Luckett & Farley is an architecture, engineering, and interior design firm based in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1853, making it (along with SmithGroup) the oldest continually operating architecture firm in the United States that is not a wholly owned subsidiary.[1] The firm began under the name Rogers, Whitestone & Co., Architects,[2] changing its name to Henry Whitestone in 1857, to D.X. Murphy & Brother in 1890, and to Luckett & Farley in 1962. The company is 100% employee-owned as of January 1, 2012[3] and concentrates on automotive, industrial, federal government, higher education, health and wellness, and corporate/commercial markets. There are more LEED professionals at Luckett & Farley than any other company in Kentucky with 50, as of December 2012.[4]

Luckett & Farley
Company typeIncorporated, 100% ESOP
Industry
  • Architecture
  • engineering
  • interior design
  • procurement
  • development
Founded1853
Headquarters
Key people
  • Rolf Provan (President & CEO)
  • Jeff Moneypenny (SVP)
  • Pat Castelli (VP)
Number of employees
118
Websitewww.luckett-farley.com

History

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The Whitestone period

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Henry Whitestone (1819–1893) was born at Clondegad House in County Clare, Ireland.[5] He immigrated to the United States amidst famine and depression[6] with his wife Henrietta in January 1852 from Innis, Ireland after he was recommended to Isaiah Rogers (1800–1869), for his work on the County Clare Courthouse. Rogers was an architect based in Cincinnati who came to be known as "the father of the American hotel". Whitestone's first project with Rogers was the Frankfort Hotel in Frankfort, Kentucky and a partnership formed in November 1853 when Rogers was contracted to rebuild the recently burned Louisville Hotel.[7] Whitestone moved from Frankfort to Louisville and received 2/5 of all profits from the services he performed with Rogers.[6]

The first office of Isaiah Rogers and Henry Whitestone was located at Bullit and Main Streets, near where the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere is located today.[8] Together they transformed Louisville into a "five-story city" and introduced the Italianate architectural style to the region. Whitestone separated from Rogers in 1857 and soon became the preeminent architecture firm in Louisville through the 1880s. Notably, Charles J. Clarke worked for Henry Whitestone during the Civil War and later formed a partnership with Arthur Loomis, to form the historically significant Louisville architecture firm Clarke and Loomis.[9]

Whitestone retired in approximately 1881 and died in 1893. An 1893 publishing of The American Architect and Building News wrote of Whitestone,

...forty years ago, in the prime of life, he was in the active practice of his profession, erecting buildings in that perennial style of Italian Renaissance, of which he was a master, and from which he was never lured by passing fashion.[10]

He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville Kentucky alongside his wife and two daughters (Section C, lot 39).[11] A marker located on Main St., across from the old Louisville Hotel, bears his name.

The D.X. Murphy era

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Dennis Xavier ("D.X.") Murphy (1853–1933) was born in Louisville after his parents immigrated from Ireland, began working as a draftsman at age 16 for Henry Whitestone.[12] By 1874 he was the head draftsman and eventually took over the practice in 1880 just before Whitestone's retirement. It was at this point that the firm was renamed D.X. Murphy. His brothers James C. Murphy (1865–1935), later joined the practice in 1890 at which time the firm became D.X. Murphy and Brother. Their younger brother Peter C. Murphy subsequently joined[8] and together they designed many of Louisville's Catholic Churches, among many other notable buildings, for significantly reduced fees on the order of 1% of construction costs. The Murphys' sister, Sr. Mary Anselm, was a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Bardstown, Kentucky[13] which likely led to many of the commissionings.

The firm's most famous work was that of the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs in 1895, designed by 24-year-old Joseph D. Baldez and constructed in time for the 21st Kentucky Derby.[14]

It was known for the grandstand (as well as the spires) of Churchill Downs, the Galt House Hotel and distillery buildings along what became Louisville's Whiskey Row, and numerous other office buildings, schools, hospitals, and churches, some of which survive and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) for their architecture.

Works include:

Dennis Murphy died in 1933 and is buried at St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville.

In 1935 D.X. Murphy and Brother was sold by James Murphy's wife to D.X. Murphy and Brother Incorporated for a sum of $1,147, at which time Peter Murphy became president. By 1943, Peter Murphy was named chairman of the board and William G. O'Toole became president. Thomas D. Luckett II (1909–1996) became majority stakeholder in the firm upon O'Toole's passing in 1956 while Jean D. Farley (b. 1927) was named Vice President.

