700-800 turn out to tour historic Botherum house

An "overwhelming" number of people turned out Wednesday for a rare tour of Botherum, a 161-year-old house near downtown. Crowd estimates ranged from 700 to 800 people.

The historic property, at 341 Madison Place, was open to the public as part of the Blue Grass Trust Historic Preservation "deTour" program.

Shelia Ferrell, executive director of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, said the turnout was much larger than previous tours, which usually average about 60 attendees.

Ferrell credited the number of visitors to a "confluence of everything working together."

"Botherum is a well-known historic property, its owners are well-known and respected, and the beautiful weather didn't hurt," Ferrell said.

One visitor, Julia Teuschler, said she was overwhelmed by the property and the amount of people who turned out.

"It delighted everyone who had driven by many times but who could never breach the gates," Teuschler wrote in an email.

Garden designer Jon Carlofits and his partner, Dale Fisher, recently bought Botherum, which is surrounded by a stone wall, from John Cavendish, who had owned it since 1983.

The next "deTour" event will be a walking tour of properties on Constitution Street at 5:30 p.m. July 2.

This story was originally published June 7, 2012 at 3:26 PM with the headline "700-800 turn out to tour historic Botherum house."