Historic downtown Lexington home won’t be auctioned but dispute isn’t over
The historic downtown Lexington home that has become a showplace for Kentucky garden guru Jon Carloftis won’t be heading for the auction block after all.
According to a motion filed Monday, Carloftis and former partner Dale Fisher have settled their dispute over who gets to keep Botherum, the 19th century landmark they jointly owned. Carloftis is asking Fayette Circuit Court Judge Julie M. Goodman to halt a potential Master Commissioner’s sale of the historic home as well as personal property.
Now, according to Monday’s motion, Carloftis has purchased the home “and will have paid Fisher the full amount due him by the time this matter is heard.”
A quit-claim deed filed with the Fayette County Clerk’s office indicates that Carloftis paid Fisher $600,675 for his interest in the property.
The home, which had been valued by the Fayette County PVA’s office at almost $1 million, was headed for public auction after the partnership between Carloftis and Fisher dissolved acrimoniously in 2018. Goodman previously ruled that the two were business partners and that, since the historic property could not be divided, Botherum must be auctioned.
In May, Fisher opposed the auction, arguing that the home was more likely to bring a better price if privately listed. But an inventory by the Master Commissioner went forward last month.
According to the filing on Monday, the Master Commissioner has been notified of the agreement and “no further steps are being taken by the Master Commissioner as a result.”
The long-simmering dispute isn’t quite over yet, though: Both Carloftis and Fisher apparently object to $30,000 in fees requested by the Master Commissioner and auctioneer, and are requesting a hearing to challenge the invoice.
The motion is scheduled to be heard at 10 a.m. June 17.
History of Botherum, historic downtown Lexington home
Botherum was built in 1850 or 1851 for Madison C. Johnson by Lexington architect John McMurtry, to honor Johnson’s late wife, Sally Ann, who had died in childbirth in 1828. A large ginkgo trees on the site is said to have been a gift from Henry Clay; Sally Ann was a sister of emancipationist Cassius Marcellus Clay.
The original 36-acre estate was subdivided to create the Woodward Heights neighborhood. Dr. John Cavendish owned the house from 1983 until he sold it to Carloftis and Fisher in 2012 for $695,000. Carloftis and Fisher restored the house and grounds and 2013 were honored by the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation with the Landscape Preservation Award.
The home has been a showcase for the well-known Jon Carloftis landscape and garden design business, used for a variety of fundraisers and has been featured in magazines including “Garden and Gun,” “Southern Living,” “Architectural Digest,” “Martha Stewart,” “The Salonniere” and “Keeneland Magazine.” It also was featured in an episode of “Kentucky Life” on KET.
