Luckett & Farley


Luckett & Farley is an architecture, engineering, and interior design firm based in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1853, making it the oldest continually operating architecture firm in the United States that is not a wholly owned subsidiary. The firm began under the name Rogers, Whitestone & Co., Architects, changing its name to Henry Whitestone in 1857, to D.X. Murphy & Brother in 1890, and to Luckett & Farley in 1962. The company is 100% employee-owned as of January 1, 2012 and concentrates on automotive, industrial, federal government, higher education, health and wellness, and corporate/commercial markets. There are more LEED professionals at Luckett & Farley than any other company in Kentucky with 50, as of December 2012.

History

The Whitestone period

was born at Clondegad House in County Clare, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States amidst famine and depression with his wife Henrietta in January 1852 from Innis, Ireland after he was recommended to Isaiah Rogers, for his work on the County Clare Courthouse. Rogers was an architect based in Cincinnati who came to be known as "the father of the American hotel". Whitestone's first project with Rogers was the Frankfort Hotel in Frankfort, Kentucky and a partnership formed in November 1853 when Rogers was contracted to rebuild the recently burned Louisville Hotel. Whitestone moved from Frankfort to Louisville and received 2/5 of all profits from the services he performed with Rogers.
The first office of Isaiah Rogers and Henry Whitestone was located at Bullit and Main Streets, near where the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere is located today. Together they transformed Louisville into a "five-story city" and introduced the Italianate architectural style to the region. Whitestone separated from Rogers in 1857 and soon became the preeminent architecture firm in Louisville through the 1880s. Notably, Charles J. Clarke worked for Henry Whitestone during the Civil War and later formed a partnership with Arthur Loomis, to form the historically significant Louisville architecture firm Clarke and Loomis.
Whitestone retired in approximately 1881 and died in 1893. An 1893 publishing of The American Architect and Building News wrote of Whitestone,
He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville Kentucky alongside his wife and two daughters. A marker located on Main St., across from the old Louisville Hotel, bears his name.

The D.X. Murphy era

Dennis Xavier Murphy, was born in Louisville after his parents immigrated from Ireland, began working as a draftsman at age 16 for Henry Whitestone. By 1874 he was the head draftsman and eventually took over the practice in 1880 just before Whitestone's retirement. It was at this point that the firm was renamed D.X. Murphy. His brothers James C. Murphy, later joined the practice in 1890 at which time the firm became D.X. Murphy and Brother. Their younger brother Peter C. Murphy subsequently joined and together they designed many of Louisville's Catholic Churches, among other many notable buildings, for significantly reduced fees on the order of 1% of construction costs. The Murphy's sister, Sr. Mary Anselm, was a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Bardstown, Kentucky which likely led to many of the commissionings.
The firm's most famous work was that of the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs in 1895, designed by 24-year-old Joseph D. Baldez and constructed in time for the 21st Kentucky Derby.
A number of works by D.X. Murphy or the firm are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Works include:
Dennis Murphy died in 1933 and is buried at St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville.
In 1935 D.X. Murphy and Brother was sold by James Murphy's wife to D.X. Murphy and Brother Incorporated for a sum of $1,147, at which time Peter Murphy became president. By 1943, Peter Murphy was named chairman of the board and William G. O'Toole became president. Thomas D. Luckett II became majority stakeholder in the firm upon O'Toole's passing in 1956 while Jean D. Farley was named Vice President.
D.X. Murphy and Bro., Inc became Luckett & Farley, Inc on May 25, 1962, with T.D. Luckett and J.D. Farley sharing ownership.
D.X. Murphy occupied the old Louisville Trust Building until 1962 when the office was relocated to the Washington Building, which has since been demolished.

Luckett & Farley

By the time the firm was renamed Luckett & Farley Inc. in 1962 to reflect the change of ownership, civil and structural engineering services were also provided; Mechanical and electrical engineering services were added in 1970 in order to deliver better-coordinated construction documents to clients. By 1973 the firm name was changed to Luckett & Farley Architects, Engineers, and Construction Managers, Inc. and by the end of 1982, Jean Farley sold the company to Dennis Dewitt, Ronald Kendall, and Douglas Wilkerson.
In 2000 an employee stock ownership plan was formed and by 2002, leadership was transferred to Ed Jerdonek, Belinda Gates, Gail Miller, and Rob Diamond. A design-build subsidiary, LFDB, was created in 1999 but has since separated with the company as of 2011. Belinda Gates retired from Luckett & Farley in 2010. On January 1, 2012, Jerdonek, Miller, and Diamond sold their interest in the company to the employee-owners, making Luckett & Farley 100% employee-owned.
Luckett & Farley occupied the Washington Building from 1963 to 1968 when it moved to 215 W. Breckinridge and again in 1997 to their current location in the Prince Wells Building at 737 S. Third St.
Luckett & Farley utilizes BIM technology to produce their drawings.

