Ashland Park

About Ashland Park

Ashland Park is one of Lexington's most architecturally distinctive historic neighborhoods, sitting just a couple miles east of downtown. The neighborhood was designed in 1904 by the Olmsted Brothers, the same Boston landscape architecture firm that designed the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Chicago World's Fair, and the Louisville park system. The firm was hired by descendants of Henry Clay to develop the neighborhood on Clay's original 600-acre Ashland estate. Construction took 15 years and was completed around 1930. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Ashland Avenue, Richmond Road, Chinoe Road, and Fontaine Road, covering 188.9 acres. Henry Clay's actual Ashland estate, which includes his rebuilt 1854-1856 main house, still sits in the eastern portion of the neighborhood. The estate's grounds, designated as the Ashland Arboretum in 2018, contain more than 400 trees of 44 different species. Henry Clay himself is said to have introduced gingko trees to Lexington. Catalpa Road is famous each fall for its gingko trees, whose leaves drop almost simultaneously to create a striking yellow blanket along the streetscape. The neighborhood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Architectural styles include Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman, and American Foursquare. It's worth noting that Henry Clay's main house at Ashland was rebuilt by Lexington architect Thomas Lewinski, the same architect who designed the Bell House in Bell Court. The east side of Lexington has more Lewinski architecture than most people realize.

What's Nearby

Ashland Park sits between two parks: Woodland Park to the west and Clay's Spring Park (named for Henry Clay) to the southeast. Woodland Park is one of Lexington's oldest, with tennis courts, basketball courts, a ballfield, an aquatic center, and a skate park. It hosts the annual Woodland Art Fair, a free juried art event featuring well over 150 artists. Clay's Spring Park is home to the historic spring that was part of the Clay estate, now marked by a stone monument. The neighborhood is walkable to the Chevy Chase commercial corridor on Euclid Avenue (Charlie Brown's, Chevy Chase Inn, A.P. Suggins, Bourbon n' Toulouse), which sits just to the south. To the west, downtown is about a 2-mile walk or short drive.

Highlights

• 1904 Olmsted Brothers designed neighborhood
• Listed on National Register of Historic Places since 1986
• Adjacent to Henry Clay's Ashland estate
• Ashland Arboretum (400+ trees, 44 species)
• Catalpa Road gingko trees in fall