Mayo Mansion facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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John C.C. Mayo Mansion and Office
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 Location in Kentucky
Location in the United States
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| Location | 405 Third Street, Paintsville, Kentucky |
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| Built | 1905–1912 |
| Architect | Herman Geisky |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 74000887 |
| Added to NRHP | May 3, 1974 |
The Mayo Mansion is a beautiful old house located at 405 Third Street in Paintsville, Kentucky. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 3, 1974. This means it's an important historical building. Today, the mansion is home to Our Lady of the Mountains School.
This grand mansion was built for John C. C. Mayo, a successful American businessman. Herman Geisky was the main architect who designed the building.
Contents
Building the Mayo Mansion
Planning a Dream Home
John C. C. Mayo started planning his new home in Paintsville. He first thought about building a house with around twenty rooms. But after visiting other large mansions in Kentucky, he decided to build something much bigger.
Construction Begins
Construction on the mansion began in 1905. Mayo hired Herman Geisky as the architect. More than one hundred Italian stonemasons from Cincinnati also came to help.
Overcoming Challenges
Building in Paintsville back then was not easy. The land for the mansion had to be drained and filled before the foundation could be built. Paintsville did not have a public water system yet. So, a private system was created for the mansion. It pumped water from a well into a large cistern. Rainwater was also collected from the roof and sent into another cistern. This water could then be pumped into the house.
When construction started, Paintsville also did not have electricity. The original plans were to use carbide gas for lighting. But during the building process, electric power transmission lines reached Paintsville. So, the mansion was connected to the power grid instead.
Stone by Stone
The sandstone used for the outside of the mansion came from John Mayo's father's farm. This farm was located across Paint Creek. The large sandstone blocks were cut and shaped there. Then, they were moved across the valley to the building site. This was done using a long overhead tram, which was about three-quarters of a mile long.
Each stone column was shaped into three separate pieces. A team of oxen then pulled these heavy pieces. They had to pull them through Paint Creek during the dry season to reach the mansion. The three-story, 43-room mansion was finished in December 1912. It cost about $250,000 at that time.
Life After John Mayo
John C. C. Mayo passed away on May 11, 1914. Three years later, his wife, Alice Jane Mayo, and their two children moved to Ashland, Kentucky. They moved because the Paintsville area was quite isolated back then. Much of the mansion's inside, like the marble, tiles, and furniture, was taken to Ashland. The family used these items to build a new mansion there.
The Mayo Mansion in Paintsville was then sold to the Sandy Valley Seminary. This school was renamed John C. C. Mayo College. The college faced money problems and closed in 1936. The property was then given back to Alice Mayo. Later, she sold the mansion to E. J. Evans, who was a friend and worked for her husband.
In 1945, Evans sold the mansion and property to Most Reverend William T. Mulloy. He was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. In October of that same year, the Sisters of Divine Providence from Melbourne, Kentucky, started Our Lady of the Mountains School. This school still uses the building today.