Departments

Departments consist of the following fields:

Rogers & Whitestone's work in Louisville (1853–1880)

No.Building NameYear ConstructedLocationStill Standing?Reference
1Louisville Hotel1853610 W. Main St.No
2Barber-Barbour House; Rosewell18546415 Transylvania AveYes
3Hunt-Hite Residence; Pendennis Club1854NW 2nd/WalnutNo
4Newcomb Alexander Banking Building1854NW Main/Bullitt No
5T.T. Shreve Residence1854606 S. WalnutNo
6The Galt House 18541st/MainNo
7Monsarrat Fifth Ward Building18555th/YorkYes
8Col. Rueben Durrett Residence; The Filson Club; Home of the Innocents1856202 E. ChestnutNo
9Richardson Burge Villa1856NW 7th/MainNo
10Store; Seelbach European Hotel; The Old Inn1856SW 6th/MainYes
11Richard Atkinson Residence1857SE 4th/WalnutNo
12The Louisville Medical Institute1857SW 8th/ChesnutNo
13Cathedral of the Assumption Tower & Spire1858433 S. 5thYes
14Horatio Dalton Newcomb, St. Xavier College1859118 W. BroadwayNo
15James C. Ford Residence; YMCA18592nd/BroadwayNo
16Cook House18601348 S. 3rdYes
17James Irvin Residence18602910 NorthwesternYes
18William A. Richardson's Ivywood18603000 Dundee RdNo
19Baurman House18661518 W. MarketYes
20John G. Baxter House; House of Refuge18662035 S. 3rdNo
21A.J. Ballard House1867NW Floyd/WalnutNo
22Irvin Mausoleum1867Cave Hill CemeteryYes
23Peterson-Dumesnil House1869301 S. PetersonYes
24The Bridgeford-Monfort Home1869413 W. BroadwayNo
25The Galt House 18691st/MainNo
26Beckurt-B.F. Guthrie Residence1870Unknown--
27Ronald-Brennan House1870631 S. 5thYes
28Weissinger-Chambers Residence1870402 OrmsbyNo
29Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin House; Nazareth College; Spalding University1871851 S. 4thYes
30Landward House 18721385 S. 4thYes
31Silas F. Miller House1872119 W. BroadwayNo
32Lithgow Building; Louisville Board of Trade1873301 W. MainNo
33Woodford H. Dulaney Residence1872SE 8th/BroadwayNo
34Bashford Manor Stables18742040 Bashford Manor/AdeleNo
35Salve-Bullett Mausoleum1875Cave Hill CemeteryYes
36City Hall Clock Tower Replacement1876601 W. JeffersonYes
37James Henning Residence1877408 OrmsbyYes
38Louisville & Nashville Railroad Office Building; Whiskey Row Lofts1877133 W. MainYes
39Charles Merriwether House18783rd St.Yes
40Kentucky Wagon Works; KY Mfg. Co.18782601 S. 3rdNo
41Standiford Residence; School for Girls1880West side of 4th, between Breckinridge/KentuckyNo
42Portland Federal Savings and Loan Bldg.1887539 W. MarketYes
43U.S. Custom House and Post Office 1865 - 18813rd/LibertyNo
44105, 107-109, 111 W. Main 1877, 1905, 1871105, 107-109, 111 W. MainYes

Partial list of work by D.X. Murphy & Brother in Louisville (1880–1933)

No.Building NameYear ConstructedLocationStill Standing?Reference
1Louisville Railway Co. Car Barn1883SE 27th/ChesnutYes
2Engelhard School1886119 E. KentuckyYes
3St. Vincent de Paul Church18861202 S. ShelbyYes
4Louisville City School Building188822ndMagazineYes
5Presentation Academy1893861 S. 4thYes
6Churchill Downs Twin Spires18959th/CentralYes
7St. Martin School1896Shelby/GrayYes
8National Tobacco Work Branch Stemmery; Custom Mfg. Service18982400-2418 W. MainYes
9St. Boniface Catholic Church, rectory, and hall1899531 E. LibertyYes
10St. Anthony Medical Center1901St. Anthony/BarrettYes
11St. William Church190113th/OakYes
12Basil Doerhoefer Residence19024432 W. BroadwayYes
13Joseph B. Atkinson Elementary School190228th/DuncanNo
14Jefferson County Jail1905514 W. LibertyYes
15Bonavita-Weller Residence190612006 Ridge Rd.Yes
16St. Agnes Church19061920 NewburgYes
17Victoria Hotel190710th/BroadwayNo
18Peter C. Doerhoefer Residence19084422 W. BroadwayYes
19Snead Building 1909815 W. MarketYes
20Zinsmeister & Bro. Building191014th/JeffersonYes
21Tyler Hotel: Addition and Expansion1911323-345 W. JeffersonNo
22Bardstown Rd. Presbyterian Church19121722 Bardstown Rd.Yes
23Louisville Free Public Library19131718 W. JeffersonYes
24Alamo Theater; Ohio Theater1914444 S. 4thNo
25German Bank, Louisville National Bank19145th/MarketYes
26Louisville Hospital1914323 E. ChesnutYes
27Stock Yard Exchange Buildings1914Main/JohnsonYes
28St. Patrick's School 191513th/MarketYes
29St. Patrick's Parochial School19161524 W. MarketYes
30Glencoe Co. Warehouse; Bluegrass Distillery192026th/BroadwayYes
31Ahrens School; Educational Resource Center1922546 S. 1stYes
32Henry Vogt Machine Building192210th/OrmsbyYes
33Home Life Building Addition; Heyburn Building1922239 S. 5thYes
34Office Building19223rd/BreckinridgeYes
35St. Agnes Sanitorium; Our Lady of Peace1923Newburg WayYes
36Waverly Hills Sanatorium19264400 Paralee LaneYes
37Grotto and Garden of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Joseph's Infirmary1927James Guthrie Ct.Yes
38St. Cecilia Church and School192725th/SlevinYes
39St. Phillip Neri School and Rectory1927Woodbine/FloydYes
40Commonwealth Life Building1928NW 4th/BroadwayNo
41O.K. Storage1929Barrett/BroadwayYes
42Bishop Floersh Residence19311118 S. 3rdYes
43University of Louisville School of Medicine Additions1937550-554 1stYes
44U.S. Custom House and Post Office 1880s4th/ChestnutNo
45American Tobacco Complex1920 s30th-32nd/MadisonNo

Awards