Bennett House

MANW-3
419 West Main Street, Richmond
1885-1890

Cincinnati architect Samuel E. Des Jardins designed this residence in the Queen Anne style with Romanesque detailing. One of four houses in Richmond that he desiged, the Bennet house was the residence of James and Sarah Clay Bennett and Mr. Bennett’s sisters, Belle Harris Bennett (1862-1922) and Sue Bennett (1843-1891). 

Sue Bennet Memorial College at London, Kentucky, was established in 1892 by Belle Bennett in memory of her sister. Belle Bennett was a member of te early woman’s rights movement and a leader in Methodist home missions. She was instrumental in the foundation of several colleges for minorities, including Scarritt College in Nashville, Tennessee, where a memorial building is named for her. She also helped establish a local black organization in 1915 that brought George Washington Carver to Madison County.

The two-and-one-half-story asymmetrical brick structure is finished by a high hipped roof of slate with flared eaves and a crenelated roof comb. A two-story turret has a domed roof with flared, overhanging eaves. The double-doored central entrance is recessed under a single-story arched porch of impressive size containing a terra-cotta accented balcony. The Romanesque-type arches of rusticated stone are repeated over the porch in the second-story balcony entrance and above stained glass fanlights on the first story. Stained glass can also be found in the double entrance doors and in some window sashes and transoms. A polygonal bay projects from the building face on the east side, as does a square bay on the north side.