The broken windows gaped on the decaying house in Butchertown. The paint and siding were peeling off, pieces falling on the overgrown grass. In the crumbling garage sat an abandoned 1948 Lincoln Zephyr, its bare wheel discs flat as pancakes from the years of neglect.
Most people would look at this property at 1027 East Main Street in Louisville and think, “What an eyesore. Why doesn’t anyone tear that down?”
Oliver Ardery saw something else.
“When this property became available, I knew it had a lot of issues, but issues create opportunity,” he says.
Oliver had been involved in real estate in Butchertown, but he’d never done any development projects, much less something as run down as this. But he says he had a lot of conviction on where this part of town was headed. He saw a bright future in restoring this historic property on Main Street, built in 1883 and known in years past as the home of ‘the Welder of Butchertown,’ the patriarch of a family that owned many properties in the area.
After removing two dumpsters worth of junk from inside the house, demoing it down to the bones, and razing the dilapidated garage, Oliver was able to envision the future of this place.
“When I had a good visual of what the space was, I asked, ‘What makes the most sense economically, and what’s going to be additive to the community?’” he says. “I wanted it to be a mixed-used space.”
Oliver emphasizes how much teamwork it took to restore the property into what it is today: a gorgeous, moody whiskey lounge called Tartan House on the first floor, two comfortable AirBnB rentals on the second floor, and a brand-new “carriage house” behind the front building that holds an event space for Tartan House and an AirBnB loft apartment. Between the front and rear buildings is a courtyard that architect Nate Hammit of WorK Architecture + Design describes as a hidden gem.
“I think one of Oliver’s visions for this was to create almost like a walkable European or downtown experience that was approachable,” Nate says. “[The courtyard] was one thing that we didn’t expect to turn out as well as it did, and it turned out nice.”
The restored property opened in September 2023 after synergistic effort from Nate, the general contractor and subcontractors, lawyers, accountants, designers, and more, with Oliver coordinating between. It was a process that Oliver says is not for the faint of heart. He navigated building during COVID and ran into disagreements between the historic tax credit department, which wanted historic design guidelines to be met, and the Louisville fire department, which said the historic materials didn’t meet modern fire code.
“When you go down a project like this, there are a lot of unknown unknowns,” Oliver says. “You have to be comfortable navigating that uncertainty. You have to have the fortitude and willingness to move forward.”
The labor pains were arduous, but they brought forth new life for this property — and contributed toward a larger reawakening in the neighborhood. Beginning in 2025, the city of Louisville is planning to redo the intersection of Story Avenue, Baxter Avenue, and Main Street, slowing down the traffic and making the area more pedestrian-friendly, Oliver says. He predicts seeing more multi-use spaces like his own, more residential housing, retail, and probably even a hotel in the future.
“Fast forward five years from now and [Butchertown is] going to look way different,” Oliver says. “This whole part of town is changing a lot, in a good way.”
He’s thankful to have joined this neighborhood restoration journey near its beginning, he says.
Nate echoes the satisfaction of restoring life to a forgotten place. “When we walk through a shell, with just the right combination of keeping what’s here and providing nice, new design that honors that history, the end result tells two stories: the past, and here’s something cool and new we can all appreciate now,” he says. “When it’s all done, it’s encouraging for people who think about the old run-down places they’ve walked by before and then think, ‘Maybe my vision isn’t so crazy after all.’”
By Jessica Alyea | Photos submitted
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