Press Release- April 6, 2009

LOCAL REALTOR ACHIEVES
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® GREEN DESIGNATION

Richmond, Kentucky- Amanda V. Stepp of Prudential Don Foster Realtors has been awarded the National Association of REALTORS (NAR’s) Green Designation, the only green real estate professional designation recognized by the NAR.
    Amanda achieved this prestigious designation after completing 18 hours of course work designed specifically for REALTORS. The courses were created in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of industry experts from across the country; ensuring designees gain comprehensive knowledge of green homes and buildings and issues of sustainability in relation to real estate.
    More specifically, Amanda was trained in understanding what makes a property green, helping clients evaluate the cost/ benefits of green building features and practices, distinguishing between industry rating and classification systems, listing and marketing green homes and buildings, discussing the financial grants and incentives available to homeowners, and helping consumers see property’s green potential.
    “As energy cost rise along with concern for the environment, homeowners are looking for innovative ways to save money and live responsibly,” said Dick Gaylord, NAR’s immediate past president. NAR’s Green Designation was developed in response to growing consumer awareness of the benefits of resource-efficient homes and buildings. The designation helps consumers who care about energy efficiency and sustainable building practices identify REALTORS who can help them realize their green real estate and lifestyle goals.
    As an NAR Green Designee, Amanda has gained the knowledge and the tools necessary to become a trusted green resource for Madison County. For more information about Amanda V. Stepp please visit, www.AmandaVStepp.com or email at AmandaVStepp@mac.com

For more information about NAR’s newest designation, visit www.GreenREscourceCouncil.org

Amanda V. Stepp
Prudential Don Foster REALTORS
Generation Y Real Estate Specialist
ABR, GREEN, e-PRO®, Relocation Certified, eCertified®
Direct (859) 353-2853
Fax (859) 623-6332
Office (859) 623-9427
AmandaVStepp@mac.com
www.AmandaVStepp.com

Click here to watch the newest commercial released this week to run nationally from Prudential Real Estate.

Amanda V. Stepp
Prudential Don Foster REALTORS
Generation Y Real Estate Specialist
ABR, e-PRO®, Relocation Certified, eCertified®
Direct (859) 353-2853
Fax (859) 623-6332
Office (859) 623-9427
AmandaVStepp@mac.com
www.AmandaVStepp.com

Have you ever dreamed of owning lushious, rolling Kentucky land only minutes to I-75?

This farm is one of a kind and is now available for purchase. Don't miss seeing this one yourself!

The Most Gorgeous 76 Acres of Kentucky Farm Land You'll Ever Find! This property is 6 miles from the By Pass in Richmond. It features a modern guest house w/ 1 bedroom and 2 full bathrooms, a kitchen, deck, sun room with built in shelving, and a 2 car garage. The farm has a 7 bent tobacco barn, about 20 cows, corn base that pays about $300 annually, tons of deer and wild turkey, 2 ponds, Silver Creek runs along 1 whole side of the property, no mobile homes in deed restrictions, reconstruction of KY 52 from Wallace Mill Rd to I-75 will cross right in front of the property- making it 2 miles from I-75! More info available upon request. This property is perfect for 4 wheeling, hunting, farming, horse back riding, looking for fossils in the creek, gardening, and just about anything else you can do outside!

Directions: From Lexington go South on I-75 and exit 87 travel left or East on the Eastern By Pass, turn right at the traffic light for Lancaster Road or US 52 West, the farm will be on your right 6 miles from the By Pass. Look for sign and black plank fencng.

Presented By:

Amanda V. Stepp
Prudential Don Foster REALTORS
Generation Y Real Estate Specialist
ABR, e-PRO®, Relocation Certified, eCertified®
Direct (859) 353-2853
Fax (859) 623-6332
Office (859) 623-9427
AmandaVStepp@mac.com
www.AmandaVStepp.com

House of Blythewood
Est. 1840
Historic Estate Home in Madison County, Kentucky
495 Caleast Road, Richmond, Kentucky 40475
MLS #30895
$645,000

Virtual Tour

The House of Blythewood was constructed in 1840 by Colonel James Blythe from bricks made by hand on the property. There have been a total of five owners of the property, and it was most recently purchased by Dr. Herndon and Nita Agee in 1990 at auction. The architect is believed to be Matthew Kennedy. This home has been immaculately and completely restored to its original grandeur by its current owners.

