Little Loomhouse
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Little Loomhouses
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Wisteria Cabin
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| Location | Louisville, Kentucky |
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| Coordinates | 38°9′27.71″N 85°46′14.62″W / 38.1576972°N 85.7707278°WCoordinates: 38°9′27.71″N 85°46′14.62″W / 38.1576972°N 85.7707278°W |
| Built | 1870 |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000770 |
| Added to NRHP | June 30, 1975 |
The Little Loomhouse is a place on the National Register of Historic Places in the Kenwood Hill neighborhood on the south side of Louisville, Kentucky. It consists of three cabins constructed between 1870 and 1896: Esta Cabin, Tophouse, and Wisteria Cabin. It not only displays weavings, but has active education and resident artist programs. The organization participates in several local festivals, giving demonstrations of spinning, dyeing, and weaving. It is the biggest repository of original and classic textile patterns in the United States.
Among the history of the cabins have been the visits of past First Ladies of the United States, and the creation of the song Happy Birthday to You. However, it is in constant state of defending against deterioration.
The Esta Cabin encapsulates the history of the Loomhouse, and is the cabin where the song "Happy Birthday to You" was first sung. The cabin was first built by a Beoni Figg in 1870 as a business office for his charcoal, lumber, and quarries interests. It has been enlarged since then from a two-room cabin. One of these enhancements replaced the vertical split log siding with board and batten. In 1939 Lou Tate acquired the cabin and based her weaving business there, living on the property until her death in 1979. On a visit in the 1940s while still the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt crushed a floorboard, which she later signed; it is now lost. While visiting the Loomhouse, Mrs. Roosevelt bought woven mats that would see use in the White House. Displays of weaving decorate the interior.
Wisteria, which houses the office and giftshop, was built in 1895 and similarly became endangered. In fact, it had to be closed for years due to erosion damage; in 1986, Jefferson County Judge/Executive Harvey Sloane helped in a rededication ceremony celebrating the restoration of the cabin.
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Wikipedia