The Adsmore Museum, a beautiful mansion to tour

The lovely Adsmore Museum was as pretty as the brochure I picked up indicated last summer. It was that brochure that tempted my mom and me to head south to Princeton, Kentucky and seek out this home.

Adsmore belonged to the Smith-Garrett family and was donated by Katherine Garrett who lived in the home until 1984. Inside, the open rooms and the amazing staircase are filled items that mark the Golden Age. The home is just like stepping into the past with furniture, dishes, clothes and all reflecting the lifestyle of the prominent Smith-Garrett family.
This is no cramped Victorian home; the house has large open rooms and lofty ceilings. “I could live in this house,” my mom shared.

Our tour guide told us that Katherine was one when the family moved into the home with her parents that had previously been owned by John Parker Smith and Nancy Bond Kevil Smith. Although the older children were already out of the house, the guide shared the story of the couple and their five children: Mayme, Kate, Shell, James Urey (Did) and Selina. “Robert was a National Bank Examiner and later became Director of Insolvent Banks under Andrew Mellon,” she said. “Kate Smith married James Hazelwood Williams of St. Louis who was a shoe magnate. He was a founder of the International Shoe Company. Selina Smith married John Osborne, who had served as third governor of Wyoming.”
Katherine never married and planned early on to leave the house as a monument to her family with all the furnishings etc intact.
“It was “Aunt Necie” Katherine’s mother’s sister that gave the mansion its name,” the tour guide shared, “because she said since they were always adding on to the house.”
Located at 304 N. Jefferson St. Princeton, Kentucky, more information is available on the website of www.adsmore.org.