 

Bedrooms: 5
Full Bathrooms: 3
Half Bathrooms: 1
Acres: 5.59
Age: 168

Approximate Total Square Footage: 7700
Approximate Total Finished Square Footage: 7000
Approximate Total First Floor Square Footage: 4000
Approximate Total Second Floor Square Footage: 3000
Approximate Garage Square Footage: 700
Approximate Total Basement Square Footage: 500

Original Construction
o    Foundation- Faced-limestone with lime-mortar six feet below soil line and thirty-two inches thick.
o    Walls- Solid hand-made brick are 3-5 bricks thick on the front and 2-3 brick thick on the sides, end and cross walls between rooms.
o    Floor Joist- Hand-hewn from conifer (ca. 3-4 inches thick by 14 inches).
o    Floors- 1.5 inch select tongue and grove ash downstairs and tongue and grove conifer upstairs.
o    Rafters- Hand hewn (4 by 6 inches) fastened with oak wooden pegs and hand-made nails.
o    Roof- Original split oak shake, replaced with sawed shake, that was replaced with standing seam metal roof (ca. 1890). New 1 by 12 inch sheathing was installed during the 1991-94 restorations when fiberglass shingles were installed.
o    Walls- Split hickory lathe were plastered with lime, hair (horse or pig), and sand mix in the original construction. Harris used sawed lathe with the lime, hair, and sand mortar changes he made (ca. 1890). Agee applied ½ inch drywall board to ceilings in some rooms that were in good condition. Plaster and lathe were removed and drywall board was applied in rooms where ceilings were lowered and where plaster was missing or in bad condition.
o    Wood Work- Trim, windows, doors: original doors and trim were clear heart poplar (green wood). Doors were made with four and five raised panels with wooden pins through the mortise and tendons. J.D. Harris replaced some of the doors with 9 foot high and 2 inch thick ornate pine- raised panel doors.

Floor Plan
Original construction had stairs from the present dining room (south-west corner) to the second floor room; also a set of stairs lead from the present downstairs bath to the hall above. During the Harris modification, the dining room stairs were eliminated and only the front stairs were used. The north stairs from the bath were closed off and made to enter the room that was added to the rear of the bath area.

Modifications to the Main Structure: 1874-1905
J.D. Harris lowered windows on the first floor, making them 130 inches (nearly 11 feet) tall. Tall double doors with sidelights replaced the original single-door, arched entrance. The heavy glass panes are etched with the initials JDH. The ornamental cast and wrought iron ornamental porch with hand rails over porch. Porch floor beams were hand hewn and covered with quarter-sawed cedar and in need of replacement. Interior doors were replaced with taller ornate two-inch thick doors. A round window was added to the dining closet. Elaborately carved fireplace mantles took the place of those in the dining room and present kitchen. Marbleized cast iron mantles with geometric designs were set around the fireplaces of the two front rooms. The rear porch (west) was added (ca. 1890). C.C. Coy installed a bath on the second floor (ca. 1932) creating an entrance door where there had been a window in the stairway of the original construction.  The north and west rooms constructed of hand-made brick were added after the original construction.

Agee Restoration: January 1991- November 1994
Paint on woodwork and doors was stripped and sanded to silk smooth finished before painting with premium primer and paint. 150-year-old cherry and walnut lumber that floored the attic was dressed and used to panel the family room with raised panel cabinets and window wells. Raised panel window wells were installed in the family room, first floor bedroom (formerly a slave quarter) and upstairs north bedroom. The water lines throughout the house were replaced with rigid copper system so that all water above the basement could be drained to outlets in the basement. New plumbing fixtures were also installed. The walls in all rooms north of the dining room were insulated with R-19 fiberglass. All ceilings have R-33 insulation. Floors have R-19 insulations.

