At the time the house was constructed, the heavy bronze doors which grace the foyer (and a similar pair which open from the library to the porte-cochere) cost $14,000. The original imported rug was designed to match the elaborately molded plaster ceiling. The fretwork panels in the stairwells serve as echo chambers for the four keyboard Kimball organ in the music room. Slipcovers, which the owner never removed (this is also true for all draperies in the mansion), hid the Italian velvet draperies. The massive bronze chandelier, which was designed in Europe, was made in three separate sections. The wall panels were handpainted in themes representative of

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. ''Music Room'' To the right of the Grand Entrance Hall is the Music Room. The Show Cabinet adjacent to the fireplace wall encased two Stradivarius violins, among other quality musical instruments like a Welte-Kimball automatic organ. The walls are burled mahogany with ceramic trim. The mantel is made of imported marble. An Aubosson carpet (since replaced) complemented the paneled walls. The crystal chandeliers and wall sconces were made in Czechoslovakia. ''Library'' Steps lead from the music room to the Library. There were in excess of 7,000 volumes here prior to Mrs. Yount's donation of the property. The current collection is courtesy of gifts from the membership of Spindletop. The center of the room is a fireplace mantel which was removed from Trentham Hall in Staffordshire, England. The bronze doors lead to the porte-cochere. An Oriental rug, which cost over $40,000, originally laid over the hardwood floor. ''Elizabethan Living Room (Oak Room)'' ''Formal Dining Room'' ''Kitchens'' ''Informal Dining Room'' ''French Powder Room''

Upper level

''Adam Suite (Manion Suite)'' ''Louis XVI Suite (Yount Suite)'' ''Mr. Grant's Room (Board of Directors Room)'' ''The Colonial Room (Kentucky Room)'' ''Linen closet'' ''Guest Rooms and Baths (Administrative offices)'' ''Spanish Room (Sales and Operations offices)''

References

External links