D.X. Murphy and Bro., Inc became Luckett & Farley, Inc on May 25, 1962, with T.D. Luckett and J.D. Farley sharing ownership.

D.X. Murphy occupied the old Louisville Trust Building (208 S. 5th St) until 1962 when the office was relocated to the Washington Building (4th and Market), which has since been demolished.

The Filson Historical Society in Louisville holds architectural drawings and other records of the D.X. Murphy and Brother firm and its predecessors.[19]

Luckett & Farley

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By the time the firm was renamed Luckett & Farley Inc. in 1962 to reflect the change of ownership, civil and structural engineering services were also provided; Mechanical and electrical engineering services were added in 1970 in order to deliver better-coordinated construction documents to clients. By 1973 the firm name was changed to Luckett & Farley Architects, Engineers, and Construction Managers, Inc. and by the end of 1982, Jean Farley sold the company to Dennis Dewitt, Ronald Kendall, and Douglas Wilkerson.

In 2000 an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) was formed and by 2002, leadership was transferred to Ed Jerdonek, Belinda Gates, Gail Miller, and Rob Diamond. A design-build subsidiary, LFDB, was created in 1999 but has since separated with the company as of 2011.[20] Belinda Gates retired from Luckett & Farley in 2010. On January 1, 2012, Jerdonek, Miller, and Diamond sold their interest in the company to the employee-owners, making Luckett & Farley 100% employee-owned. Luckett & Farley occupied the Washington Building from 1963 to 1968 when it moved to 215 W. Breckinridge and again in 1997 to their current location in the Prince Wells Building at 737 S. Third St.

Luckett & Farley uses building information modeling technology to produce its drawings.[21]

Departments

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Departments consist of the following fields:

Presidents

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Generation Name End of Term
1 Isaiah Rogers 1857
2 Henry Whitestone 1880
3 Dennis X. Murphy 1933?
4 James C. Murphy 1935
5 Peter C. Murphy 1943
6 William O'Toole 1956
7 Thomas D. (T.D.) Luckett II 1971
8 Jean D. Farley 1982
9 Dennis DeWitt 2002
10 Ed Jerdonek 2016
11 Aric M. Andrew 2021
12 Rolf Provan Present

Rogers & Whitestone's work in Louisville (1853–1880)

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No. Building Name Year Constructed Location Still Standing? Reference
1 Louisville Hotel 1853 610 W. Main St. No
2 Barber-Barbour House; Rosewell 1854 6415 Transylvania Ave Yes
3 Hunt-Hite Residence; Pendennis Club 1854 NW 2nd/Walnut No
4 Newcomb Alexander Banking Building 1854 NW Main/Bullitt (across BB&T Bldg.) No
5 T.T. Shreve Residence 1854 606 S. Walnut No
6 The Galt House (Addition and Renovation) 1854 1st/Main No
7 Monsarrat Fifth Ward Building 1855 5th/York Yes
8 Col. Rueben Durrett Residence; The Filson Club; Home of the Innocents 1856 202 E. Chestnut No
9 Richardson Burge Villa 1856 NW 7th/Main No
10 Store; Seelbach European Hotel; The Old Inn 1856 SW 6th/Main Yes
11 Richard Atkinson Residence 1857 SE 4th/Walnut No
12 The Louisville Medical Institute 1857 SW 8th/Chesnut No [22]
13 Cathedral of the Assumption Tower & Spire 1858 433 S. 5th Yes
14 Horatio Dalton Newcomb, St. Xavier College 1859 118 W. Broadway No
15 James C. Ford Residence; YMCA 1859 2nd/Broadway No
16 Cook House 1860 1348 S. 3rd Yes
17 James Irvin Residence 1860 2910 Northwestern Yes
18 William A. Richardson's Ivywood 1860 3000 Dundee Rd No
19 Baurman House 1866 1518 W. Market Yes
20 John G. Baxter House; House of Refuge 1866 2035 S. 3rd No
21 A.J. Ballard House 1867 NW Floyd/Walnut No
22 Irvin Mausoleum 1867 Cave Hill Cemetery Yes
23 Peterson-Dumesnil House 1869 301 S. Peterson Yes
24 The Bridgeford-Monfort Home 1869 413 W. Broadway No
25 The Galt House (2nd) 1869 1st/Main No
26 Beckurt-B.F. Guthrie Residence 1870 Unknown --
27 Ronald-Brennan House 1870 631 S. 5th Yes
28 Weissinger-Chambers Residence 1870 402 Ormsby No
29 Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin House; Nazareth College; Spalding University 1871 851 S. 4th Yes
30 Landward House (Robinson-Wheeler Residence) 1872 1385 S. 4th Yes
31 Silas F. Miller House 1872 119 W. Broadway No [23]
32 Lithgow Building; Louisville Board of Trade [24] 1873 301 W. Main No
33 Woodford H. Dulaney Residence 1872 SE 8th/Broadway No
34 Bashford Manor Stables 1874 2040 Bashford Manor/Adele No
35 Salve-Bullett Mausoleum 1875 Cave Hill Cemetery Yes
36 City Hall Clock Tower Replacement 1876 601 W. Jefferson Yes
37 James Henning Residence 1877 408 Ormsby Yes
38 Louisville & Nashville Railroad Office Building; Whiskey Row Lofts 1877 133 W. Main Yes
39 Charles Merriwether House 1878 3rd St. Yes
40 Kentucky Wagon Works; KY Mfg. Co. 1878 2601 S. 3rd No
41 Standiford Residence; School for Girls 1880 West side of 4th, between Breckinridge/Kentucky No
42 Portland Federal Savings and Loan Bldg. 1887 539 W. Market Yes
43 U.S. Custom House and Post Office (Supervising Architect) 1865–1881 3rd/Liberty No
44 105, 107–109, 111 W. Main ("Whiskey Row") 1877, 1905, 1871 105, 107–109, 111 W. Main Yes