o    Heat and Cooling: The house is served by three ultra-high-efficiency heat pumps with three zones. There is redundant baseboard heating systems in the front baths. Ceiling fans (Hunter brand) were installed in most rooms.
o    Kitchen: The kitchen is equipped with extra- tall, solid- hickory cabinets, built-in dishwasher and disposal, commercial grade (21 cu. ft.) Subzero refrigerator and Subzero freezer. Refinished 1.5-inch-thick tongue and grove floors are in the kitchen and dining rooms.
o    Bathrooms: All baths are insulated and vented with new fixtures.
o    Mirrors: The gold mirrors were restored with new gold foil. The French Provencal mirror in the dining room did not need restoring.
o    Chandeliers and Brass Light Fixtures: The Backrack chandelier (from the Belknap mansion in Louisville) in the dining room was cleaned. The brass light fixtures in other rooms were dismantled, polished and refinished, rewired and installed.
o    Porches: New porch floors of tongue and groove poplar were laid on the east porches. Treated support beams were laid where needed on the lower porch. A front porch of select, quarter- sawed, tongue and groove fir supported by a framework of treated board was installed. All hand shaped stone steps were leveled and reset.
o    Sidewalk: Wide concrete sidewalks were laid with four flowerbeds.
o    Garage: A new two-car garage (29.5 ft. by 26 ft.) was added to the original construction with floored loft.
o    Sun Porch: An insulated sun porch with Thermopane windows and glass was added to the northeast end of the house.
o    Ice Houses: The ice houses were restored with a tool and lawn mower storage on the north side. A flower potting shed was added to the south side of #1 ice house. A stone walkway was added to #2 ice house and a suspended floor was installed to make a workshop-hobby shop. Electric lights were supplied to the ice houses as well.
o    Peacock House: This building was constructed with a log base on a stone foundation with a clay floor.
o    Carriage House: The carriage house was constructed with sawed lumber, which indication a later construction (ca. 1900).

Other Points of Interests:
And old millstone serves as a sitting bench under a cedar tree in front of the west porch. The hand-made stone steps, used by the ladies to enter buggies, are located in the east yard in front of the east porch. The two stone bridges are located just past the entrance with the waterfall below the entrance bridge. The lower bridge was used by the small-gauge railroad that ran parallel to Peytontown Road in front of the house. The Harris Station stop of the railroad connecting Richmond to the Queen and Crescent Line at Stanford was in front of Blythewood. A huge poplar tree, like the one by the stream on the east side, stood in the front yard near the Harris station. A severe windstorm blew the tree down in 1933. It measured 21 feet around and was 134 feet tall. The yard is graced by many species of trees, shrubs and flowers including huge hollies, poplars, sugar maples, spruces and others.

MLS Details
o    Construction: Solid Masonry
o    Foundation: Stone
o    Roof: Composition Shingle
o    Heat: Heat Pump(s)
o    Air Conditioning: Central Electric
o    Water District: Kirksville
o    Electric: Kentucky Utilities
o    Gas: None
o    Sewer: Septic
o    Garage: Garage-Double Attached
o    Basement: Partial
o    Attic: Fully Floored, Permanent Stairs
o    Floors: Wall to Wall Carpet, Tile, Vinyl, Wood, Carpet over Wood
o    Appliances: Range, Refrigerator, Dishwasher, Vented Cook-top, Microwave, and Exhaust Fan
o    Kitchen/Dining: Country Kitchen, Formal-Separate, Eat-in Kitchen
o    Fireplace: Masonry
o    Interior Features: Ceiling Fans, Smoke Alarms, Living Room Fireplace, Bedroom Fireplace, Family/Rec Room Fireplace, W/D Hookup
o    Exterior Features: Cable Available, Partial Fence, Circular Drive, Landscaped, Porch, Storm Windows, Storm Doors, and Trees

To view more photos of this historic home, please visit:

            http://gallery.mac.com/amandavstepp

To view a virtual tour of this historic home, please visit:

            www.donfosterrealty.com

Floor Plan