Ellen and Eric Gregory win Kentucky Heritage Council award for their restoration of five old homes

Eric and Ellen Gregory on the porch of their Midway home, at 304 South Winter Street. (Photo submitted)

Ellen and Eric Gregory of Midway are being honored with a Service to Preservation Award from the Kentucky Heritage Council "for their hands-on rehabilitation of multiple family homes, notably The Bell House in Metcalfe County; for engaging their children to help with these projects; and for utilizing and promoting the use of historic rehabilitation tax credits," the council says in a news release.

The Bell House in Metcalfe County (photo by Eric Gregory)

The Gregorys bought and restored a Victorian-era home at the southeast corner of Winter and Stephens streets, a key intersection in Midway. The house in Metcalfe County has been in Ellen Gregory's family for generations; Alex Hein of Setzer's Chandelier and Restoration Shop on Main Street restored the original gas lights in the house.

The couple also restored homes in Lexington, Georgetown and Winchester. Their latest project was the childhood home of Ellen's father, Richard Duncan, who told them shortly before he died, "I can go in peace knowing that the house is in good hands."

The Gregorys posed with the award at Berry Hill. From
left are Ginny, Eric, Duncan, Sarah James and Ellen.

The presentation of the award at an invitation-only ceremony Tuesday at the Berry Hill Mansion in Frankfort noted that the project also involves the newest generation: "They are also passing along a love of history to their children, whom they have made active participants in their latest venture."

The awards are presented during National Historic Preservation Month to recognize excellence in the preservation of historic buildings and cultural resources through investment, advocacy, volunteerism, building partnerships, public involvement, lifelong commitment or significant achievement. Others receiving the Service to Preservation Award are the Martin Luther King and William Wells Brown Neighborhood Associations for “Gathering Our History: An East End Preservation Project,” documenting Lexington’s East End neighborhood, capturing its stories, and creating an event to publicly celebrate the community’s rich cultural heritage, historic architecture and long-time residents; and the University of Kentucky Historic Preservation Symposium, an annual conference that premiered in 2005 to introduce students and others to innovative work shaping the boundaries of historic preservation practice by bringing together a range of speakers to discuss current topics in an accessible format, the release says.