Partial list of work by D.X. Murphy & Brother in Louisville (1880–1933)

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No. Building Name Year Constructed Location Still Standing? Reference
1 Louisville Railway Co. Car Barn 1883 SE 27th/Chesnut Yes
2 Engelhard School 1886 119 E. Kentucky Yes
3 St. Vincent de Paul Church 1886 1202 S. Shelby Yes
4 Louisville City School Building 1888 22ndMagazine Yes
5 Presentation Academy 1893 861 S. 4th Yes
6 Churchill Downs Twin Spires 1895 9th/Central Yes
7 St. Martin School 1896 Shelby/Gray Yes
8 National Tobacco Work Branch Stemmery; Custom Mfg. Service 1898 2400–2418 W. Main Yes
9 St. Boniface Catholic Church, rectory, and hall 1899 531 E. Liberty Yes
10 St. Anthony Medical Center 1901 St. Anthony/Barrett Yes
11 St. William Church 1901 13th/Oak Yes
12 Basil Doerhoefer Residence 1902 4432 W. Broadway Yes
13 Joseph B. Atkinson Elementary School 1902 28th/Duncan No
14 Jefferson County Jail 1905 514 W. Liberty Yes
15 Bonavita-Weller Residence 1906 12006 Ridge Rd. Yes
16 St. Agnes Church 1906 1920 Newburg Yes
17 Victoria Hotel 1907 10th/Broadway No
18 Peter C. Doerhoefer Residence 1908 4422 W. Broadway Yes
19 Snead Building (Glassworks) 1909 815 W. Market Yes
20 Zinsmeister & Bro. Building 1910 14th/Jefferson Yes
21 Tyler Hotel: Addition and Expansion 1911 323–345 W. Jefferson No
22 Bardstown Rd. Presbyterian Church 1912 1722 Bardstown Rd. Yes
23 Louisville Free Public Library 1913 1718 W. Jefferson Yes
24 Alamo Theater; Ohio Theater 1914 444 S. 4th No
25 German Bank, Louisville National Bank 1914 5th/Market Yes
26 Louisville Hospital 1914 323 E. Chesnut Yes
27 Stock Yard Exchange Buildings 1914 Main/Johnson Yes Beaux Arts[18]
28 St. Patrick's School (Adjacent to Church) 1915 13th/Market Yes
29 St. Patrick's Parochial School 1916 1524 W. Market Yes
30 Glencoe Co. Warehouse; Bluegrass Distillery 1920 26th/Broadway Yes
31 Ahrens School; Educational Resource Center 1922 546 S. 1st Yes
32 Henry Vogt Machine Building 1922 10th/Ormsby Yes
33 Home Life Building Addition; Heyburn Building 1922 239 S. 5th Yes
34 Office Building 1922 3rd/Breckinridge Yes
35 St. Agnes Sanitorium; Our Lady of Peace 1923 Newburg Way Yes
36 Waverly Hills Sanatorium 1926 4400 Paralee Lane Yes
37 Grotto and Garden of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Joseph's Infirmary 1927 James Guthrie Ct. Yes
38 St. Cecilia Church and School 1927 25th/Slevin Yes
39 St. Phillip Neri School and Rectory 1927 Woodbine/Floyd Yes
40 Commonwealth Life Building 1928 NW 4th/Broadway No
41 O.K. Storage 1929 Barrett/Broadway Yes
42 Bishop Floersh Residence 1931 1118 S. 3rd Yes
43 University of Louisville School of Medicine Additions 1937 550–554 1st Yes
44 U.S. Custom House and Post Office (Supervising Architect) 1880s 4th/Chestnut No
45 American Tobacco Complex 1920 s 30th–32nd/Madison No

Awards

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  • Luckett & Farley has been awarded one of Kentucky's best places to work in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.[25]
  • In 2012, it was named one of Louisville's best places to work by The Courier-Journal.[26]
  • In 2014, Luckett & Farley was awarded the 2014 ESOP Company of the Year by the Ohio/Kentucky ESOP Association Chapter

References

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  1. ^ Cramer, James (2005). Almanac of Architecture and Design. Atlanta, GA: Greenway Communications. pp. 348. ISBN 0967547792.
  2. ^ "Courier-Journal Classified Ad 8". August 24, 1855.
  3. ^ "Luckett & Farley A/E Firm Now 100 Percent Employee Owned". The Lane Report. February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  4. ^ GBCI. "GBCI LEED Professional Directory". Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  5. ^ Wilson, Richard G. (1982). Victorian Resorts and Hotels. Victorian Society in America. p. 34.
  6. ^ a b Thomas, Samuel W. (2009). The Architectural History of Louisville. Louisville, KY: The Filson Historical Society. ISBN 9781889937137.
  7. ^ Kleber, John (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 948. ISBN 0813117720.
  8. ^ a b Kleber, John (2001). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 42, 636. ISBN 0813121000.
  9. ^ Kleber, John (2001). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. p. 203. ISBN 0813121000.
  10. ^ Ticknor & Co. (August 5, 1893). "Vol XLI-No. 919, page 92". The American Architect and Building News. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  11. ^ "Cave Hill Cemetery". Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  12. ^ Oberwarth, Clarence (1987). A History of the Profession of Architecture in Kentucky. State Board of Examiners and Registration of Architects. p. 19.
  13. ^ Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory. "St. Boniface Church Complex". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  14. ^ Bock, Hal (May 7, 1995). "Steepled in Racing History : A Century for Churchill Downs' Landmark Twin Spires". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  15. ^ a b c d e "D.X. Murphy & Bro., Architects". Historic Marker Database. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  16. ^ "Bourbon Done Right / Evan Williams Bourbon Experience". Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Walter E. Langsam (1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Butchertown Historic District / Butchertown". National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023. With two photos of Stockyard Exchange Building and other accompanying photos
  19. ^ "D. X. Murphy & Bro., Architects Records, 1854–1949". Humanities and Social Sciences Online. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  20. ^ Eigelbach, Kevin (February 11, 2011). "Luckett & Farley sells interest in its design/build subsidiary". Business First Louisville. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  21. ^ Williams, Mariam (July 8, 2011). "Building-information modeling improves efficiency, reduces need for changes". Business First – Louisville. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  22. ^ Lancaster, Clay (1991). Antebellum Architecture of Kentucky. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 199. ISBN 0813117593.
  23. ^ Jones, Elizabeth F. (1974). Henry Whitestone: Nineteenth Century Louisville Architect.
  24. ^ Proffitt, Doug (November 10, 2015). "Lost Louisville: Ripped from history and never seen again". WHAS-TV. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  25. ^ "2015 Best Places to Work in Kentucky Rankings Announced" (PDF) (Press release). Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. April 14, 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  26. ^ "Courier-Journal Top Workplaces 2012 – Luckett & Farley". TopWorkplaces. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
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